[cjs_ac]

If I recall, there was a dating app that showed you profiles of people you'd crossed paths with that day - so, basically a conventional dating app with a novel algorithm for choosing which profiles to show you. If I'm understanding you correctly, what you're suggesting has minimal profiles; it just notifies you that a given person is nearby and that you might want to talk to them.

I can see two problems with this. The first is enforced synchronicity: I can't scroll through profiles when I've got a few minutes; if I want to make a match, I have to act on the notification right then and there. For users who live in large cities, the overwhelming majority of their notifications will occur when they're commuting, doing a food shop, eating out with friends, etc., which aren't great times for chatting up someone. The second problem is safety: users who misbehave aren't doing anything they wouldn't have done without your app, but because your app was involved, you're the one that takes the reputational damage.

There was an entirely tech-free attempt at this sort of thing called the Pear Ring, which was a turquoise rubber ring to be worn on a finger that indicated that you're single and ready to mingle. The fact that the Pear Ring website no longer exists and web searches only return lifestyle magazine websites telling us it's the future of dating suggest that it didn't work.

[momoelz]

how about adding a matching on/off switch?

for example you go to an event and turn it on and thus make urself "matchable" so it would simply make rejection disapear

the difference between this and the pear ring is the simplicity of an app that you can download and start using instead of purchasing an extra item that you have to wear

[cjs_ac]

The problem with an on/off switch is that you have to open the app to change the setting, which means that most people will have it off most of the time. I don't necessarily think the Pear Ring is a better idea than yours; I only raised it to show that other people have tried these low-tech ways to improve dating and have also failed.

If you think about how meeting new people currently works, there's a bit of sizing people up to decide what sort of chances you have or whether they're a creep before you decide whether to go and talk to them - I think that's the crucial aspect your idea is missing.

[momoelz]

i thought this is mitigated by setting preferences? I feel like a lot of people get creeped out by mismatches rather real creepy people. So I thought having set some preferences like what the other should like/interests background and so on should prevent meeting creeps

[JohnFen]

Shared likes and interests are very poor indicators of whether or not the other person is a creep. They're not even very good indicators of whether or not the other person is a good match, to be honest, but at least there's a bit of correlation there.