Chris M
As online dating continues to become a way of life for everyone kept apart by the pandemic, there’s been a glut of apps that want to reinvent the genre. The latest aims to tackle the problem of ghosting.
We’ve all been there – you’re chatting to someone, thinking it’s all going well, then suddenly, they disappear. Stop responding. Completely. And you’re left slightly bewildered, a bit crushed and none the wiser for what happened.
Enter Elate, a new app currently rolling out city-by-city with a plan to change that, by limiting you to chatting to three potential matches at a time. This way, Elate’s theory goes, that you’re only going to speak to someone with a spare ‘slot’ available, and as such, you’re likely to pick people you won’t end up snubbing.
Moreover, in the event that someone stops talking to you, you’ll be alerted by the app and invited to find someone new to fill the vacant chat slot.
The crux, however, could be that anyone ending a chat is asked why. We like to think of this as the closure function. For the ‘ender’ their answer is used to improve their future matches. For the ‘endee’ it gives them more than silence.
At present, Elate is available for iOS only and is rolling out city-by-city. The team are taking suggestions for future cities, so let them know you’re out there, if you’re not already served.
Rather annoyingly, there’s nothing on the site about which cities are already live, but we’ve contacted Elate for clarification on this. It’s currently listed as “Live in the UK”. For US readers, we’ll get back to you when the company gets back to us.
Android users will have to wait a little longer, but you can wait in rapt anticipation by signing up on the Elate website.
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