This New Dating App is Maine-Made and Isn’t Based on Looks

Editor's note: This article was written by a Townsquare Media Northern New England contributor and may contain the individual's views, opinions, or personal experiences.

Dating in 2022

We hear it all the time from all different kinds of people -- dating these days sucks. And it seems like most of the worst stories come from dating apps. It's either full of liars, people not actually interested in a relationship at all but just a hookup, people who don't at all look like their profile pictures, or the occasional idiot that thinks it's cool to start a convo by sending a d*** pic right off the bat.

Diving even deeper into it, whether it's Tinder, Bumble, Plenty of Fish, or any of the other hundreds of dating apps, most of them lead with looks first. You open up the app, immediately see pictures of other (hopefully) single people, and swipe one way if you find them attractive or another way if you don't.

Granted, physical attraction is important. And feeling that way doesn't make you a superficial clown, it's just how it is. But physical attraction isn't everything, and one Maine man has created a dating app to exploit that.

Cardinal Dating App

Andrew Howes is a 22-year-old Mainer that, first off, is clearly genius enough to create and develop an entire dating app. But the purpose behind the app is a mix of giving people actually interested in dating and finding a relationship the chance to do so with personality and a possible connection coming first, and looks coming second.

Andrew also mentioned that part of what drove him to create this app was that many of his fellow Gen Z'ers are apparently feeling lonely, regardless of the friends and people they have around them.

Match Based Off Date Ideas

The unique part of the Cardinal Dating App is that it actually starts the matching process between users off with a date idea. If your ideal date is jumping out of a plane and hoping your parachute opens, the app leads with that information in hopes of matching you with a fellow daredevil. More of a low-key person that enjoys a night in with board games and wine? Match with another homebody by leading with that information first.

Looks Are Secondary

As described on the Cardinal Dating website,

...physical attraction plays a role in overall compatibility, but we treat it as a secondary step in the matching process to encourage users to take a chance and accept people for who they are.

The app allows you to see who likes your date idea, which also allows you to see their profile, their interests, where they're from, and what makes them, them. From that point, you can choose to match with them and gain access to sending them a message, or move on with no issues, drama, or nasty messages that leave hurt feelings.

Supporting Local Businesses

The other cool thing about Cardinal Dating? Once a larger amount of people in a given area start using the app, they'll reach out to local community partners to promote local events as well as create and provide discount codes for dating hot spots.

Local singles possibly turning into local couples that then go and support local businesses? How do you not route for this app to blow up huge?!