Top 5 Dating apps for Indians
Dating in India was limited to sending friend requests on Facebook. And then waiting for the request to be accepted. That was all online romance meant. But, things have changed. Online dating has become norm today. Indians have been looking for the best dating apps for relationships. There are many online dating websites. Moving ahead from the matrimonial sites of the years gone by, finally Indians have come out of age and looking for best dating apps. We will check out our top pick of best dating apps.
Online dating and online dating sites have become a regular feature of the social life of new generation of Indians. Dating websites were never a fad before, but nowadays increasing number of Indians across a wide age group have been trying to find love online.
There are currently many dating apps in India but most of them tend to be the run of the mill kind. Looking at the popularity of online dating websites and the free dating apps, it seems the time has ripened for online dating in India. Here goes our top five pick of the best dating apps for India.#1. Tinder
Think of online dating and Tinder is the first name that comes to your mind. And that is why it is the first app in our top pick. Tinder is the most popular dating app in the world. 
Time magazine has labelled it as the "World's Hottest App". There are a couple of reasons for its popularity. The app lets you decide who can message you. It means you have complete control over Who wants to "match" you. The app boasts of over 9 million matches.
Tinder needs your Facebook account to sign up. It relies on your Facebook profile. The Facebook profile is used to create and verify your Tinder profile. This lets you get a clear idea of other Tinder users and their actual social profile. In addition to it, Tinder offers you personalised settings for setting up your own preferences for dating. The app has a wide range of options to make dating on Tinder a pleasurable experience.
Tinder also has premium version named Tinder Plus. The premium version lets you change the location manually. This would be helpful if you do not want your location to be identified. The Plus version also lets you undo the action in case you have mistakenly liked a person.
There are more male users on the app than the female counterparts. A few female members stated that male members resort to abusive behaviour when their date request is denied. That could be one of the reasons for the less number of female members. Also the app is found to log out when there is no Internet connectivity.#2.TrulyMadly
TrulyMadly boasts of a 4.5 million matches till now. Here again just like on Tinder - the female participation seems to be quite on the lower side. However, the app makes dating a "fun" activity. It introduces various fun activities to the dating.
TrulyMadly has a few games within the app. A couple of them worth the mention are "Hocus Pocus", "Foodie Funda" and "Styletastic". You also get stickers as in the instant messengers. Setting up the account is quite easy. You can either log in via you Facebook account, or using your personal email ID.
To begin with, once you sign up with the service - you will need to create your profile. You will need to enter a few basic details like your name, age, location etc. The registration also requires you to enter your hobbies in the form of hash tags. You can use the preloaded hash tags or create your own. TrulyMadly is a little strict with its verification procedure. It won't allow you begin dating unless you have minimum verification score of 30%.
Getting these 30 points is a bit tedious. The score depends on the various profiles you submit. The best option is to add as my of your details as you can. Add your phone number, your LinkedIn profile or your photo ID.
The app uses a Trust Score to evaluate your profile. The Trust Score is awarded based on rating given by other members evaluating your interaction with them. There are a couple of safety precautions too. The app lets you turn off the visibility of your profile. You can set it to be visible only for those with whom you have chosen to talk to.
The app has many safety features. It will not let you take screen shots of the photos nor will it allow you to download them. The provision to set visibility of your profile as described above is a plus point. It does use a cent percent verification based on your social network profiles, photo ID, mobile number etc. TrulyMadly claims that this information is kept confidential.#3. Woo
Woo is a completely Indian dating app. It matches people based on their interests. You can meet people who share your interests. In fact, it is a truly matchmaking site as it does not depend on horoscopes, but the common interests.
The completely Indian dating app has one feature common with its international counterpart - Tinder. It needs your Facebook account to create a new account on Woo. The app also pays enough importance to the safety and privacy concerns. Woo has stated that it verifies every profile received and only authentic profiles are retained on the database.
Boasting a two million user base across India, Woo wants to have mature and responsible relationships. More than a dating site, it works as a matrimonial site with difference. As the CEO Mr. Sumesh Menon says, "..... more about meaningful relationships than a casual date or a hook up....We only display the initials of the person..."
But, the app has a few downsides too. It keeps asking you to invite friends. It could be somewhat annoying. Then it pushes you again and again to ask questions. Having to share your Facebook profile exposes you to people not known to you. However, apart from that the app is really most suitable for the Indian users.#4. OkCupid
This is a straight forward app, in a way. It caters to a much wider audience. OKCupid straightaway asks you questions about your sexual orientation in clear terms - whether you are straight, gay or bisexual. 
It is based on search algorithm. It asks you a few questions to ascertain your hobbies and interests. It gets much deeper into your preferences. It also seeks to gain more information into your drinking and smoking habits as well. In fact, the app is best suited for those people who look forward to serious kind of relationships.
The app wants you to answer as many questions as would be possible. Though it appears a bit annoying, once you complete the complete profile, it would help you get more precise match searches based on your submissions. OkCupid has a premium version labelled A-list. Similar to Tinder Plus, the premium feature offers additional functionality. The paid version lets you view all your visitors. It also lets you search for more specific filters.Floh
This is not a traditional app, but a Web based service. And yes, you will not be able to register on the site straightaway. You need to have an invite to be able to register for Floh.
It isn't that easy even after getting an invite. Once you get an invite and register - your profile is screened. If you are verified based on your profile, you will be accepted into the fold.
Floh offers you a paid service. Once your profile is accepted, you will be provided a link for the app. You can search for profiles based on your interests. It analyses your profile and presents matching ones based on 42 different factors. But, the service does not come cheap. It costs you around Rs. 7000 per three months! A premium service in the real sense of the word. There are around 3000 active users on the service.
To sum it up, CEO Mr. Siddharth Mangharam says,".. on an average we have a wedding through our network each week... 55% of our users are women.."
And to conclude...
Though not a unique concept, online dating has been getting more prominence in this age of always online life. There are apps for everyone. Whether you are looking for serious relationship or into casual friendships, there is a service for every need. The need of the hour is the safety. If safety is not compromised, our top picks of best online dating apps for Indian users should be the ultimate one.
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