How Do You Sign Up for Tantan?

You register a Tantan ID, tie it to a mobile phone number or an email address, and answer a few questions about what you are looking for. Registration is free. You have to be at least 18, and the number or email you use cannot already belong to another Tantan ID or to a banned account. That is the whole process, and the part worth your attention comes after it.

Tantan's terms set out the requirements plainly.

• You must be at least 18 years old to register.
• You create an account by registering a Tantan ID and binding it with a mobile number or an email address.
• That number or email must not already be registered with another Tantan ID, and must not have been banned.
• Registration is free, and the terms describe it as using preliminary information such as an email address and password.

Know before you start which number or email you will use, because the account is tied to it. Pick one you will keep and can still reach in a year.

1. Download Tantan from the app store your phone offers for your region. Use the version you are shown. Do not go looking for a different regional version to get around anything, since that breaks the app's rules and can get your account removed.
2. Choose to register and create your Tantan ID.
3. Bind it to your mobile number or email address, and confirm it if the app asks you to.
4. Set a password.
5. Answer the basic dating questions it puts to you.

After you register, Tantan asks a few basic dating related questions, which it calls Dating Intention, and the terms say it uses your answers to create your profile.

This is the step men rush, and it is the one that shapes who sees you. Answer it the way you would answer a friend who asked what you want. If you want something serious, say that. If you want to meet people and see what happens, say that. An honest answer sends you the people who want what you want, and it saves you the conversations that were never going to go anywhere.

A vague answer produces vague matches and a month of nothing.

The terms say Tantan can also connect to a social account, such as Facebook or Instagram, for logging in or uploading information. It is optional. Before you connect one, think about what you are handing over. Whatever you link, check what Tantan can see, and keep your real details to what you are comfortable having on a dating app.

The terms also say Tantan may change the registration and contact binding options. So if the screens you see do not match this list exactly, follow what the app shows you. The principle stays the same: an ID, a number or an email, and a few questions.

A few things make the first session count.

• A clear photo of your face, in daylight, that looks like you on a normal good day.
• Two or three more photos that show an ordinary week: somewhere you go, something you do, someone you spend time with.
• One honest sentence about what you enjoy, written so a person could ask you about it.
• A first message you can adapt, since free members have a limited ability to send and read personalized messages.

That last point matters. Tantan's terms say a free Basic member has only a limited ability to send and read personalized messages. You can send as many predefined messages to matches as you like. Plan your first messages so each one asks a question about something specific in her page.

Do not judge the app on the first evening. Tantan sends recommendations rather than giving you a list to search, so what you see depends on who the app thinks fits.

Give it two weeks. Count how many matches you get, how many turn into a real conversation, and how many turn into a plan. a dating coach's rule is to change one thing at a time and keep what works. Change your photos first, then your first message, and watch what moves.

The terms say Tantan may be unable to provide matches for everyone and makes no promise about how many you will see or how often. Take that seriously. A quiet first week is normal on any app, and it says more about the app and your area than about you.

If you get nothing after a fair try, use the time for another app instead of paying to fix it. Spending money to rescue a weak start is how most men end up with a subscription and no dates.

Be 18 or over and download Tantan from your own app store. Register a Tantan ID and bind it to a phone number or email that has never been used or banned. Then answer the Dating Intention questions honestly. Then give it two weeks of real use before you decide whether it is worth another evening.