A slew of dating apps over the years have tried to lay claim to the title "Tinder for Seniors." There's been SilverSingles, SeniorMatch, and OurTime—all of which, let's face it, sound a little depressing. If you've never even heard of them, it's probably because none of them have posed a real threat to Tinder, even among the older crowd. But the latest challenger to hit the market is called Lumen, and it's got at least one great new feature that sets it apart, and gives it a real chance of catching on.
First of all, only those who are 50 or older are allowed to join, which means it finally creates a space that's exclusively for a previously underrepresented group of dating hopefuls. "What we wanted to do was kind of ring-fence all the over-50s," Lumen co-founder Charly Lester recently told Yahoo. "By putting them all in the same place, but giving them a very similar experience to the experience they're getting on the other apps."
But the real game-changer is that it requires users to upload a selfie in order to verify their identity—a unique feature that reduces the risk of catfishing and makes it unique. "When you sign up, you have to take a selfie to verify who you are," Lester said. "Which no other dating app does."
While that might mean fewer users, it also reduces the risk of falling victim to a scam, and—ideally—creates a community of older people who have real substance and are looking for serious companionship (which, prior to Lumen, didn't really exist).
But that's not the only feature that makes it an app that seems to focus on quality over quantity.
You have to upload at least three photos, which is useful because by now we know that how great you look in your profile picture depends on the angle of the photograph. There's also a minimum character length for the messages and a limit to how many matches you can contact, so people can't just spam hundreds of users without even reading their profiles in a frantic game of Russian Roulette like they do on Tinder. You only have 72 hours to respond to someone's message, which is good for those of us who have a "I'll answer when I have the time" attitude and end up missing out on the potential love of our life.
Lumen launched in the UK last fall and it's only recently made its way across the pond, so it's hard to say as of now how successful it is. But, for what it's worth, the app has a 4 star rating on the Apple store, and many of the reviews are glowing. Its overall intention of using an old-school approach to modern dating is also refreshing, given that studies have shown that—as alluring as it may seem—having too many options to choose from can actually limit your chances of meeting The One.
And if Lumen doesn't sound like a good fit for you, why not check out The Best Dating Apps if You're Over 40?
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