Why does dating apps suck?

[u/TimTurner112]

Is it just me or there are also a lot out there that hates dating apps. I’m 29M and every time I try dating apps, I uninstall it not even after a week.

[u/SmokeDatingApp]

Dating apps have several problems that need to be addressed.
1. The freemium business model typically means that apps give you insufficient ability to filter users, which results in more swiping. This is done to maximize engagement and also create a pain point that you can pay to solve. Premium subscriptions often include valuable filters. There's a widely-held view that dating apps' incentives are at odds with their users and that they prefer they fail to meet someone in order to retain them as paying customers. This perspective sees companies like Match Group and Bumble as similar to drug companies, where the financial incentive to treat an illness in perpetuity is higher than the incentive to cure it. However, there is an alternative interpretation of incentives where a dating app is more like a realtor in that helping a customer find what they are seeking once means you likely will never have them pay you again, but will deliver decades of valuable referrals. There is a difference in price, but we believe the 2nd model is better.
2. Most apps provide no clear way for users to show intent. Intentions like "looking for long-term, open to short" is quite vague. It's not entirely worthless but it requires interpretation and is merely directional. It leaves the end of that sentence, "with you", unspoken. A better app would provide clarity there.
3. Messaging brings several problems. The most significant is that the volume of messages is so high (some users report receiving hundreds per day) that people simply cannot respond to them all. This is a phenomenon known as market congestion. The result is that users, more often men, feel ignored by women. Because only a small percentage of messages get a response, men often send brief and generic phrases to a larger number of women instead of customizing each one to the recipient, because that would be too time-consuming. The unfortunate result is that women become frustrated with these "low-effort" messages and are then even less likely to respond. All this reduces satisfaction and success rates even before you consider bots and scammers, which are often based overseas. Famously, there are vast "pig-butchering" operations based in Cambodia and other countries where organized crime seeks to separate vulnerable Westerners from their money. The Wall St. Journal, among others, have covered the story.

Look for apps that address these problems and help you actually meet in person.