What Dating Apps Are Good for 19-Year-Olds?

Try Hinge, Bumble and Tinder first. All three take adults, so at nineteen you are old enough for every one of them. Pick two, give both the same good photos, and keep the one where women actually answer you. The app matters less than you think, because at your age you are surrounded by women your own age every day, and the apps only add to that.

None of these apps shares how many users it has by age or by town, so nobody can tell you which one is fullest where you live. What you can compare is how each one feels.

a dating coach says Tinder has a hookup reputation, and that Hinge and Bumble have more of a relationship feel. He also says that in US cities Hinge tends to do better than Tinder. Those are his observations, not a ranking of who is on what near you.

Hinge starts a conversation from a like on one photo or one written answer, which gives you something specific to say. On Bumble the woman has to message first, so you wait for her. Tinder is the fastest to use and the easiest to overdo.

a dating coach points out that people in high school and college date more than people after it, for a plain reason. They leave the house, go to class, and bump into women in ordinary life.

At nineteen that still describes you. The woman in your seminar, the girl at the climbing wall, the friend of a friend at a party are all closer to a date than any match is. My own college story is worth knowing. He was far from the coolest guy on campus, yet he had more dates than almost anyone, because he talked to women he did not know.

So treat the apps as the second channel. Say hello in real life, ask for a number, and use the apps for the women you would never have crossed paths with.

Men your age tend to use whatever is on their phone. A group shot where she cannot tell which one is you, a gym mirror selfie and a dark night out make up the usual set.

a dating coach's first fix for a man who gets nothing is his photos, and he says it is not mainly about your face. Clothes that fit, a decent haircut and a good photo took him from no results to results. He has watched it work for ordinary-looking men and good-looking men alike.

Replace the set with one clear, recent photo of your face in daylight, then two or three that show how you spend a week: friends, a sport, a place you go. An afternoon outside with a friend holding a phone does more than switching apps ever will.

It is tempting to like every woman who appears, just to see who likes you back. a dating coach says this backfires. The apps rate you partly on how selective you are, and a man who likes everybody can be read as less attractive, so he is shown less.

Like the women you would honestly be glad to take for a coffee. You will send fewer likes, get a better feed, and spend your time on conversations you want.

At nineteen, the safest opener sounds like every other nineteen-year-old's: a greeting and a question about her week. Do better with one specific line. a dating coach prefers commenting on something she wrote, such as a prompt answer, over a photo, because it looks more genuine and less shallow, and he keeps it short.

Say what you actually think about the thing she wrote, and give her something easy to answer. A short, slightly funny reply to her prompt starts a real conversation, and a real conversation is what leads to a date.

A woman is far more likely to say yes to something small. If bars are not an option for you yet, a coffee between classes or a walk near campus works fine, and it gives you both an easy way out if the chat is flat.

Suggest it after a short real back and forth, not after two weeks of messages. Name a day and a place, and keep it to an hour. Meet somewhere public and tell a friend where you are going.

Twenty or thirty minutes a day is plenty. Open the app, answer the women you want to talk to, send your plan, and close it. Nineteen is a good age to learn this, because the habit of living your life first and checking the app second is exactly what makes a man more interesting to date.

If you try two apps for a few weeks and nothing happens, change the photos before you change the app. A second pair of eyes on your set usually finds the problem fast.