Over the past 10-20 years, the most ambitious and innovative companies have revolutionized the way we communicate, shop, date, and consume media. We are now living in an era of AI, Big Data, AR, and VR, with more exciting advancements on the horizon.

The ubiquity of online dating services has become an integral part of our lifestyles, whether we like it or not. With these services, we now have access to a much larger pool of potential partners, so we don’t have to spend as much time getting to know new people. Thanks to the convenience of online dating, we can now meet and connect with people from all around the world.

How COVID-19 Changed Dating Apps

When the lockdowns hit, tapping on screens was the only option to mingle with someone new while confined indoors. Since then, the dating app market has experienced an upward trajectory, driven by the influx of new users. For instance, Tinder, the world’s most popular dating app, saw an all-time high growth in 2020, and its users also set records for app usage in early 2021. Hinge, another top dating app, tripled its revenue from 2019 to 2020 and doubled in 2021.

The pandemic has shifted online dating from being merely a source of new acquaintances to a psychological and emotional escape from the not-so-friendly reality. Although the pandemic-induced popularity of dating apps slightly waned in 2022, it remains a favored option for virtual socializing. According to data, the dating app market accounted for $5.61 billion in revenue in 2021, with Match Group making almost $3 billion. In 2022, the company topped quarterly revenue estimates as more dating app users signed up for Tinder’s paid subscriptions, driving its shares up 16%. Bumble, the most popular dating app in the US, with 36% of paying US customers, saw its total revenue increase by 16.8% to $232.6 million, compared to $199.1 million in 2021. Global consumer spending on dating apps surged to over $4 billion in 2021, a 95% increase since 2018.

However, companies have realized the necessity to up their game in response to people growing weary of virtual dating. Thus, dating platforms have implemented new video and audio technologies. Plenty of Fish (POF) rolled out an innovative “LIVE!” feature to live stream with potential matches, while Clover, POF, and Zoosk let users stream to the entire community. Additionally, new dating apps like Thursday and POM are testing in-person events in London and New York, striving to battle the dating app fatigue. Match Group has even announced its plans to launch Single Town, a virtual space where singles can meet and connect, represented by avatars.

Now that you have a better idea about the online dating app market, it’s time to take a closer look at launching your mobile dating app.

Market and Competitors Research

Beginning a venture in the dating app industry is similar to launching any other business. Though, it is not enough to make a dating app like Tinder, as the market is saturated. You must come up with a one-of-a-kind selling point. To start, you must do an in-depth analysis of the market, and evaluate the issues and potential of the industry. This will help you to identify a unique niche, and provide you with ways to monetize your app. Research the competition, and discover what would make your product stand out. It could be a modern matching algorithm, an interesting feature to match users, a dating idea, or an innovative concept. Additionally, create a profile of your target user. Consider their personal demographics, career background, everyday routine, hobbies, interests, and what worries them. The more detailed your image of the user is, the more successful your product will be.

MVP for a Dating App

The minimum viable product (MVP) for a dating app should include the following features: Sign Up/Sign In, Onboarding, Geolocation, Personal Profile, Other Users’ Profiles, Browsing, Messaging, Settings, Push Notifications, and Analytics.

Sign Up/Sign In should use phone registration and authorization, while additional verification steps can be added later if needed.

Geolocation should be explained clearly to users so that Apple and Google will not reject the application during the publishing process.

Personal Profile should include basic information about the user, such as photos, name, gender, age, location, hobbies, and their goal for using the app.

Other Users’ Profiles should include basic information about the potential match, as well as user blocking and violation reporting features.

Browsing should be used for looking through the user base, searching for potential matches, and liking or disliking them.

Messaging should be simple and can be upgraded in future versions, while audio or video calls should be considered if they correlate with the business idea.

Settings should include information about the application, contacts, Privacy Policy, User Agreement, and privacy options like location access, push notifications, visibility, and subscription settings.

Push Notifications should be used to send notifications about new messages, matches, or other activities in the app. Lastly, Analytics should be used to track basic metrics like the number of active users, session length, session interval, and crucial screen visits.

Feature Set for the Admin Panel

The Admin Panel should include the following features:

1. User Management: Through this module, admins can view a list of registered users and their associated information and activity. This module also enables admins to block or delete users from the app.

2. Reports Management: This section allows admins to view a list of reports submitted by users regarding violations and take the necessary steps to address them.

Our Experience

At Orangesoft, we have quite a few dating applications in our portfolio, one of the prominent ones being a unique dating app with an AI-based matching algorithm. The app is designed with simplicity and end users in mind, and its main perk is a smart chatbot that engages users in a conversational exchange. This exchange is then used by the algorithm to match them with other single users for dating, business, or friendship tête-à-têtes.

To Sum Up

As Statista predicts, the number of dating app users is expected to increase from 44.2 million in 2020 to 53.3 million in 2025 in the US alone. This growth is estimated to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% from 2022 to 2030, despite customer spending shrinking due to the current economic climate.

People are more eager than ever to establish deep, emotional relationships, so even without paying for premium features, businesses can still provide new features that are more relevant to user needs. This could be an opportunity to create more innovative companies, as the dating industry is open to new ideas and changes.

We hope our guide can help you understand how to develop your own dating app, as well as the associated costs. You can find more about UI/UX design, matching algorithms, technology stack, development costs, monetizing strategies and development challenges for a dating app in our complete article. Now all that’s left is to find an experienced development team who can turn your idea into reality. Share your idea, consult with our specialists, and get an estimate for your project at no charge.

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