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A Guide for Building an Online Dating app With the Best Features

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DhiWise

November 22, 2022
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DhiWise

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November 22, 2022
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Summary: We all want someone special in our lives and to be loved. However, in the modern world, where everyone is in a hurry, it's tough to find time to search for the right person. People can find everything online from groceries, clothes, transportation, and food to even education,  jobs, and healthcare, then why not a companion or friend? 

That's where dating apps become essential for a modern person. Know everything about building an online dating app. 

Today the advent of internet technologies and online dating apps has made it easier to find a friend or companion anytime, from anywhere unlike in the past, when it was limited to social and family gatherings, schools, colleges, and workspaces. 

This article focuses on how to create a secure dating application with the best features in less time and cost, so if you are planning to build such an app continue reading this article.

Things you need to know before developing an online dating app

Dating apps like Tinder and Bumble have millions of users worldwide, such apps offer a better way to find a good match and ways to interact with people through chat and video calling features. So it will not be surprising that big investors will continue benefiting from such apps in the future. 

If you are one among them, first understand some important things necessary to build a successful dating application, rather than straightly jumping into app development. 

1. Analyze the existing dating app features and the business strategy

The market is already flooded with online dating apps, therefore to make your application successful, it's critical to build an app that serves the best of them. Studying your competitors helps you understand the reason behind their success and failure. 

Most of them have similar features and few differences based on the type of audience, region, or functionality. Make sure you have a unique application with the best features. 

2. Conduct market research to validate your idea

In the US Tinder alone has 7.8 Million users, and the app has ruled the dating app market since its inception worldwide. Badoo is the world's next most-used online dating app that also introduced social games and quiz apps in the Facebook Games. 

Though dating apps have been around for a longer time, their popularity started exploding in the last few years. In 2016 there were 240.9 million dating app users which jumped up to 323.9 million in 2021. 

So,  what can be the reason for their popularity, who is the target audience, and for what will they pay? 

Get answers to these questions, before planning for the online dating app.

3. Build a design prototype for a Dating app

Most people prefer mobile dating apps as they are more convenient than web apps. If you are going to start designing an online dating application from scratch, we recommend paying attention to good mobile app design practices:

  1. The app design should focus on the targeted user’s needs such as smart matchmaking, and flexible communication options (chat, call, and video call).
  2. Keep the navigation simple and pleasant. Avoid overloading the page with icons for performing the desired task. 
  3. Use text that is readable and matches the graphics of the dating application.
  4. Choose a color palette that is appealing to the targeted users.
  5. Use unique and memorable logos, graphics, and animations. 

Another way to quickly start designing a custom application prototype for an online dating application is to use a prebuilt dating app template. These templates are professionally designed and flexible enough for customization. And once the prototype is ready you can start coding your application.

How to build a custom online dating application with the best features

The dating app is all about matching people based on their interests and providing preferences for matchmaking. Tinder uses AI ML algorithms to evaluate the user profile and compare it with the other user’s data to find a match.  

Similar to Tinder, most dating apps developed today are experimenting with AI to provide the best match to their users. However, if you are not sure about the user requirement and don’t have enough data to train your matchmaking algorithm, it's always better to start with the MVP. 

Matchmaking can be done with the help of questionnaires at the beginning of the signup process to gather user information that can be utilized later for matchmaking.  

Now, let’s discuss the key features of the online dating app.

The key features to include in online dating applications

Here are the key features you should include in the online dating application.

1. User account registration with background verification 

User registration and verification is the most important feature of an online dating application. During user registration, users should be asked to log in with other social media accounts like Google and Facebook for authentication. 

To create an account ask users for personal information such as name, date of birth, gender, and interest. And for account safety, the app should ask users to follow the important house rule. 

2. Ask for the user's motive behind using the app

Dating apps may be used for different purposes, for chatting, for finding a long-term companion, for a casual friendship, or other. Therefore to keep things clear users should have a feature to set their motive that can be attached to their profile. 

This helps to match people with similar objectives, after all, it's not fair to match a person looking for a quick chat with one who is looking for a long-time companion. 

3. Option to communicate through the app

Chat, calling, and video calling features are the most common among social media and matchmaking apps. There is no point in building a dating app without these features. It helps users to communicate with each other, interact, plan for dates, and to understand each other.

4. Profile setting, privacy, and preferences

Users may want to edit their profile information, biodata, preferences and privacy setting, or other info. Personal account setting allows users to update their profile information, and to make their profile more secure from creeps and fraud. 

5. Ice breakers

Even if the match is made, it doesn’t mean that users will initiate the conversation on their own because for some people it can be intimidating to make a quick move first. And this is where icebreakers come in. 

You can make your dating app more engaging, by providing users with a few quick ways to initiate a conversation like breaking the ice, or some suggestions with rapid-fire questions. 

6. Push notifications

When new users registered to your app, their profile is identified and matched with the existing profiles, and a notification is sent to the old users about the new matches. Sending push notifications increases the chances of the users coming back and checking the app for new matches. However, it's very important to keep the notification relevant.

7. Social media integration

To make the user profile more authentic, integrate your dating application with the social media apps like Facebook or Instagram, it helps to prevent your app from the face of user profiles.

Tech stack for building dating apps

The next thing that you require to choose wisely for dating apps is a tech stack. Let’s find out what tools and technologies are required to build a dating application. If you are planning to build a cross-platform app for Android and iOS devices use the following tech stack.

  1. Front-end technologies: Flutter, Kotlin, Java
  2. Backend technologies: Node.js, Express.js
  3. Databases: MongoDB, SQL
  4. Payment Gateways: Razorpay, PayPal, Stripe
  5. Analytics tools: Google Analytics, Twilio
  6. Map Navigation: Google Maps, Apple Maps

Cost of building an online dating app

The development cost of any app depends on its features, technology used, the time required, region, and resources. Also, the cost of building a native and cross-platform app is different. 

So let’s take a rough estimate of the development cost of a Tinder-like application. It can cost you around $30000 to $120000 to build a native app. This cost can be reduced by building a cross-platform application that works best on both Android and iOS platforms.  

 

How DhiWise- A LowCode, ProCode platform can help you to build a  Dating app in minimum time and budget?

Dating app helps people to find a friend or companion, and feel supported and motivated in times of joy and distress.  Moreover, connecting with people having common interests and values is beneficial for the mental health and overall well-being of a person. 

If you are planning to bring such an idea into reality but don’t have enough time and budget to do so, DhiWise can help you here to build a quality app effortlessly. 

The platform provides the following features for app development:

  1. Multi-technology support for both front-end and back-end technologies- Kotlin, Flutter, Node.js, MongoDB, Express.js, Laravel, and React.js. 
  2. Visual programming interface along with the smart code editor for custom app development.
  3. Design-to-code conversion functionality to convert any design (Figma, Adobe-XD, Sketch) to desired code.
  4. Ready-to-use design templates and app screens for every use case. 

For building a Dating app you can use this app template- Social-Social Networking UI kit by DhiWise rather than starting from scratch. 

  1. Logic builder for backend application development. 
  2. Integration with the Firebase and Supabase. 
  3. Integration with the developer's tools - GitHub and GitLab.

And so on. 

To build a cross-platform Dating application you can use Flutter or Kotlin technologies with Node.js as a backend supported by DhiWise. 

Learn more about DhiWise and sign up now to start building your mobile Dating app.