How To Make App Like Tinder?—Dating Software Development Guide

A few years ago, people who wanted to find a date online felt like they were using the last resort. They didn’t want their friends to know they were using online dating. But now, people are proud of using dating apps like Tinder to find potential dates as Tinder created a new swiping phenomenon in the dating culture.

Tinder is quite a strong competitor, but it also has some drawbacks that discourage users from using the app or buying premium subscriptions. Which allows new dating apps to step in covering the weak places. Also, it is very difficult for such large products to maneuver with niches to cater to specific target audiences, allowing smaller niche apps to win in specific categories.

As you can see there is room for Tinder clone app development, but creating a dupe is not an option. If you have ideas about how your app will benefit your target audience and how it will help with their needs— you have a very good chance of making a successful product.

Is the online dating niche worth it?

Hard yes! And here are a few reasons why dating app development will never die.

1. The dating market is constantly growing, especially after the pandemic when the usage of online dating spiked by almost double
2. The topic of dating will always be relevant, as starting a relationship online is no longer seen as something weird, but rather convenient
3. People are ready to pay good money to find dates fast and stand out among competitors—only in the 3rd QTR of 2020, there were 6.6M paid users on Tinder

Let’s take a look at more numbers that might help you understand why building a dating app like Tinder will never lose relevance.

Not sure that Tinder can be a great inspo for your new dating app startup? Check out these stats!

Different Types of Dating Apps

There are different approaches to creating dating apps:

1. Casual Dating Apps. Also, known as mainstream dating applications. This type of dating app allows users to find a perfect date just by swiping & tapping on the potential candidate on the interactive feature 
2. Matchmaking Apps. These are usually used for more long-term relationships, where members are looking for partners to settle down with. Therefore the service should have a more private and secure platform
3. Social Network’like apps. Such applications are inspired by popular social media and use their mechanisms to provide services that allow comfortable search and communication with users on the platform

In this article, we will talk about the first approach, which is used by dating apps like Tinder. From our experience as one of the leading Europe companies in IT, such applications are in the highest demand. The gamification of dating makes people excited and curious about the experience.

Inside of the Dating App

To understand how a create a dating app you should know how it works. And the first thing that you must know is:

The tinder algorithm is a two-way process

The 1st part consists of using the user’s real-time location to create a map of potential dating available nearby. The location-based algorithm takes distance and uses it to calculate the real possibility to meet a person in real life.

• It must be precise, otherwise 2nd part of the algorithm won’t function effectively
• It can’t have any issues while implementing the 2nd part, as it is based on any of the critical features

For the secondary algorithm Tinder app developers consider 2 factors:

• How the matches happen
• If a person with a complete profile will be ranked higher

Keep in mind that usually, such algorithms use personal details, like preferences, dating goals, etc. Therefore, implementing them is not a challenge.

Also, there are other tailored algorithms in different dating apps, yet there is NO PERFECT ALGORITHM. Why? It’s almost impossible to predict all daters’ behaviors even using AI technologies.

However, AI-powered dating apps are already popular in mobile app cross platform development and they show great potential.

Step-by-Step Guide on How to Create an App Like Tinder

To turn your creative idea into a dating app, you need to go through the following stages of dating mobile cross-platform app development:

Step 1. Choose Your Niche

That’s the 1st stage of creating a dating app. Even though the competition is tough, you need to analyze various dating apps and find your niche. That will help you build a strategy of how to stand out from the crowd knowing all the drawbacks and weaknesses of your competitors.

For example: Traveling buddies, one-night-stands, sugar dating…niches are almost endless.

Step 2. Select a Business Model

There are different models most Tinder-like dating apps use.

• Premium subscription. Basic features on the site are provided for free, and advanced are pay-to-use. On Tinder, you can see those in profile boosts, advanced swipes, unlimited likes, etc.
• In-app purchases. It can be realized in the gifts feature, as showing different signs of affection is popular on dating sites and apps.
• Ads. Widely used monetization strategy not just for dating applications. It creates revenue on a pay-per-click base, allowing different businesses to run ads on your app.

Which is better? Everything depends on your main goals, and you can discuss the choice of the business model during your free consultation with an OmiSoft specialist.

Step 3. Get Pro Dating App Developers

Nowadays, it is easier to create a product, than to sell it. Therefore, we emphasized so much on finding a niche and choosing a business model.

But, unfortunately, problems often arise at the stage of product development. Therefore, it is important to choose a reliable development team that will provide quality dating app development services on a turnkey basis.

Also, it’s important to have some sort of partnership terms, like offering a share of the product— this usually increases the motivation of the development team to create a product that will succeed.

Step 4. Develop & Launch MVP

After you hire the development team, OmiSoft, of course😉. We will start the discovery phase, which comes with clarification of the project’s requirements, your business goals, and creating a prototype.

The cost of making a dating app like Tinder

Well, the one-fits-all approach doesn’t work here, as the cost of making a dating app like Tinder will depend on the complexity of the functionality, timeframe, and the cross-platform mobile app developer you choose.

Our research showed that the price can vary from $50,000 to $400,000, depending on where is the company in the world and which technologies will be used for the dating application.

We noticed that some Europe tech companies offer to develop applications on Kotlin for Android and Swift for iOs, which leads to dumpling the development cost. We recommend using cross-platform technologies such as Flutter or React Native. They will save you money sometimes up to 40-50%.

Also, if you are planning a Web version of your product—React Native will be a smart choice, as it is very similar to React.js and a big part of the code can be reused.

With a rational choice of technologies, the price of such an application can be approximately $35,000 – $50,000, and it will include:

1. iOS app
2. Android application
3. Admin Panel for application administration

But also do not forget to budget for the further support of the application. You should have at least a minimum room in your dating app budget for it.

DUALS

Duals is a language learning application that allows anyone who wants to learn languages and dialects with native speakers or professional tutors. Also, the tutors themselves can learn other languages using the points they earn for teaching students.

The main goal of Duals is to enable users to record video presentations, use video calls, and have private lessons.

CHALLENGE

The main challenges that we faced:

SOLUTION

Design

The client had a clear vision of how the app should look from a design standpoint.

• UI included the use of a yellow-green color scheme and loading animations
• UX provided a convenient transition between screens, as well as the use of calls in a minimized version of the application

Development

Technologies and Tools used:

• JavaScript
• React Native
• Agora video streaming
• Firebase

RESULTS

The product is in the production stage and is scaling. We predominantly were in charge of MVP development.

The bottom line

Here at OmiSoft is interested in offering our clients the most effective solutions in terms of quality and budget because we strongly believe that our client’s success is our success.

By Yevhen Sakara

CBDO & Co-founder

Nov 18, 2022

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