I made a dating app about going out to restaurants and everyone hated it

I made an app called Dine. It's available only for iPhone for now. Dine is a dating app focused on setting up the first date and meeting over food and drinks at the best restaurants and bars near you.

When we launched 6 months ago it seemed like everyone hated it besides some people who really saw the concept. Our attempt is make first dates actually happen which is a problem on big dating apps like tinder and happn...so may matches and never a first date.

Anyways, we made a lot of changes with our UI and some other small things. People seem to really be enjoying Dine now and the reception is very good overall.

Are their any single people or app people out there that can give me feedback on Dine? Feedback is the best way for me to improve so any lines positive or negative would be great. Just please be respectful and constructive with your responses.

You can check out Dine here but you will have to cut and paste - https://goo.gl/rqLDfJ

Ya in my opinion limited it to just food and drinks(?) is a horrible idea.

If its food AND drinks, then generally a rule of thumb is you don't want a first date over dinner for example. Its a terrible return on investment. Most first dates end with one person not wanting to see the other. So its just awkward.. who pays the guy or a split. If its a guy then he's paying a ton of money for the potential to see that person again which usually won't happen

I never had a first date with anyone over a meal. It was always something where one party could easily cut it short if needed or people felt a lot of money wasn't invested in a first date.

siquick · 9 years ago

Agreed, meal for a first date can be one of the most awkward situations ever. Best to get a drink or doing an activity like bungee jumping or a music gig.

shigye · 9 years ago

There is actually logic behind why Dine is based on going out to eat or drink. The problem with dating apps is the fact that people on apps like tinder are swiping on loads of people...when a match actually happens, what was the point of the match? Did you want to meet that person IRL from the time you swiped? Or did you want to see who you could potentially match with and then make a decision from there.

Not only do we personally feel like going out for food and drinks is the ultimate ice breaker, but because of this concept, before people send out a Dine request, they are aware that this is a commitment for actually meeting for a first date. As a result, we effectively are able to increase that match to actual date ratio so something of 50% of matches will lead to dates on Dine. Tinder is less than 10% which is terrible. Just my two cents.

hijinks · 9 years ago

ryanlm · 9 years ago

I'm a little skeptical about following this link. Why can't you just give a direct link? Who knows where that link will lead to? I certainly don't and I'm not about to try it and become a victim of drive by downloads, etc.

mtmail · 9 years ago

https://goo.gl/rqLDfJ resolves to https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dine-dating-app-for-actual/i... (I get your point though and shortening wasn't necessary)

asteadman · 9 years ago

Pro Tip: adding a plus sign to a goo.gl shortlink will tell you where a link goes and some stats about it. https://goo.gl/rqLDfJ+ . Similar for other popular URL shorteners.

thanks man I appreciate it.

sorry about that buddy. First time on here. I will make sure to give direct links next time or at least put a plus sign tag so you know where it takes you. Thanks for looking out.

Absolutely no problem, buddy. I'm glad to be able to look out for suspicious links like the one you posted. With security issues the way they are today, you can never be too careful.

kzisme · 9 years ago

This would probably be more beneficial under "Show HN"

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Jaruzel · 9 years ago

Do you have a longer write up on the changes you had to make? It would be beneficial for other app developers to read I think.

I will post something fresh soon.

Stay tuned.