Love instead of likes? Freiburg flat share residents develop new dating app

Swipen, liken – and then? Often radio silence or worse: offensive news. Two flat share residents from Freiburg want to change that. Your app promises more real encounters instead of matches.

Like many millions of people in Germany, Laura Borsoi had registered in Dating apps in search of great love. But instead of great encounters, she gets a lot of disrespectful and assaulting news and far too many likes that she can no longer do justice to. Together with her Freiburg roommate Jonathan Köbelin, she developed the idea for her dating app “Nova Meet”.

Swipen and Liken: Consumption on dating apps

Swiping or liking is the principle of many current dating apps. In just a few seconds, users can usually use images to decide whether they are interested in a person or not. If both give each other a like, a match is created and a chat is activated in which they can write together.

But the reality is often different, even with a match, the chat often remains empty. “I basically don’t write first,” some men write in their profiles, others complain that they hardly get likes from women. Many women, on the other hand, feel overwhelmed by the amount of likes, matches and news. You can’t do it justice. Sometimes you have conversations with five people at the same time, explains Borsoi. One of the consequences of this is often ghosting.

Do you use dating apps?

Yes, I’m on dating apps.I was once, but have since deleted it.Not so far, but maybe I’ll try it out.No, it’s nothing for me!I was lucky about a dating app.Submit

Dating frustration instead of dating lust

“Ghosting is a huge issue. You write to a person and they don’t write back. Or it starts a conversation and you actually think it is going in a good direction and then suddenly nothing comes anymore, “said the 27-year-old.

Disrespect, completely unsubstantiated and over-the-top messages are often the order of the day for dating apps. A situation that Laura remembers today: When a man asked her after a short “Hi” to greet her if she could sit on his head. “Why? Why can’t you just get to know a person as normal, we’ve never seen each other before. I also ask myself: has anyone ever drawn this? I don’t know that it ever worked. “

Frustration as drive for dating app “Nova Meet”

Lack of respect, exaggerated expectations or dating profiles that do not match reality, cause data frustration for Laura as for many users and even lead to one for some Online dating burnout. In addition to her dating experiences, Laura Borsoi repeatedly exchanged ideas with her roommate Jonathan Köbelin in the shared apartment (WG): He suggested developing a new app together. “We noticed that people are struggling with the dating apps that are on the market. Online dating per se was not the problem, but the bad experience. “

Text instead of matchen: This is how the dating app works

Instead of endless swiping out of boredom or to polish up your own self-confidence, the users of “Nova Meet” are only shown a limited number of profiles. “There are eight for men and twice as many for women,” explains Jonathan Köbelin. With one heart women can draw attention to the fact that they would be happy to receive a message from the other party: “Unlike Bumble, for example, where women have to take the first step, we had the impression that women would like to be contacted,” explains Jonathan. In line with equality and according to the motto “the woman is herself”, women can also take the first step and send a message.

Tinder, Lovoo, Bumble & Co.Online dating: With these tips you can soon stop swiping!

And the men: they have little other choice than to send messages to the women. Because without swiping – no match either. They only have around 400 characters for the first impression. A license for disrespect and assault? With the help of emojis, “Nova Meet” gives women the opportunity to assess the quality of the chats and conversations. “This is only for men, for women we have not seen this problem with dating apps,” said Köbelin. These reviews are then also visible to other women in the men’s profiles. This should also benefit those who may not have received as many matches so far. You can score here with likeable first news.

Dating app: get to know each other and stay together

“So the most important goal for us is that people get to know each other and stay together,” says Köbelin. Therefore, the developer duo is not concerned with keeping people on the app for as long as possible. Instead, think about another app that couples can use to organize their living together and work on their relationship. Because also when dealing with each other: Whether in a relationship or in dating and on other topics such as sexuality or feminism, the two offer help in their app. Short articles on a topic or podcasts that should get people on a love course.

The big dating apps are all stock corporations, it’s about profits, numbers and sales. I think that has little to do with love.

Jonathan Köbelin, co-founder of the dating app “Nova Meet”

There is therefore no payment model at “Nova Meet”. You want to try to use the app free of charge for as long as possible or maybe finance the app through advertising. “Because love shouldn’t cost anything,” so the two are already satisfied when the app carries itself at some point. “We think you don’t have to make a billion profit every year, for what? Who needs the money? “Said Köbelin.

Dating apps: User numbers and interest apparently decrease

The apps are particularly popular with 25 to 34 year olds. Half of them have already been online, as a YouGov survey from 2024 shows. 36 percent of the younger ones are also on the apps, 35 to 44 year olds are 38 percent. The most successful dating apps in Germany include Bumble, Lovoo, Tinder and Hinge.

The latter apps belong to the world’s largest player in the online dating market: the “Match Group”. It unites over 40 social networks. The Match Group generates almost all of its income through subscriptions. Only a small part through advertising. But the big hype with online dating is currently experiencing a downward trend: the number of users and the willingness to pay are decreasing. At the most popular “Tinder” app in 2023, around 10.6 million users still had a subscription, compared to only 9.1 million people at the beginning of this year. The download numbers also go back to many dating apps.

Pineapple in a shopping cart: More dating in real life

All the more, actions that are supposed to bring people together in real life seem to be in vogue. In a supermarket in Waldbronn (Kreis Karlsruhe), customers should be in addition to eggs and milk also find love for life with the help of pink shopping baskets. If you choose a pink shopping basket instead of a black one, you signal: I am open to flirting.

In many big cities in Germany that is “Friends pitch” currently very popular. As part of a presentation to an audience, singles are advertised by their friends. In the end, visitors can contact the presented singles.

In a supermarket chain in Spain, people let fruits and vegetables speak for themselves – in the hope of a “jucy” encounter. With a reverse pineapple in the shopping cart, singles want to lure other singles to the rendezvous in the wine department. If you still have a salad head in the car, please indicate: I am looking for a one-night stand. Lentils stand for the desire for something permanent; a melon symbolizes the desire to have children and a nudge with the shopping cart is a match.