The Grade is an innovative dating app that uses as its tagline, “meet a higher standard.” To do this, they utilize the power of peer reviews to improve not only the user experience — but also each individual member’s overall online dating performance. If the idea of a “Yelp” for online dating intrigues you, read our following review of The Grade dating app. It will provide you with a better idea of how the app works, allowing you to determine if it’s a good fit for you.

— Pros and Cons —

Pros

• Highly innovative
• Improved match possibilities
• Free version is powerful
• Available for iOS and Android devices
• Great at avoiding trolls, creeps, and pests

Cons

• Requires synching to Facebook
• No desktop version available
• Requires large population centers to yield the best results

— In-Depth Review of The Grade Dating App —

Knowing that your actions are being graded can make you apprehensive. After all, who hasn’t been nervous when waiting to get a grade for a final exam or the results of a work performance review. However, if you think about it, these sort of evaluations have more positives than negatives. Think about how peer reviews on restaurant and hotel review sites go a long way in helping you make a decision about where to eat or where to stay. The same holds true when you read reviews about items that you intend to purchase. When placed in that context, peer review evaluations are very beneficial.

If you ever wanted to have access to this type of peer review information on a dating site, the dating app known as “The Grade,” offers you just that.

— Available Platforms —

The Grade is available as a native mobile app for Android and iOS devices. It can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

On the App Store, it has an overall rating of 3-stars. On Google Play, it has an overall rating of 2.9-stars.

On both of these repositories, those who left positive reviews made frequent mention of the innovative approach to online dating taken by The Grade. Those who left negative reviews made mention of technical snafus, such as not being able to log in or problems when trying to upload pictures. Others added that there weren’t enough people on the app.

During our testing, we installed the app on two Android devices and two iOS devices. During a 72-hour period of testing, we did not encounter any technical issues with the app. In our experience, the app was fluid and reactive to our input at all times.

— Registration Process —

In order to facilitate the registration process as well as to have a basis of authentication of new users, The Grade dating app requires you to sync your new account to your existing Facebook account. The Grade allows you to adjust the amount of information that is shared between both apps.

— Okay, How Does It Work? —

By now you probably want to know what’s the secret sauce behind The Grade dating app. What makes it special? In terms of the underlying matchmaking engine, The Grade will be very similar to other location-based discovery and swiping apps. You will be presented with suggested matches that The Grade’s algorithm determines to be suitable for you. You can either accept or reject these suggestions. When the both of you accept, a match is made and you can communicate with each other.

You must be saying to yourself, “well, that doesn’t sound so original.” In that regard, you would be right. However, what gives The Grade it’s unique edge is based on how it dynamically grades and evaluates each member. Everybody receives a grade in three categories: their profile, their messaging skills, and a peer review.

These three individual grades are then used to calculate an overall grade for each user. If a user reaches an overall grade of an F, they are expelled from the service.

That’s right, if your performance and actions on The Grade dating app cause you to fail — you will be out. This creates a user base that is vetted and minimizes awkward online and in-person encounters. Among our testers and among the public in general, female users of The Grade were more likely to state that this was a real plus for them. So much so that it would make them use the app over others in the marketplace. As some have stated, “it removes the creeps.”

— Grading Procedure —

The Grade’s own algorithm calculates the grade for your profile and messaging. When it comes to your profile it uses the depth of detail that you provide, as well as the quality and reception of your profile picture. This means that if your profile grade is not where you want it to be, you can take action and see what improves your grade. We found this to be useful, not just on The Grade dating app, but in determining what picture to use in the future on any online dating site. It’s real dynamic input.

The messaging grade is determined by your quality of writing — yes, poor spelling and grammar count against you. It also takes into account your response time to messages. Imagine how much time you could have saved on the other dating apps if you were able to filter out those individuals whose writing made them difficult to understand or who took days to respond to a simple question.

The peer review grade is — as its name suggests — determined by other users that interact with you. Every time you message another user you will be given the opportunity to leave a peer review. The app will ask you a question, such as “is this a quality person?” when you conclude your interaction. Not only do you get to answer the question, but you can also leave up to five descriptive hashtags regarding the person on their profile.

The ratio of “yes” to “no” answers received on a variety of questions is what determines your peer review grade. With regards to the hashtags that can be left on your profile, in the event that you feel that they inadequately represent you, they can be toggled on or off from your user settings.

Every time there is an interaction with another user, you must answer these review questions. If you refuse to do so, you must provide the reason for not doing so. Otherwise, failure to leave a peer review will negatively affect your own grade.

— Cost —

There is no direct cost for using the main features of The Grade dating app. However, if you wish to interact with other members without making a mutual match, you are limited to sending the person a “flirt.” They can then choose to engage in a conversation with you or not. These “flirts” have a cost. Ten flirts will cost you $4.99, 75 flirts $24.99, and 200 flirts $49.99.