Sick of the same old dating sites? 5 fresh new apps to try this year

Whether you’ve just come out of a relationship and are looking to meet someone new or you’ve been single for a while, it’s easy to become jaded by digital dating.

Part of the problem is that the most popular apps have a tendency to copy each other’s features, so after a while they all end up looking very similar, and you see the same tired lines about looking for a ‘partner in crime’ or someone who ‘doesn’t take themselves too seriously’ over and over again.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. A host of new apps are shaking up the dating scene with their novel approach to matching, messaging and more.

If you’re looking for love in 2022, here are five exciting apps that will help you on your way…

1. String

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Love chatting but hate texting? On String, you’re only allowed to send voice notes (or react with emojis), which takes away the pressure to craft a killer opening line and lets you discover what matches sound like before you meet without having to commit to a phone call.

2. POM

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Music obsessives, this is the dating app for you. On POM (which stands for ‘power of music’) you link your Spotify or Apple Music account, answer six questions, then an algorithm suggests potential dates based on your taste in tunes and, most importantly, your emotional reaction to music.

You can send songs to start a conversation and find out if music really is, as Shakespeare said, the food of love.

3. The Sauce

How do you show off your own unique ‘secret sauce’? With videos, according to this app.

Profiles on The Sauce are made up of short clips instead of photos, with users saying it reduces the chance that you show up on a first date and discover someone who looks nothing like their old/heavily edited/carefully posed photos.

4. Jungle

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Did you know that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ love story began when they were seeing other people and went on a double date?

Jungle can’t promise it will match you with a Hollywood movie star, but the app is all about dating in pairs, so grab a single friend and you never know where that first encounter might lead…

5. Snack

Priding itself on being ‘Not your parents’ dating app’, Snack is only available for users aged 18 to 35, meaning Gen Z daters don’t have to worry about awkwardly coming across an older colleague or relative while scrolling.

Plus, the app has a clever anti-ghosting feature: users who reply to messages promptly are bumped up while those who don’t will have their profiles ‘deprioritised’.