Have you ever looked at someone and thought that you’d totally be down to fuck them later, but you don’t think you’d ever want to see them again after? Have you ever looked at someone and thought that you’d date the shit out of them, but you’d feel uncomfy hitting it and quitting it? Well, the people at DOWN dating seem to understand this line of thinking
DOWN is a dating app that seeks to help you communicate to matches whether you’re down to get down or if you’re down to date them. I’ve found that this confusion between whether you or your match is down to bang instantly versus if they’re down to date can really screw-up dates. Because what if you’re not looking for the same thing and you just assume that you are?
In an effort to avoid the discomfort of mismatched expectations again, I decided to make a profile… and here is my comprehensive review:
First Impressions
The icon for the app was the first thing that caught my eye. It’s a pair of parted lips that are in the shape of a pink heart. Not only is this super cute and eyecatching, but it’s simultaneously suggestive. The lips definitely look like a – erm – different pair of lips or like they’re open for another purpose. Either way, the great graphic design goes a long way!
The app is fairly easy to navigate. However, there are a lot of tabs that are visible along the bottom for average everyday users that are meant for VIP users. I know that this is their way of showing you what you’re missing by not upgrading, but I found it cluttered and annoying. As far as profiles go, they’re simple. Just a few photos and basic information… I find the lack of bio kind of troublesome.
Features
If you don’t upgrade, it seems that the app functions as a basic swiping dating app. You can either pass on someone or like them and hope you match. Then there’s a messaging page where you can communicate with those who’ve matched with you. It feels very Tinder/Bumble-esque. That seems to be the main function of the app. Everything else that the app offers is paywalled for VIP members.
Pricing and membership details
DOWN Private access is what they call their premium service. They promise that you will get ten times the amount of matches that you’d get without the upgrade. With VIP you’ll be able to see the people who’ve shown interest in you before you make a decision on them. You’ll also be able to filter your matches by location.
DOWN Private access will run you $19.99 a month.
On top of that, they also have the option to buy DOWN coins. They allow you to send “Crushes” and skip the match stack for someone you particularly like. You’ll appear on the top. Plus you’ll be able to boost your profile. This will show you to more people, and you’ll be the first on everyone’s stack in a certain area.
Pros
The app is fast and functions well: I don’t have any complaints about how the app works. It didn’t cause my phone to crash – which a lot of lesser-known dating apps tend to do – and everything seemed to work seamlessly. The swiping animation worked well and didn’t get stuck or didn’t glitch at all. All in all, the app seems to be very well put together.
Cons
Everything is paywalled. Everything on this app seems to be paywalled, and I’m not happy about it. I really hate that there is some odd location block feature that doesn’t seem to do anything really. At almost twenty bucks a month it seems like you’re paying for the kind of thing that would be free on other apps or at least would be significantly cheaper on other apps.
In my opinion, what you’re paying for is kind of bogus. I’ve seen apps charge the same amount of money – if not less – for access to dating coaches through their app (shout out to Hinge). That’s the kind of thing I’d be willing to pay for not the ability to be the first one on everyone’s match stack. I just think their upgrade is bullshit.
It doesn’t do the down/date thing! On their website, the site is advertised as an app where you can decide if you’d be down to get down or if you’d be down to date when you match with someone… but the app doesn’t actually do that! I thought that this was super cute and creative feature that could help people understand the other’s intentions before going out together! But it seems that they don’t even allow you to do that!
I tried swiping the cards in every direction, and you can only swipe right to like and left to pass. Quite frankly I feel lied to, and it makes me angry at the app, and its developers.
I keep getting shown the same people. This app is one of those that will cut you off after a certain number of swipes in the effort of curating the right matches for you – but my theory is that they’re trying to get you to upgrade. I’ve been on this app for several days now, and every day I get shown the same people I swiped left on the day before… in almost the exact same order.
I’m not sure if they have a tiny userbase or if they just don’t have any actual real users and they’ll all fake… I found myself super frustrated with the app. Either way, I felt like I was getting cheated out of actually finding someone online.
Conclusion
Honestly, I was really disappointed with this app. I thought that the down verses date feature would have been really cool and quite useful, but I don’t know what happened to it. I’m not sure if that feature is something you have to pay for (though it’s not advertised as an upgrade on their site, so I’m convinced it just doesn’t exist) or what.
But the app works. so I can’t complain too much.
3/5 stars.