Are MeetMe and Skout the Same App?

No. They are two separate apps that ended up under one owner. MeetMe announced it would acquire Skout, and it said it expected Skout to stay a separate brand and a standalone mobile app after the deal closed. So the names are linked, and the apps are not the same.

The announcement described Skout as a leading global mobile network for meeting people. The plan it stated was to keep Skout running as its own app, not to fold it into MeetMe.

It also made a claim about the audiences. MeetMe said the two apps share less than 5 percent overlap among their monthly active users. That is the company's own figure, given at the time it announced a deal, so treat it as a company statement and not as an independent count.

An overlap that small, if it is true, explains the choice. A company that owns two apps whose members are mostly different people gains reach by running both, and loses reach by merging them.

For you as a user, the plain meaning is that a woman on one app is, by that statement, mostly not on the other. They are two pools, not one pool with two doors.

MeetMe's own help center describes MeetMe as a place that uses social discovery applications to connect you with members near you. It is a social app with dating mixed in, not a pure dating app, which is why you do not swipe your way to matches the way you do on Tinder or Hinge.

MeetMe's terms say it does not run criminal background checks or identity verification on its users, so the app is not vouching for anyone you meet there. That is true of many apps in this space, and it means you check people yourself.

Pick by where the women you want to meet actually are, not by the name of the owner. The practical test is to install the app, look at who is nearby, and see how many look like women you would want to meet.

Whether either app is still listed in your store is something the store will tell you in a minute. The announcement is a statement of intent from the time of the deal, and the store is the live answer.

If both are available and you want to test them, give each a week with the same best photos and the same kind of first line. Then count replies and plans. My rule for every site and every paid feature is to test it and drop it if nothing moves, and that rule applies here exactly.

The small overlap makes running both a reasonable idea, if you have the time. Different people means different conversations. But two apps also means twice the messages to answer, and a man who spreads himself over several apps often ends up with several thin conversations and no date.

A better order is to start with the one that shows you more women you would genuinely like to meet, add the other only if the first is working, and keep a note of which produced plans.

The app is the smaller factor. The lead photo, the rest of your set and a first line worth opening decide most of it. My point about messages is that women ignore far more men than they answer, so a "hey" gets nothing on either app.

Use one real detail from her page, add a little humor, and finish with a question she can answer in a line. Keep the exchange short and suggest a time and place within a few texts, around four to seven. That works the same on MeetMe, on Skout and anywhere else.

They are different apps, the company said it meant to keep them that way, and it said their users barely overlap. Choose the one that holds more of the women you want, test it for a week, and keep the one that produces dates.