Another new dating app? Yeah, we know. But the latest into that crowded market, a Singapore-based app called SHIPP, aims to differentiate itself by letting its users see if they “vibe” before they see what the other person looks like, in the hopes of finding more genuine connections.
The company behind SHIPP says it conducted interviews and surveyed 200 participants to find out what people didn’t like about other dating apps. The feedback they got was that swiping for potential partners can cause “fatigue” or result in “shallow” pointless conversations after matching. Another problem was ghosting, which occurs quite commonly and kills any chance at making a real connection.
“Having tried many dating apps before, I observed that most of them work in similar formats and are more inclined to impress potential matches with physical appearances first before having any chance to interact further,” SHIPP CEO Jason Yah said in a press release.
Thus, the app ditches using profile photos for people’s initial matches. Instead, users match based purely on text profiles and are then able to engage in a seven-minute real-time chat. Only after that will their photos be revealed to each other.
According to the company, the app has gone through multiple rounds of testing and has 500 daily active users currently exchanging around 6,000 messages per day.
The developers said they plan to add new features such as gamification, reward incentives, more interactive chats and reminders on privacy and safety.
SHIPP is now available on the iOS App Store and Google Play.
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