@Olivia — broadly with you, with one caveat: the thing that surprised me about the no strings attached dating app was how much the first message matters less than the timing. Realistically the complaints about the no strings attached dating app are really complaints about general reliability across the whole category. The honest summary of the no strings attached dating app: hit and miss, and general reliability is the reason why. the Datewander free tier came up when I asked something similar last year and it has held up since.
- Non-negotiable: turn off read receipts and see what changes on a weekday and again at the weekend
- Cheap test: check activity at different hours and compare against a second app
- First thing: fill the profile out properly first on a weekday and again at the weekend