A new dating app is launching this summer that promises to be better than Tinder. In the last year, startup RPLogic has been working on a free app called Spark that makes it easier to discover interesting people and events around you. Instead of forcing people to “swipe blindly”, Spark added a smart new feature – allowing people to filter for matching people and events.
The way it works is simple. You sign up for Spark through Facebook, which automatically imports profile photos, gender and age. Choose search preferences and then create a few personal hashtags that you identify with, whether it’s #Foodie, #Bookworm or #AmazingSmile. Once you’re done, search for any tag and begin matching! It gets interesting when you start playing around with different tags to see who you can find.
App developers have long been trying to craft the perfect solution to find and meet people. Last year, Tinder swept the dating app world by storm by boiling down the process to swiping right to like a picture and left to pass. Tinder users only see matches when both users have swiped right. Anonymous matching recreates the thrill of discovering mutual interest, but with only pictures to go by, swipe-only apps create matches that can be very hit and miss. Spark hopes to solve that problem by adding a little more personalization. Says founder Rob Price, “We wanted to connect people with matches they would actually want to meet and not just every stranger in their radius.” The app will also be launching a beta feature to search for events, powered by the same hashtag search.
The expected release date for Spark is June 2014.