A Brief Guide to Dating App Development: Features Benefits & Cost

By Mahipal Nehra

Needless to say, Tinder isn’t the only dating app in the market and has multiple competitors with a comparable rate of users, matches, and revenue. But, creating an online dating app that can gain traction and revenue like leading dating apps is the major challenge.

In this blog, we will discuss the basics of dating apps as well as the features that will help you succeed in the market. So, let’s get started!

Dating App Development Overview

An online dating app is a software application that takes advantage of the GPS in the device location capabilities for the user to find people, connect with them, and arrange dates to develop romantic relationships.

Some dating apps offer to fill an extensive form with questions to determine your matches, others give you the option to filter the details yourself. To put it simply, it analyzes individuals based on standard criteria such as age, gender, geography, goals, and interests. The more the specification matches your choice, the more likely you will be shown the profile of a certain person.

Types of Dating Apps

Generally, dating applications are classified according to the same criteria used by online dating sites to match people.

Majorly all the dating apps that are available in the market are divided into four categories:

• Location-Based: This type of dating app helps in finding people who are nearby to connect with and go out on a date. The users of location-based dating apps select the location radius to find the right partner and the app sorts suitable profiles for you to choose from. This technology is integrated into apps like Bumble , Tinder , OkCupid , etc.
• Traditional: Traditional dating apps are similar to classic dating websites that show user profiles to choose from. You can decide the profile that is ideal for you or not depending on the information you see. OkCupid, eHarmony is one of the traditional dating apps.
• Matching-Algorithm Based: Dating apps like Match , Zoosk , and eHarmony ask users to fill the questionnaire with information about their interests, hobbies, preferable relationship types, lifestyle, etc at the time of registration and then find the best matching profiles using machine learning algorithms.
• Niche-Based: Hornet , The League , HER , Ourtime , and JDate are some of the niche-based dating apps that target specific user groups like sexual minorities, older people, certain ethnic groups, or within social circles. Although the audience for such apps is limited, it offers a better experience to certain groups of users. Moreover, the user group is also ready to pay more for such an incredible experience.

What People Expect From Dating Apps

If you want to create a dating app that can ensure its success, it is crucial to understand the expectations users have from any dating app. To help you out, we have created a list of three basic expectations of the users:

Interactive UI/UX

The dating app you are developing should have a clear and interactive interface that can help them easily comprehend all the functionalities. Your core aim should be to better user convenience and engagement.

To ensure that the dating app has effective UI/UX, you should:

• Pay attention to its design
• Add push notifications, hello bars, pop-ups, etc. that give real-time alerts on any message they receive on the app.

Privacy & Security

Due to its ability to filter people before going out with them, online dating has gained popularity over blind or traditional dating.

If your dating app has features like photo verification, hiding profile, two-factor authentication , etc. that can ensure the privacy and security of the users, it will put users at ease about the dating experience.

Other than that you can also add a feature for women to make the first move, i.e., if a user matches with another, females get an additional 24 hours to start the conversation if they feel comfortable empowering women’s safety.

Convenience

Instead of overwhelming the user with the complexity of the app, you should make sure that creating the profile, editing preferences, etc. is convenient for them. For that you can:

• Add social media signups and logins.
• A few taps let users access important features.

Other than matching, there are features that a dating app should have, otherwise it won’t stand a chance against its competitors.

Social Sign-In

Apart from mobile number registration, the dating app should allow users to create their profiles using their social media accounts like Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc. making the sign-up process easier and faster.

User Profile

With user permission, the dating app should set up a basic user profile by synchronizing the data from their social profiles.

Private Messaging

The ability to communicate privately with the match can make it relatively easy for the user to find a potential partner. The private messaging feature should also have additional elements like GIFs, stickers, and emojis.

Swipe

You can also add the feature to swipe left and right on the suggested profile. As this has been implemented in several dating apps now, it is an optional feature. But, if you want to offer something familiar to the users then you should consider adding this feature.

GeoLocation

Another feature that you can add to your dating app is Geolocation. It will help users to set the locality where they wanna meet people and narrow down their searches.

Secure Verification System

The security verification feature of the dating app should be strict as it tends to attract criminals and cause safety issues for the users.

Live Video Chat

As the core purpose of a dating app is to help two people match and communicate, adding the feature of live chat is rather given. However, you can add a custom mode where it will be important for both users to opt for the live chat option, otherwise, it won’t be possible to have a live video chat.

Advanced In-App Search

To assist people to find the best match for themselves, the dating app should offer a filter feature using which users can filter their educational backgrounds, family plans, religion, and more.

Data Security

As the dating app will have the personal data of the user, providing high data security and transparency on security practices is highly recommended.

Real-Time Alerts & Notifications

Whether the user is offline and got matched or received a message from someone, or you want to run any promotional activity on the dating app, adding the real-time notifications and alert feature is crucial.

Profile Recommendation

Based on the common interests or interests of the users, the dating app should recommend some compatible profiles that will narrow down their options and increase the chances of finding the ideal match.

Privacy Settings

The dating app should enable the user to block and report other users’ profiles giving them a sense of relief if they don’t feel like talking to someone, regardless of the reason.

Monetization

Now you must be wondering, “adding what features will you be able to generate revenue on the dating app you have developed?”

To monetize the app, you can limit some of the features and allow them only on a paid subscription. Other than that, you can go for in-app ads, promotions, and affiliate marketing that will help you earn a decent amount of money from the app.

The cost of dating app development can approximately range between $50,000 to $150,000. However, the total cost of the application development depends on the number of developers involved, hourly/fixed rates that have been decided, number of hours invested, paid tools used, and the complexity of the app.Dating App Development Cost

Please note that to get the accurate value of the dating app development it is essential to hire developers from software development companies like Decipher Zone Technologies with experienced development professionals that will help you find the right tech stack for the development as well as ease the workflow for you.

Conclusion

The online dating app market is extremely competitive. In order to succeed, you need to create an app that brings a unique and powerful solution to the market. So, the better option here is to go for either a niche-based dating app or a matching-algo-based dating app.

If you are still confused about creating a strong dating app that is not only budget-friendly but can also ensure success, then get in touch with our team of experts who will help you in analyzing the specifications for your project and will also provide detailed cost estimates.