Are you tired of the swipe-based dating apps? Vouch is a new mobile dating app that applies a different twist on the swiping app concept. Unlike the zillion of other apps out there, Vouch brings your friends and family into the mix. They are the ones that do the swiping for you and determine who you connect with. Is this a good idea? Is it genius or fallacy? We reviewed Vouch to help you reach your own conclusion.

— Pros and Cons —

Pros

• Free on iTunes
• Innovative spin on the swiping app concept
• Smooth and trouble-free user interface

Cons

• Exclusive to iPhone devices
• The concept takes a little getting used to

— Full Vouch Dating App Review —

When you are single, there are a few things that you can count on. One, you don’t have to worry about anyone hogging the blankets. Two, you have complete possession of the remote control. Three — and perhaps the most consistent — your friends and family will be giving you advice about who you should date every chance they get. It can’t be helped, it’s embedded in our genes.

Yes, just like the speed of light is the maximum speed in the universe, friends and family meddling into your love life is also an accepted universal constant. There is no need to fight it — resistance is futile. Instead, why not harness that meddling nature and use it to your advantage.

The same way that modern landfills capture methane from rotting garbage to create renewable energy, the Vouch app captures what is normally an annoyance — meddling friends and family — and turns it into an asset. At least so they claim.

— Getting Vouch —

Vouch is currently available only as an iPhone app. The developers state on their official website that they are “currently focused on iOS, but plan to develop and launch an Android version as soon as possible.”

Downloading Vouch is free via iTunes. At first glance, it does not appear much different from countless other dating apps. Installation is smooth. For the small percentage of people that are still using iOS 8, be advised that Vouch requires iOS 9 or higher.

— Registration —

In order to register an account on Vouch, you must link it to your Facebook account. There are no alternative methods for registration. Vouch pulls in your first name, age, job, and school information — as well as images — to create the foundation of your Vouch profile. They also use your Facebook account as a method of authenticating your identity and lowering the number of fake profiles on their system.

— Your Vouch User Profile —

All of the essential information for your user profile is pulled in from Facebook, but you can edit the fields related to your education and occupation. You can do this to supplement the information that was imported or to eliminate it entirely. You can also add whatever information you feel is pertinent in your personal bio section.

From the user profiles that we saw, it seems as if the majority of the current users leave their profiles untouched. Approximately a third of the users take advantage of the personal bio section to try and capture an essence of their personalities.

— How Vouch Does Its Magic —

Vouch relies on its unique ecosystem to generate potential matches for its users. This ecosystem consists of two key roles — the “vouchers” and the “daters.”

The user seeking a dating partner is the “dater.” Each dater is allowed to invite up to four friends or family members as vouchers. You should think wisely about who you should invite for this crucial role. Remember, it is your vouchers who will be determining who is a quality match for you. Our advice to you would be to make certain that they are trustworthy and that they know you well.

In order to be a voucher, that person must have the Vouch app installed and be a registered member. Some users on Vouch are there solely for the purpose of acting in the role of vouchers. They themselves are in a happy relationship — they have no desire to be daters themselves.

There are no gender or location restrictions for those whom you select as vouchers. They can live in your same area or halfway around the world.

— The Matchmaking Process —

When your vouchers visit the app, they are presented with a series of profiles that Vouch believes would be a good match for you based on your location and other algorithmic factors. Your vouchers then can swipe right to agree that they would be a good match for you, or they can swipe left to pass on them. Vouchers also have the added option of forwarding any of the profiles that are presented to them to another dater for whom they are also acting as a voucher.

When at least one voucher representing each of the two daters that are being matched like the opposing dater — both daters will be notified. This also opens up a seven-day time window in which both daters may use Vouch’s chat platform to start a private conversation.

Additionally, vouchers may communicate with their dater friend at any time via the Vouch platform. They can also like their dater’s pictures and add “vouches.” These vouches are short bio snippets about the dater from the voucher’s perspective. They are meant to augment the daters own bio and help present the dater in a more positive light to prospective matches.

— Cost —

Vouch uses a “freemium” model for its monetization. That means that its core functionality is free. However, if users want additional features, such as the ability to add additional vouchers or to restart a match that you allowed to expire, these services are available for a fee. Additional voucher slots will cost you $5.99, match restarts cost 99 cents.

— User Experience —

In terms of the user interface, Vouch is smooth and intuitive. Our gripe would be that it is not available for Android. Our testers were mixed in their opinions regarding the overall concept. Half found it innovative and thought it was a fun and engaging way to find potential matches. The other half thought it to be silly and stated that they would never consider using such an app in real life. Something tells us that the general population will also have this same polarization of opinion. They will either really love it, or really hate it — no middle ground.