If you are a developer or a startup who is looking to connect people via a dating App, then this dating app development guide is for you.
Loneliness is a thing in this day and age. And, if there’s one thing that the Covid-19 Pandemic has shown us is that humans need connections to face the adversities of life.
One of the hallmarks of human interaction is mutual affection and expressions of love.
Whether it is finding long term love or even a casual hookup, the fact is that a dating App has helped many denizens find true love and even marriage.
There are many areas to look into when it comes to downloading the right App for dating.
But before we delve into the part of the dating app development guide, let’s focus on the business perspective.
The Business Perspective
Every App development idea needs to have a business angle to it.
And, what is required in an era that is technologically advanced is the aspect of privacy and gamification.
With so many Apps putting out a spate of new features consistently, there is the realisation that Apps have a huge responsibility of keeping users engaged.
Dating Apps and their audience
There is the need to reduce App churn and increase user activity within an App.
This, of course, is relevant to all Apps across the board. But, from a business perspective, you need to look into 3 basic areas to figure out the success of an App.
They are as follows.
- Niche
There are plenty of niche dating Apps out there. If you were to take Grindr, a competing App came to the fore known as Scruff. This is good business.
- Business Model
The most popular business model for dating Apps is that of a Freemium model.
This is where you can download the App for free, but it has gated features that you need to access by paying a certain amount.
Then there’s the Paid App model where you need to pay in order to download an App.
It is widely known that a Paid App model is a shrinking part of App store revenue. This is because the competition is such where you download and use Apps that are free; the paid component comes in when it comes to in-App purchases.
The attraction of this is that you create an opportunity for users to become engaged with the functioning of the App.
It is this that will allow users to stay and stay engaged.
- Monetising Opportunity
Whichever way you look at this aspect of creating an App, and the domain that it serves, remember that it is important to see how you can monetise it.
At present, there are 3 ways to do this.
- In-App Purchases
If you take Tinder as an example, you have in-App purchases like buying Boosts. These purchases make your chances of finding a match that much more relevant and easy.
- Premium Access
Premium access, like, for instance, on Grindr allows you more features like viewing profiles of users that are not in your location. This feature is known as Grindr XTRA.
- In-App Ads
Ads are the default way of earning money. In order to do this, you need to have your analytics in place to see what demographic that you are serving.
A Dating App Development Guide
Once you know what type of niche you are looking at when it comes to a Dating App, then you need to structure the features that such an App requires.
Now, with the advent of smartphones, nearly all Apps function based on location access.
This has led to the issue of safety when it comes to revealing too much by showing your location.
This is why dating Apps like Bumble allows you to amend your location preferences so that you are always in control.
But, onto the Development Guide.
Before we get onto this particular part, remember that at the heart of all dating Apps is the matching criteria.
You can choose a commonly-used mathematical algorithm, for example, that analyzes user information gathered through surveys.
It will analyse age, gender, interests, physical attributes, and even social connections.
There are Apps that focus on behaviour analysis, and others on artificial intelligence.
This is an area that is within the domain of: emerging technology. These methods will take into account factors like a user’s digital footprint etc.
The Key Features
We touched on the fact that metrics and data are important.
Technology itself is an evolving concept, and based on the needs of your audience, and the functions that you need for your App, you will realise that you need to integrate functions that are different.
That said the following 19 features are basic features that you need in 2021.
- User Profile
Consider a user profile as the first smile and initiation of a handshake when meeting someone. It cuts down on small talk and gives a brief overview of who the person is.
- Profile Performance
Users usually need a bit of a push and a pull to complete their profile. Some prefer to omit their ages while others will omit their profile picture. But in order to engage and stay connected to people, you need to complete your profile.
- Photo Upload
Photos are a must in order to connect. Certain Apps are buggy on Android while others work well on iOS. This requires a great deal of testing and optimization.
- Social Sign-In
Our online world is defined by Facebook and Google, and to make the experience of logging into an App easier and seamless social sign-ins are a must. Moreover, it is an indication of how trustworthy an App is.
- Chatting
Whatever dating App you take into consideration, the aspect of chatting and interacting with the employing of emoticons and gifs makes the whole experience attractive and engaging.
- Settings
Just like how your smartphone has the ability to make customisation possible, the settings on the Dating App needs to allow a certain degree of freedom and flexibility. This is all tied down to offering a smooth user experience.
- Admin Panel
Consider this panel as the sitemap of your App. This houses the aspect of navigation that is required in your App for easy accessibility.
- Swiping
Tinder gets bragging rights for making the whole concept of swiping an engaging feature in the world of dating Apps. Such is the popularity of Swiping Right, it has made its way into popular media culture as well.
- Push Notifications
Push notifications are all about the process of reminding the user that something is up or if someone has messaged. It happens in real time and is a critical function of any App whether it is one that is in the domain of dating or not.
- Geolocation
Every App today has some geolocation ability enabled. Whether it is a grocery App or an App that is focused on dating. For the sake of safety, the user has the ability to show his or her location to within a certain distance.
- Verification System
A proper verification system needs to be put in place like what Tinder has done to prevent the spectre of catfishing. ID verification is a must in an age where online, you can be anyone you want.
- Advanced Search
Initially, you get the opportunity to search for anyone on the dating App you are in. However, with advanced search features you have the ability to search for people based on age criteria or body type amongst others.
- Live Video/Audio Chatting
Tinder’s Face to Face feature is a prime example of allowing both users to chat by opting in. Given the issue of catfishing and hiding their authentic selves, this is an important and current feature that is a must.
- Behaviour Analysis
Using Big Data, you can give your App the ability to identify the right pool of users. This way using various algorithms and digital footprints, users have a better chance of meeting their match.
- Secure Data
With GDPR being the norm, keeping user data secure is important. This is why even Dating Apps are now allowing access through the use of biometric portals with facial recognition and fingerprint access.
- Gamification
Gamification in reality keeps things interesting and alive. This is why using gamification techniques like giving points for swiping for the right matches really does work. This is sure to increase user engagement and will boost in-App activity.
- Block Users
This is, once again, within the domain of safety. With trolling being focused on as a huge issue, the ability to block users is very important. The reason for this is to stop online abuse, stalking and catfishing.
- Membership Plans
This is all to do with accessibility where depending on the tier you are on, you can have access to more premium features and a bigger pool of dating opportunities. Consider all this goodness as gated.
- Payment Options
Within the last few years Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have come to the fore. While the usual payment option is a credit card, Bitcoin would surely become a payment option that must be considered. The more payment options you have, the more chances of generating an income.
Development Costs
This is an area that can be vague at best.
The reason this is vague is because costs vary from location to location. The cost of developing an App in the US will differ compared to what the cost will be in Australia.
Additionally most App Development Companies would charge based on the number of resources being allocated to a project while others charge based on the number of hours allocated, and/or both.
As mentioned in the earlier part of this article, we spoke of how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence are being used to not only create an App but also help with App functionality and App analytics.
With Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Metaverses like Roblox being thrown into the mix, the concept of Dating Apps could play out in different realities.
So, the concept of dating Apps like Tinder, Grindr and Bumble may either become redundant or evolve to be a reality in a Metaverse of sorts.
Moreover, with machine learning and natural language processing becoming quite common, it is a matter of time that the App you create to cater to a niche will be created using a different set of metrics and data compared to what is present today.
Now that the Dating App Development Guide has been highlighted, it is a matter of building an MVP to understand how you can initiate your journey towards making your App public and viable.
Conclusion
Technology is an evolving subject.
And, the metrics used, and the data that is being fed into an App is what will make it effective and engaging.
This is what we have shown in this dating app development guide.
The success of an App is all about understanding human psychology. You need to know what keeps people engaged and catering to the needs of users.
One of the most important aspects when it comes to choosing to create the right App is figuring out a niche and then catering to it.
This is the main area that needs to be solved, and then it is a matter of following the Development Guide to create the App that will garner the profits.
