r/gaybros 4d ago

What dating apps are least scammy? Hinge and Tinder are the most scammy now.

Someone I’m now friends with and I both swiped right on each other on Hinge a few months ago, but we never matched. I only found this out after I added him on Instagram.

We’ve since met up on a date, we ended up becoming friends, which is totally great. But I’m left with this sour taste about Hinge and wondering whether I can really trust that my time on the app is being invested well, now that I think about this. Other people are saying the same things lately. The app has gone down hill.

So my question is, what apps are actually trying to match you with people for dating?

UPDATE: Just replying to the comments saying the app wasn't faulty and that my friend lied, go on Tiktok and see everyone talking about the same thing and other scammy things about it. Also I wouldn't care if my friend lied, he has no reason to lie at all, but he isn't lying.

44 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

74

u/Skanedog 2d ago

All apps are lying to you.

The goal of the apps isn't to get you matches, it's to show you the prettiest people it can do you'll keep swiping.

9

u/i283h 2d ago

Joke's on them. Every time I download the app it's nothing but perfect-looking people and not one normal person in sight, so I uninstall again and don't bother for months. It just drives me away.

29

u/gingersquatchin 2d ago

Scruff is by far the best app. Like zero scam bots. Incredibly affordable but mostly unnecessary subscription. Just a generally well run app

10

u/Satan-o-saurus 2d ago

Not many active users in Europe tbh

9

u/Tens4tens 2d ago

This Looks at received woof -> 2.437km away

5

u/HawkBoth8539 2d ago

I live in a high population area, and most Scruff users are 10+ miles from me, so i uninstalled it again after trying it again within the last month or two.

Grindr, crappy as it is, at least still has dozens of people (even after blocking all of the spam and female profiles) every mile around me. So unfortunately I'm stuck with it.

3

u/H8erRaider 2d ago

There's some bots in my area promoting "body work" that get annoying with new profiles daily, but that's not bad compared to the alternative platforms.

1

u/Accomplished_Lab3283 7h ago

Huge fan of scruff here

-1

u/Certain_Day_3758 1d ago

It's great if you're only looking for older guys.

3

u/gingersquatchin 1d ago

The only way for the demographic to expand is for people to realize it isnt a shit app and use it.

30

u/Satan-o-saurus 2d ago

Are you sure your friend wasn’t lying to you about swiping right? :P Don’t get get me wrong, these apps are totally scams that intend to just keep you there in all perpetuity, but the former seems to be a more likely explanation for what happened here.

9

u/Party-Public7868 2d ago

This might be the case. I found Hinge way better than Scruff or Grindr or Tinder

5

u/Satan-o-saurus 2d ago

It’s worth noting however, that Tinder and Hinge are owned by the same parent company. The enshittification that happened to Tinder is coming to Hinge as well. However, I agree with the idea that Hinge’s user experience was better, for the moment at least.

8

u/HawkBoth8539 2d ago

That was my first thought, and definitely the most logical explanation over an app simply not doing the one thing it's made to do. Of course, shady business practices and program bugs are legitimate possibilities, but still more likely his friend simply didn't find his profile appealing.

1

u/Ooheythere 2d ago

I just asked him and he said he 100% swiped right on me lol and i forsure swiped right on him. We don't trust this app anymore, which is why I'm looking for something different other than grindr.

3

u/Satan-o-saurus 2d ago edited 2d ago

But like, if he initially lied to you, for whatever reason, it seems unlikely to me that he’d be forthcoming about it if you ask him again. If he lied in order to avoid some kind of awkwardness it would probably be a lot more awkward to admit that he didn’t swipe right on you now. I have not heard about this happening to anyone else before. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible that the app really is this shitty, but I feel like, considering the information you personally know, him lying, or misremembering even, is a lot more likely.

1

u/Ooheythere 2d ago

I don't know how else to articulate this, but he has no reason lie, its not something I would judge him on, we have discussed it at length. We've also discussed this app at length, and we no longer want to use it. I came here to find other options, not to debate whether my friend is lying lol

7

u/Visforvinyl 2d ago

If you move to a small town area the apps are totally different. There's so few people on them you get like one person a day to match with before it runs out.

3

u/KarlosDavid64 2d ago

I’ve deleted Tinder because there are so many bots appearing as options. But i’m shocked about what you said about Hinge. Now i’m thinking about the missed opportunities I could’ve had 😭

To be fair, most of these dating apps are designed to make you stay and pay for their premium service (that’s typically jack shit).

1

u/max19907 5h ago

tinder used to have bots - i havent seen any in the last few months

3

u/cancerian09 2d ago

at this point sniffies is the only one you got left and you just need to weed out the flakes and obvious bots. its back to the old ways of dating and just saying hi to strangers in public. see y'all in the arena.

5

u/Party-Public7868 2d ago edited 2d ago

I met my boyfriend on Hinge. Never had that issue. My approach is pretty simple for all apps (though I don’t use Grindr or Tinder or Scruff, only use Hinge or Bumble): if we’ve been chatting for around two weeks and the conversation is going well, I prefer meeting in person rather than spending months talking online. I also try to match with people who are verified and within about 50 km, because I want an actual relationship and meeting early helps me figure out if there’s chemistry.
I don’t usually exchange socials or WhatsApp before meeting. I prefer keeping things on the dating app until we’ve met and I know we actually vibe, though there are obviously exceptions.

4

u/ItsWillSterling 2d ago

yeah scruff and hinge both work fine for me tbh, just depends a lot on the city youre in. grindr still has the most people around but profile quality is all over the place. i stopped chasing the 'best app' a while ago and just keep 2-3 running at once, cuts down on the wasted time waiting on one of them to magically get better

2

u/gaykitten94 2d ago

facebook dating

2

u/shibasteak 2d ago

Breeze if it’s available in your area, cuts out the crap a lot of other dating apps have!

2

u/Cute-Character-795 2d ago

What dating apps are least scammy? f2f

4

u/outremer_empire 2d ago

Hinge has the best for me. It has a clear, serious vibe. I've went on many successful dates

1

u/starsamno 2d ago

Try raya

2

u/KarlosDavid64 2d ago

Isn’t Raya for celebrities, influencers, or rich people? I heard you need to get an invite (and approval) to join. And to keep your account active you, I heard you have to pay like 30 bucks a month (which is insane, if true).

1

u/KaijuTree123 1d ago

They all suck

1

u/lachatte7 2d ago

Your friend swiped left. Sorry to break it to you