There's a new tech trend emerging aimed at making the dating world a little less stressful: mobile dating apps. Sure, you can stick with online dating, speed dating and getting set up on old-fashioned blind dates, but with dependency on mobile phones at an all-time high it's no surprise that easy to use mobile dating apps have made dating more accessible.
To find out more we turned to leading online and mobile dating expert Julie Spira, the CEO of cyberdatingexpert.com. She's keen to educate others on how to use mobile dating apps and has even launched her own mobile dating boot camp.
Spira gives us the rundown on what you need to know about mobile dating apps and how they can help you.
Online dating is a popular way to meet new people, but it often requires more time in front of your computer screen than you might like.
"Mobile dating apps are convenient and allow you to flirt on the go and receive push notifications of potential matches close by," says Spira.
So rather than rushing home to log on to your go-to dating site to see who has contacted you, mobile dating apps allow you to access that information on your mobile phone wherever you are, whether grocery shopping or out with friends.
"Mobile dating apps are an excellent complement to traditional online dating sites," says Spira. In fact, many dating apps have already integrated with Facebook and other social networking sites, making the on-the-go dating experience even easier.
"With close to one billion members on Facebook, it gives you a social dating or social discovery experience," Spira explains. This means you can check out whether you and the person you're interested in have any mutual friends, which is a good way of finding out more about him or her before making any moves or sending any messages.
Apps such as Zoosk -- which is known as "the romantic social network" – have been integrating with Facebook for several years, notes Spira. And there are other social discovery mobile dating apps launching soon that will also integrate with your favourite social networking sites.
Just as you would give due diligence to checking out someone's online dating profile, you can also check out a person's mobile dating app profile -- and you can do so on the go.
"You don't necessarily spend as much time getting to know someone through mobile dating apps, but you can see their photo and how they've answered some questions and trust your intuition," says Spira.
This allows you to spend more time out and about on the dating scene -- which is where you should be if you want to meet people -- and less time at home on your computer overanalyzing every single answer and judging every single photo, Spira explains.
Signing up for a mobile dating app service is much easier than signing up for online dating since there are just a few simple questions to answer rather than a lengthy questionnaire. More importantly, the apps are easy to use.
"They provide simple ways to flirt, send a smile and see who is close by," says Spira. "Some sites, such as OkCupid's OK Locals, allow you to suggest a date for that evening. If the other person is close by you can chat on your phone and meet up in minutes," she adds.
Every September, Spira comes up with a list of the top 10 mobile dating apps of the year. She says this year's list will focus largely on social discovery and Facebook apps. You can check out last year's list on cyberdatingexpert.com.
If you're still daunted, Spira suggests starting with what you already know. "If you're a member of a traditional online dating site, I suggest signing up for their mobile dating app to broaden your search and make the most of the service," she says. Other interesting new options include Circl.es, Yoke.me and theComplete.me, which are all worth checking out, she notes.
We already send emails, make dinner reservations and buy concert tickets from our mobile phones, so why not go even further and find potential matches, schedule dates and learn more about someone who just might be worth meeting.