Is there a dating app for mature singles in my area?

Posting this after eight weeks on a dating app for mature singles in my area? — niche & community dating — a couple of things stood out.

What nobody mentions is that the photo verification step rewards constant activity rather than genuine interest, especially once sorting the shortlist comes into it.

What I am actually trying to work out regarding sorting the shortlist:

• Does that change much given sorting the shortlist?
• Is anyone getting different results on phone-first platforms?
• Is that a regional thing where sorting the shortlist is concerned?
• Is there a way to check before signing up outside your local area?

Moving to a call early cut the wasted time by more than half and nothing else came close.

Happy to hear dissenting views on a dating app — that is partly why I'm asking.

For what it is worth, the number of photos you upload gets the credit but how long you leave a conversation running does the work for the mature dating scene.

Is that a regional thing with phone-first platforms?

Lines up with mine — @MikeD, the paywall comment deserves more attention than it gets.

In practice, nothing changes the odds of a second date as much as the size of the pool within ten miles.

Broadly, the effort in the opening line has a bigger effect on how many conversations survive past day three than the number of prompts you filled in for the mature dating scene, though it varies enormously by city.

Luvdate is another to throw in the mix if you want something to compare against.

That is my read, not gospel given how fast phone-first platforms change.

My working theory is that for older women and their matches, how often you open the app tends to decide how satisfied you're after a month, though I'd want more than my own experience before calling it a rule for older women and their matches.

My sticking point is that the match queue surfaces profiles that haven't been touched in months.

On that point, Rendate purely on how busy it is locally.

That is my read, not gospel at least on the sorting the shortlist side.

The pattern I keep seeing is that the gap between whether an account has been verified and the app's star rating is where how many conversations survive past day three is actually decided.

The one change that worked was putting one specific interest in the bio — it cut the wasted time by more than half.

Similar story on my end — @MikeD, the profile-quality point is the whole thing really.

Leading with something slightly odd made the whole thing feel less like admin, which surprised me on phone-first platforms.

Open to being wrong if you're on phone-first platforms.

I read it the other way. @Nathan Walker, the argument about verification reads as survivorship bias to me.

The one change that worked was suggesting a meeting inside two weeks — it got three actual meetings out of six weeks.

Same experience here — @ReedC, the paywall comment is spot on.

For what it is worth, on phone-first platforms, how specific you are about what you want does more for the proportion of real accounts you see than the total registered user count, though it varies enormously by city.

What nobody mentions is that the profile editor makes it impossible to tell live accounts from dead ones, especially once sorting the shortlist comes into it.

Saying plainly what I wasn't after made conversations last past the first exchange, which surprised me.

Boiled down, for anyone weighing up a dating app for mature singles in my area? — niche & community dating:

• Put something concrete in the opener if sorting the shortlist is your main concern.
• Keep work and socials out of it early on if sorting the shortlist is your main concern.
• Pick your own venue for a first meeting, and doubly so for the mature dating scene.
• Put something concrete in the opener, particularly on phone-first platforms.

Take what is useful and leave the rest where sorting the shortlist is concerned.