I'm not doing particularly well, am I? I'm still very much available, to my somewhat dismay, which means I get to sample more online dating apps. Tinder came up with nothing, Coffee Meets Bagel didn't work, maybe these services will. Today, we're looking at Happn, and breifly at Hinge as well. It's a double-whammy of desperation!
Hinge
First up, Hinge. It's an app that apparently has been seeing a huge popularity in Europe that uses your Facebook account and friends list to connect you with single friends of friends. Like I was saying last time, I have had better dating luck meeting said friends of friends in real life, so Hinge seems like it could be a real contender. It takes the awkwardness of trying to hit on people you've never met in real life that you share a friend with and makes it easier to see if they're single and what they're into. Sounds like a winner!
I can't lie, I am a little curious to see who I haven't met who already know the terrible friends I have. Maybe I'll reconnect with someone I have completely forgotten about from my school days. Let's not waste any more time; let's sign up and get this on the road!
Oh. Well, fuck that, then. So, Happn. Let's do that instead.
Happn - Day 1
Happn immediately addresses the other problem I had last time: Location. In fact, location is Happn's gimmick. This app works by using your phones location services, much like the ones you use for GPS and Facebook check ins, to search for and collect profiles of other Happn users. Think of it as Nintendo StreetPass, but for dating. You collect peoples profile as you're out and about and can interact with them once you have entered a certain radius with them.
But first, you have to sign up and create your profile.
But first, you have to sign up and create your profile.
Like Coffee Meets Bagel, Happn is also very light on the details, although I did like the feature of being able to list some of your favourite music. So, once you've told them your basic details, it's on to using the app!
Ah. Right. Yeah, because the app works on proximity and I haven't gone out today, there isn't actually anyone to match me with right now, unless a substantial amount of Happn users all march past my house like the worst kind of flash-mob. I guess we'll have to wait until I actually set foot out of the house.
Day 2
Seeing as I journeyed out of the house, the app has jumped into being useable! A simple drive to work and a journey to a pub in the evening was enough to make the app useable.
Forgive me if I'm using screenshots from later days, by the way, I did have an SD card based mishap during the writing of this article.
Straight away, I cannot recommend this app to hermits or people who do not venture far from home. The app is far more suited to people who commute and are already social. Think of it as a bolster to an already active work or social life. Due to the fact that I work close to Birmingham, the app was pretty usable after a single commute.
As you can see above, there are two thing you can do with Happn once you pass by someone: Heart them or Cross them. If you Cross someone, the profile will disappear from your Happn front page completely. As far as I'm aware, they then will not reappear. Alternatively, you can Heart them, which will then register your interest with the Happn team. Or you can do nothing, you don't have to act straight away.
Therin lies my first problem with the service: much like Coffee Meets Bagel, you cannot contact anybody unless you BOTH Heart each other. I get why this is a popular method of thinning out your options, but it sure as hell makes it hard to evaluate the service.
Straight away, I cannot recommend this app to hermits or people who do not venture far from home. The app is far more suited to people who commute and are already social. Think of it as a bolster to an already active work or social life. Due to the fact that I work close to Birmingham, the app was pretty usable after a single commute.
As you can see above, there are two thing you can do with Happn once you pass by someone: Heart them or Cross them. If you Cross someone, the profile will disappear from your Happn front page completely. As far as I'm aware, they then will not reappear. Alternatively, you can Heart them, which will then register your interest with the Happn team. Or you can do nothing, you don't have to act straight away.
Therin lies my first problem with the service: much like Coffee Meets Bagel, you cannot contact anybody unless you BOTH Heart each other. I get why this is a popular method of thinning out your options, but it sure as hell makes it hard to evaluate the service.
Day 3
A striking thing about the service that I do like is that you can re-pass with people multiple times and each separate pass comes with it's own opportunity to send a charm.
I should explain, a Charm is a way to let another user know that you have already registered your interest in them, but using a Charm, you can give them that extra push to open a dialogue with you. Think of it as taking flowers to a date, I guess. It's an extra incentive. Of course, Charms have the value of absolutely nothing, can be redeemed in no way and do not affect your profile in the slightest... which is why Happn charges you for them.
I should explain, a Charm is a way to let another user know that you have already registered your interest in them, but using a Charm, you can give them that extra push to open a dialogue with you. Think of it as taking flowers to a date, I guess. It's an extra incentive. Of course, Charms have the value of absolutely nothing, can be redeemed in no way and do not affect your profile in the slightest... which is why Happn charges you for them.
All things being equal, Happn doesn't charge as extortionately for its credits as other services do (Looking at you, Coffee Meets Bagel). However, it is still playing for a currency that holds no real world value and could easily still not work. Purchasing credits to use for Charms (From what I can tell, a Charm does equal a credit, but I have had instances where it took two) will get you more noticed by people you've passed in theory, but can still easily be ignored.
The app has the generosity to load you with just over 10 credit to get you started, which I'd commend if the value of a Charm was consistent. I'm open to the idea that I encountered a glitch with my credits, but it would be a problem for anyone who parted with real life money for these credits if they behaved differently than advertised. I'd also commend it more if there was a way to earn free credits. Which there isn't. Happn doesn't take social integration into account, and would much rather you pony up the cash to get yourself noticed.
The app has the generosity to load you with just over 10 credit to get you started, which I'd commend if the value of a Charm was consistent. I'm open to the idea that I encountered a glitch with my credits, but it would be a problem for anyone who parted with real life money for these credits if they behaved differently than advertised. I'd also commend it more if there was a way to earn free credits. Which there isn't. Happn doesn't take social integration into account, and would much rather you pony up the cash to get yourself noticed.
Day 4
Another thing I can tall you about those bullshit Charms is that you're able to send multiple of them to people you cross paths with multiple times. And all of them can be ignored. To try and get a response out of someone so that I have something to write about here, I blew all of my credits Charming people, which also involved me Charming the same girl for the past 4 days. Not a peep. I'm willing to accept that my face probably had some part in that silence, but it's infuriating to write about when I can't chronicle a full and proper experience. Jesus, girls, some of us are trying to write about dating apps here!
Anyway, I was playing about with the preferences today to see if I was able to increase my chances of a good pass. That's when I Happn'd (Eh? EH?!) on this setting.
Anyway, I was playing about with the preferences today to see if I was able to increase my chances of a good pass. That's when I Happn'd (Eh? EH?!) on this setting.
As a default, you're set to match with pretty much anything that still has a pulse. Which is great, in theory. However, it goes to demonstrate how very few people are using this service. And I do think that with more users, this service could have some potential, but given that the app is already programmed to look for anything that has the app installed on it, the pool of users is very low.
That and the preferences here are very bare and stripped back. Gender, age, done. It's not even possible for me to look for anyone who frequents the places I do, so with like a pass history function, or a 'Most passed location' feature. Stuff like this would improve the app so much. You could find places where you are more likely to pass with people, or see if that pass was just a one-off or if two users could genuinely meet through a shared love of one location. Instead that kind of potential is squandered to make the app more streamline and simplistic. To confirm any of this date, you just have to, well, Happn on it (EH, GUYS?! EH?!).
That and the preferences here are very bare and stripped back. Gender, age, done. It's not even possible for me to look for anyone who frequents the places I do, so with like a pass history function, or a 'Most passed location' feature. Stuff like this would improve the app so much. You could find places where you are more likely to pass with people, or see if that pass was just a one-off or if two users could genuinely meet through a shared love of one location. Instead that kind of potential is squandered to make the app more streamline and simplistic. To confirm any of this date, you just have to, well, Happn on it (EH, GUYS?! EH?!).
Day 5
This also ties into day 4, but my pass list is looking incredibly healthy after a night out in the centre of Birmingham. This is the view half way down my quite padded pass list.
I come back to what I was saying a few days ago: This app does work best if you live in a densely populated metropolitan area. Birmingham is a great example, and I imagine that living in London, Manchester or Liverpool would work equally well with this app. For best results, you do need to be making an effort to go into parts of your town where more people can be found. The comparison to StreetPass continues. Much like how I will take my 3DS to places like Comic Con and MCM, I would probably consider using this app in nightlife hotspots like Broad Street or in the Bull Ring during the day.
At least in my case though, this hasn't led to any interactions beyond sending out random Charms. This app suffers from the same problem that Coffee Meets Bagel and Tinder had before it: You cannot open any kind of communication channel with anyone until it is mutually agreed that you can do so by both parties. Like I said, I understand why, but it does make even a 'hello' withheld behind an act of consent, which seems all too backward in the modern age of super-fast dating.
So, what do I think of it all?
At least in my case though, this hasn't led to any interactions beyond sending out random Charms. This app suffers from the same problem that Coffee Meets Bagel and Tinder had before it: You cannot open any kind of communication channel with anyone until it is mutually agreed that you can do so by both parties. Like I said, I understand why, but it does make even a 'hello' withheld behind an act of consent, which seems all too backward in the modern age of super-fast dating.
So, what do I think of it all?
In Conclusion...
With some tweaks, Happn could be a great dating service. Allow for a limited 'ice breaker' message period, fix the accuracy of the proximity service, add a history or hot-spot feature and I could see this app really taking off. It kicks Coffee Meets Bagel into fits and I honestly prefer it to Tinder just based on the kinds of people who are using it.
That being said, my final criticism lies with the lack of a fully kitted out preferences menu. I left a lot of people on my Happn list un-interacted and deleted some because they were totally not what I was looking for. You can try and counter-act this by only going to places that you would like to have a common interest in people with, but the proximity service is fairly inaccurate. That and it is possible to get passes from people driving past your house. Living near a motorway has mean that I get passes just by going to the bog.
Happn feels fairly underdeveloped right now, but time may change it as the service grows. If more people knew about the app, I'd hazard a guess that it may improve and see new features added. But only time will tell. Who know what could Happn? (GUYS. GUYS, SERIOUSLY, THIS PUN, GUYS!)
That being said, my final criticism lies with the lack of a fully kitted out preferences menu. I left a lot of people on my Happn list un-interacted and deleted some because they were totally not what I was looking for. You can try and counter-act this by only going to places that you would like to have a common interest in people with, but the proximity service is fairly inaccurate. That and it is possible to get passes from people driving past your house. Living near a motorway has mean that I get passes just by going to the bog.
Happn feels fairly underdeveloped right now, but time may change it as the service grows. If more people knew about the app, I'd hazard a guess that it may improve and see new features added. But only time will tell. Who know what could Happn? (GUYS. GUYS, SERIOUSLY, THIS PUN, GUYS!)
By Mike Owen
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of our podcasts, and currently pens Pop Culture Club and The Death of Video Games.
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of our podcasts, and currently pens Pop Culture Club and The Death of Video Games.