The future of dating is on our phones. Love is forged online more often than ever, and mobile dating apps like Tinder, Hinge, Coffee Meets Bagel and the Boston-born startup Jess, Meet Ken are growing in both number and popularity, and now, a team of entrepreneurs partly based in Boston has introduced the newest connection-making tool to the mix.
Hint, a new app currently in Beta mode, could change the way you’re used to approaching – and potentially getting rejected by – attractive strangers.
Let’s set the scene. You’re out at the bar with friends, when a certain lady or sir catches your eye. You want to talk to them (you are single and looking to mingle, after all), but a slew of hesitation stops you. What if she tells me to kiss off? you worry. What if I approach him and end up coming off as totally desperate? you might think to yourself. What if she has a boyfriend lingering nearby willing to kick my ass? All common concerns that can stop people from meeting a potential new love interest. It’s a 21st century tragedy.
Hint is the app that will cut to the chase. If you’re a traditional romantic waiting for your movie-scene-ready meet-cute, this app won’t be for you. But if you’re a jaded 20-something as accepting of the digital age as you are sick of rejection, we likely have your attention.
The app’s creators, Patrick McAuley and Faisal Rahman, actually call Hint a “flirting app” rather than a dating app. Here’s how it works: When you go out, wherever you are, you can check into the app, like Four Square, and then upload a new photo of yourself with a description of what you’re wearing that day or night. Then, if you spot a hottie, you can look for them on the app and then send them one of the pre-written messages that will vary depending where you are. At a bar? You can offer the object of your affection a drink, or ask them to dance. At that point, they can either accept or deny, and the two of you take it from there. (Or not.)
Rather than the apps that we’re used to, like Tinder, everything on Hint works in real time. Instead of connecting with someone after flying through a slew of profile pictures wherever you are, you and your possible connections are already in the same place, and you base your connection off of their in-person image. What a concept.
“All other dating apps start with the process on your phone, looking at pictures, seeing if there’s a mutual connection based on that,” said McAuley. “Ours flips that over. It’s based on first seeing a girl or guy you’re attracted to and then using the app to break the ice and make that connection. Now, you’re going up to that person knowing they want to talk to you, knowing there’s a mutual connection already.”
McAuley says the idea for the app came to him during college, after getting fed up of never knowing what might have been with someone whom he was attracted to, but never approached. Because approaching people can be intimidating, as we all know.
“The whole idea is to eliminate that fear of rejection, and make connections happen that other times wouldn’t,” said McAuley. “Ninety-nine percent of the time I would have left that bar, that coffee shop or wherever I am without having introduced myself. And assuming maybe that attraction was mutual, we both would have missed out on the connection.”
Of course, there’s something to be said for the automatic cop-out that the app suggests. Part of the chase is gaining the courage to make the first move and approach someone, but if you’ve exhausted your stash of pick-up lines and have accepted the future of technology, McAuley believes the app will work just fine.
“You have to respect someone for approaching you and introducing themselves, but it’s harder and harder to do that in today’s world,” said McAuley. “Any guy or girl will tell you that it’s hard to walk up to someone and strike up a conversation, not knowing if they have a boyfriend or girlfriend, or are out looking to meet people. You don’t know their agenda, and this lets you know before you approach them.”
If you already use apps like Tinder or Hinge, where singles base connections off of a photo, Hint can be looked at like a natural follow up. This way, the connection is based initially on seeing someone in person, and the app then serves as a way to see if someone is open to meeting you, too. According to Rahman, it’s a “natural and realistic” way to meet people, as opposed to other apps, and as McAuley puts it, it eliminates the “creepy factor” of having to set up a time and place to meet someone who is essentially a stranger.
“With Hint, you’re already at the same location. If you make a mutual connection you just walk over and say hi,” said McAuley.
See? It’s as simple as that.
If you like the idea of Hint, you can help support their launch on their Indiegogo page. And if you’re looking to meet new people in Boston, the team is hosting their first event this Saturday, February 22 at 9 p.m. at the new Financial District spot Central Wharf Co., where guests will be asked to download the app upon arrival to connect with others, and giveaways and free drinks will be handed out for a limited time. For more details, click here.
Learn more about Hint in the video below.
