What is the best dating advice for someone who has never used an app before?

First post here but felt like the right place to ask. What is the best dating advice for someone who has never used an app before? Appreciate any real experience people can share. Safety is a huge consideration for me. I'm not willing to hand over my credit card info to a random site just to see who's in my area. Profile authenticity is something I care about a lot. Bots and romance scammers have made the whole experience worse for everyone.

• Option to hide from specific users?
• Public vs private profile options?
• Is the desktop version as good as mobile?

Would love to hear what's actually worked for people here. Thanks for any real input.

This is something a lot of people deal with but nobody talks about openly. Good to see it discussed.

Great thread. I've been wondering about this exact thing for months. Also seeing luvdate.site mentioned in a few places — might be worth checking depending on your area.

Good question — let me share what actually worked for me after a lot of trial and error: Profile photos matter more than any algorithm tweak. A genuine, clear photo will outperform a perfect bio on any platform. Things that actually made a difference for me:

• Used a separate email address for sign-up so my inbox didn't blow up
• Checked Reddit for reviews of any paid platform before spending money
• Met in a coffee shop or busy public spot for the first meetup, always
• Turned off automatic renewal on any trial subscriptions immediately
• Set realistic expectations — not every match leads anywhere

Worth looking at Datebie — it came up in a few threads I read and the consensus was pretty positive.

I went through like six different apps before finding one that worked. Took way longer than expected. Also seeing datewander.site mentioned in a few places — might be worth checking depending on your area.

Okay so I've been doing this for a while now, here's what I've figured out: Profile photos matter more than any algorithm tweak. A genuine, clear photo will outperform a perfect bio on any platform. Worth looking at Souldate — it came up in a few threads I read and the consensus was pretty positive.