As  Chinese millennials immerse themselves in their careers, hoping to move up the socioeconomic ladder and provide a better standard of living for their families, they find that there is little time to spend on dating and finding Mr or Mrs Right. Online dating sites have become a fairly established and frequently used method for single men and women to meet each other; however, online dating sites lack convenience and are usually paid services. Convenience is a bit of an issue as users are typically only able to access their accounts on their own personal computers (ie. outside of work). Mobile dating apps however, have begun to fill that gap, and can offer users a solution to both the issues of cost and convenience.  

Photo: *passenger*

Thanks to the explosive growth in smartphone usage in China, mobile dating apps are probably here to stay as they offer users two major advantages over website-based dating services. First and most importantly, it offers users a more convenient way to connect with their potential partners. Users of these mobile apps can access their profiles and browse other people’s profiles whenever and wherever they please. In addition to accessing their profiles, it allows users to stay in touch with their potential love interests throughout the day. Second, the apps are completely free to use, meaning you don’t have to pay to message people who may or may not work out. So what are some mobile dating apps in China and how do they work?

Listed below are three popular mobile dating apps, and two popular apps that can be used for dating purposes:

1) WeChat – Most of us are familiar with WeChat, now the second most popular messaging app in Mainland China. In addition to messaging functions, the app allows you to search for people in your area and also allows users to maintain a blog along with some photos. WeChat is not a dating app, but an app that many use for dating purposes.

2) QQ – The most popular messaging app in mainland China right now, it allows users to write and maintain their own blog/diary, as well as photo album.  Like WeChat, QQ itself is not a dating app, but one that has social features suitable for finding dates.

3) MoMo – Similar to WeChat and QQ in functionality but has the reputation of being China’s “hookup” app. MoMo has a dedicated “nearby” function page and user profiles also contain a relationship status (ie. Mostly single)”.

4) Bilin – Bilin is a new mobile dating app on the market that uses a location based functionality to find potential partners. The main difference between Bilin and MoMo is that Bilin allows users to not only message one another, but to also make internet calls to people they are interested in.

5) Zank – Zank is also a new mobile dating app, but one that has a specific audience in mind – gay men. Very similar in functionality and features as MoMo, it offers a very extensive selection criteria for users, ranging from personality type, to body type, height, weight, etc.

How they work

All of these mobile dating apps have the following features to help their users find and connect with potential partners: messaging, location, photo album and blog/mini blog. Typically, users follow these steps to find and contact others they are interested in:

Step 1: Use the location feature to find men/women near you.

Step 2: If you like his/her profile, send a message to the man/woman you are interested in.

Step 3: If he/she likes you enough either through your profile or the conversation you have with him/her, take it to the next level: meet up in person!

One thing to keep in mind as you browse through your “nearby” features on your mobile dating apps is that many visible profiles are not people you can potentially contact for dating purposes. Some are businesses selling clothes/cosmetics, while others are the online accounts of nearby brothels and/or prostitution services.

Unique characteristics of each platform

WeChat

- Can only locate people who have recently used the nearby feature themselves

- Has more than one “nearby” feature

- WeChat has a “Drift Bottle” feature:

   - Throw a thought/message out into the internet and wait for a reply, OR

   - Pick up someone else’s thought/message and reply to that

2) QQ

- Very similar to WeChat in the sense that you can only locate people who have recently used the nearby feature themselves

- Can also look for nearby groups in addition to individuals

3) MoMo

- Reputation for being the hookup app

- Can locate all people nearby rather than only ones who use the nearby feature

- UI optimized for dating

   - Profile has relationship status

   - More filtering options for nearby feature, but only available to paid users (can segment by age, occupation, relationship status, etc.)

4) Bilin

- Only people you give permission to can call you (you can only call people who give you permission to)

- There is a “call anytime” feature that allows you to call or receive calls from anyone nearby

- Focus is very clearly on meeting anonymous, nearby people

5) Zank

- Specifically tailored for the Chinese gay community

- Many options to filter search results, which are free

- Can find events that will be hosted nearby by other users

Which platform is the most effective mobile dating app?

As the lives of young white collar Chinese people become busier and busier thanks to work, they have to increasingly find ways to save time in other areas of their lives.  Because all Chinese social media platforms have similar feature sets – nearby-location/profile/picture album/status/messaging – the most effective mobile dating app seems to come down to how these messaging apps’ user interface is built, how they market themselves, and who their user base is. The user interface of WeChat and QQ gives one the feeling that instant messaging is the main feature, whereas the user interfaces of MoMo, Bilin and Zank all place emphasis on finding nearby people and getting in touch with these people.

The mobile dating app space is still in its early stages, and it’s very possible that a new well funded startup such as BeeTalk in Thailand and Taiwan could swoop in and start grabbing a big chunk of the market share.

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Keywords: mobile dating China dating apps in China Chinese dating apps