Dating App Users Trend Towards “Bossy” Apps With Limitations
A new wave of dating platforms is turning the conventional swipe-left, swiping culture on its head by encouraging – or even demanding – users surrender control to foster more purposeful, in-person connections. Surpisingly, many of these apps are seeing decent success because of this shift in their approach. As users generally begin to burn out somewhat with superficial dating experiences, app that force a more controlled approach are often growing instead.
As outlined in The New York Times, apps like Breeze, Cerca, and Cuffed share the same ethos: limit matches, strip away mindless messaging, and push users toward real-life interactions. Breeze, for instance, eliminates chat entirely until shortly before the date and automatically schedules dates at vetted partner venues, while Cerca matches users via phone contacts so that potential dates are one or two degrees removed from existing social circles. Tribal simply blurs photos for three days after matching, forcing users to rely on things other than physical appearance.
In other words, by removing some of the freedom and choice presented by more open-ended apps that are simply about matching with other profiles freely, these apps create more organic opportuntiies for conenction. Platforms like Left Field have been created specifically to avoid swiping entirely and focus more on chance encounters.
These apps address growing dating app fatigue, a trend that critics and users attribute to endless swiping, superficial connections, and burnout. By introducing constraints – few invites per day, forced dates, minimized messaging – they promote dating that’s more intentional and less transactional. While not every user feels the same way, these apps have seen an upswing in their user bases as a result of how they approach dating differently.
While still niche in terms of raw user count compared to giants like Tinder, this shift signals a broader reorientation in online dating – from infinite choice toward curated authenticity. While exact figures still aren’t clear due to many of these apps being independent projects, it’s clear that many of them are seeing enough success to keep expanding.
