Looking for the love of your life? There's an app for that

The lonely hearts ad has had its day, with technology now helping people to find that special someone with whom to spend the rest of their lives.

And thanks to dating site algorithms and smartphones, dating has also got easier, with thousands of Irish people now turning to their phone on a daily basis as a place to find love.

It would appear that the saying “Love is in the air” is past-tense, it’s now in an app on your mobile phone.

While everyone has heard of online dating, mobile dating is now the latest in a line of technology to be applied to dating.

Companies such as Anotherfriend, OkCupid, Plenty Of Fish and Spark each boast millions of messages, chats and other measures of mobile dating success.

Furthermore, the iPhone and android stores both have numerous dating apps available for download.

“The dating industry is moving massively towards mobile technology, with a huge percentage of users going mobile and using apps,” according to internet dating analyst Mark Brooks.

What’s more, dedicated mobile dating platforms now use GPS technology to help smartphone users find potential matches in their vicinity.

Brooks says location-based mobile technology has had to broaden its scope though, to provide the vicinity as opposed to the exact location of users.

“Women didn’t want to give away their exact location and GPS technologies were able to do that, showing where a person was within three metres. Now the more successful mobile dating apps provide vicinity-based services using GPS.”

Brooks believes the next step in mobile dating is for the app to ask users how the date went.

“Real-time feedback through mobile phones will be a game changer in the dating industry. Often people don’t really know what they want when they are looking for a partner. Analysing behaviours helps to improve algorithms for them. One of the behaviours that can be analysed is who users choose to go on a date with, who agrees to go on a date with them, and how the date went.”

Browsing while commuting

Gráinne Barry, managing director of Anotherfriend.comwhich has 60 per cent of the Irish online dating market, says mobile technology has changed the world of dating by making it easier for people.

“Technology has made dating more convenient as often you meet people you might not otherwise meet.

“It’s very hard to meet new people unless you start a new job, or a new hobby. Irish people tend to stick to what they know and always go to the same bars, etc.”

The site, which acquired Maybefriends.comlast year, has approximately 90,000 active users in any three-month period.

Barry says some 20 per cent of the site’s users log on from their smartphones, with traffic to the dating site’s app peaking at commuting times.

“People browse profiles while they are commuting. It’s easy as you can search for people near you. The app uses GPS technology to show profiles within a certain mile radius.”

The service exists as an application for android, iPhone and iPad and uses GPS technology to help users see suitable matches in their area.

Brian O’Neill, founder of Irish dating site Spark, says he launched a mobile version of the site last year, as many users were logging in from their mobiles. “Some 25 per cent of our 15,000 users now access the site via their smartphone.”

O’Neill, who met his wife through online dating, is quick to point out that technology can also have problems when it comes to dating.

“We delete around 50 per cent of profiles created on our site, often because they are scams. People will create a profile and spend weeks emailing someone back and forth, developing a relationship with them.

“Then, they will email one day and say they’ve been involved in an accident in South Africa and need money wired to them. You’d be surprised how many people fall for this.”

While he admits the site uses the enneagram personality system to match people, he says their main aim is to act as an ice-breaker and get people talking.

“Personality testing and algorithms to find the perfect match are a bit gimmicky, because if we knew the secret to love, we’d be billionaires.”

However, one site which has successfully capitalised on the use of algorithms as a means to match people is Plenty of Fish.

Compatibility survey

Founded by award-winning mathematician Markus Frind, the site went down the algorithm route several years ago, as a way of providing people with better matches.

Frind developed a 40-question compatibility survey which all users were required to take, and so far it has had a good success rate.

The Plenty of Fish site has also seen massive growth in terms of apps, with 50 per cent of the site’s Irish users now using the iPhone and android apps on a regular basis – a 250 per cent increase in usage of the site’s mobile apps since 2011.

If all fails though in the world of online dating, there’s always the Bad Date Rescue App.

The app lets users arrange a pre-recorded “rescue” call to appear on their mobile phone, giving them the chance to gracefully exit an unsuccessful date.

Users can choose a number already stored in their address book to make the rescue call, such as one belonging to their mother, a friend or a colleague, and if the caller’s photo is stored on the app, it will appear on the phone’s screen when the call comes through.