New app Propeller utilises your phone’s Wifi direct to constantly scan for profiles of people you have passed by.
And the app will also work when you have no signal, and it doesn’t require a cellular network, wifi or GPS to work.
Propeller uses Wifi Direct, which creates a peer-to-peer connection that transfers data directly between devices, much like bluetooth.
Other dating apps such as Mingleton have tried this hyper-local technology before, but Propeller marries this with a functionality similar to French app Happn.
The difference however is that Happn collects profiles of people you pass between 1 and 500 meters, and requires a wifi or 3G signal to work.
As it uses Wifi Direct, Propeller will only pick up the users you have passed within a 50m radius, even if you are without signal.
When you login to Propeller, it opens the locator and the app runs in the background, constantly scanning and picking up new profiles throughout your day.
If it detects other users, their profile picture is added to the app’s activity log, which you can view later on to see the users you have encountered.
From here, you can add the profiles to your favourites and can send out messages.
Unlike many current dating apps, you do not need to sign up via social networks like Facebook or LinkedIn, and the app only shows a profile photo, not your name or age – unless you choose otherwise.
Misha Sokolnikov of Propeller said: “Unlike other online dating apps, people don’t have to constantly search for virtual matches. Instead, they simply carry on with their daily routine, and the app works in the background to help them meet the interesting people they come across in real life.”
The app was created by Sokolnikov and Vitya Litvinov – from San Francisco and Moscow – in 2013, and there is a team of 10 working on the app.
Find out more about Propeller here.