Faster, slicker, and packed to the rafters with all kinds of fresh features, the new app is something quite special and a product we’re particularly proud of. Dating on the go is about to get a whole lot better. Shall we take a closer look?

Delightfully user-friendly design

It’s incredibly easy to navigate your way around the new FreeAndSingle app, with the simple design putting all the important features in all the right places. Pressing the menu button reveals three key icons across the top – your messages, your likes, and your views.

In two taps from the load-up screen, you can see your love mail, the users who’ve sent you a playful nudge to indicate their interest, and daters who’ve snooped at your profile. There’s also the addition of the cool MeetLovelyMe feature, where you can flick through profiles quickly, swiping in a particular direction to like or decline.

Complete control of your notifications

Our app lets you get as much or as little info from the FreeAndSingle community as you like. You can choose to receive email notifications whenever someone views your profile, sends a message, likes you, or uploads a new photo. You can receive mail when a new member signs up too, with site update information also being sent straight to your inbox.

Push notifications for your mobile are also available, alerting you to profile views, messages and likes. This lets you see who’s interested immediately. All notifications can be switched on or off at any point, so you don’t have to worry about being bombarded at work!

Tweak your profile to perfection

The key to a sizzling online dating profile is frequent fine-tuning, and with our new app it’s quick and easy to perfect your page. In the My Photos section, for example, you can upload pictures directly from your phone’s image library, or take a snap there and then with the camera on your device.

You can also revamp your profile by adding or removing interests with a few simple taps, and the About Me section is ready for editing at any time. Fill out your bio to maximise your chances of online dating success!

Premium membership perks

If you’re a VIP at FreeAndSingle, you’ll also have the option of going incognito on the new app. This means you’ll be able to explore the whole site without revealing yourself as a viewer on other profiles.

Meanwhile, the Who’s Near Me section lets you see fellow daters in your current area. The perks of premium membership, eh?

It’s an exciting time to be a member at FreeAndSingle with the brand new mobile app. Download from the Apple Store today and you can have thousands of dating profiles at your fingertips every waking minute.

The post The New FreeAndSingle Mobile App Has Arrived appeared first on The FreeAndSingle Blog.

Well, one of the best dating sites – FreeAndSingle, the smoothest, most inclusive love springboard on the web – has had an upgrade or four. As you carry on your search with us, take stock of what’s changed; it’s all for your benefit!

Amazingly fast loading speeds

Ask us to define the 21^st century, and we’d talk so fast, you couldn’t understand what we’re saying. That’s because speed is of the essence in so, so many areas of our lives. Dating shouldn’t be an exception – we understand that you want to see all those lucky, luminous singletons in a heartbeat, to match the pounding of your own.

Our web pages now load, generally, in under two seconds. We’ve sent our code monkeys into the digital catacombs, and asked them to do a site overhaul. You can now get love-struck quicker than ever.

Search history is locked in

Few people want to go in blind with a dating prospect. At FreeAndSingle, we already give you several search criteria, helping you mix up those romantic candidates, or trim the herd down to those real, unique button-pushers.

And finally, those search options are saved when you dip out and log back into your profile. Users would previously have to choose their filters over and over when returning to us. From this point on, your last selections stay as they are. There’s no cause for the grumble of a few extra clicks.

Easy navigation on a mobile or tablet

It’s always a nuisance to have your thumbs, fingers and eyeballs straining on a phone screen. You might click on the wrong thing, or just struggle to know where you are in the frame of a website… Hence, our coding team has refined the FreeAndSingle mobile experience.

Managing our interface on a tablet or smartphone device has never been simpler. Go on – log in right this instant, and see for yourself! The pages have a sensible, sharper sense of orientation, and flick between themselves like warm butter on a scone.

App reminders, so your dating is more delicious

You wouldn’t just rely on one set of jokes, would you, to seduce the person of your dreams? No, you’d think and implement other aids to romance. That’s the philosophy, anyway, behind our FreeAndSingle dating game, which takes the form of an iOS app you can play to your heart’s content (and we mean that literally!).

As one of the best dating sites on the web, we’re eager to see you make the most of your online tools. Whenever you hit our homepage on an iPhone, there’s a link straight to the App Store, where our special dating game lies in wait…

These are the four main tweaks and additions we’ve come up with. Doubtlessly, we’ll have more to show you in a few months’ time; all the excuse you need, then, to get cracking with a FreeAndSingle profile! Sign up, turn on, and get serious with your search for a partner.

The post One Of The Best Dating Sites Just Got Better! appeared first on The FreeAndSingle Blog.

Well, actually, they can, providing we cleave to a couple of advertising truisms.  For anyone who’s not confident about ‘selling’ themselves, we’ve roped in some extra help to give you a few dating profile tips, turning people onto your goods like never before.

Snap up interest

Like any sound advertisement, images have a voice, perhaps the clearest one there is. A profile photo is the window into who you are and how you approach the world. Although the way you talk and think eventually plays a larger role in the connections you make, we still have basic instincts; physical attraction (as subjective as it is) will light the Bunsen flame for any potential chemistry.

We’re not saying that your profile pic should be a windswept, sepia-toned snap on a beach in Cyprus, but quality matters, nonetheless. A well-lit image, supported by a casual pose in your favourite clothes, is all that’s needed for a great hook.

Even if you doubt yourself, never resort to leaving the photo out altogether, because it pretty much announces your insecurities. Our Dating Guru James Preece agrees. “The most important part of any online dating profile,” he says, “is the photo. If you don’t have one, it’s like sending a letter without a stamp – completely pointless.”

Confidence is key

Let’s go back to the sandwich board analogy, just for a moment. What makes a business have the gumption to place a symbol of their wares and skills on a person in the street, for all to see? Like other aspects of selling ourselves, it’s mainly down to confidence: how we present our attributes in a package that makes others want to delve a bit deeper.

As such, it’s useful to be bold about your interests. Consider your greatest accomplishments, or the happiest time in your life, and what it meant to you. As James Preece adds: “It’s not the time to be shy, so use the opportunity to pat yourself on the back and stand out from the crowd.” By distilling your awesome qualities and acting like you’re meant to be there, people will want to respond to you just as brazenly.

Leave little hooks

Once the profile photo is frame-worthy, and you’ve hit on your best bits, all that’s left is a couple of teases for conversation. Show potential suitors that you’re approachable by ending your bio with a question (“Tell me your fantasy holiday…” or “If you could wear me, what would I be?”) to give them an ‘in’.

Alternatively, say something funny, provocative or insightful, like sharing your favourite joke or quote. Preece calls these “little hooks”, the statements and comments that “the other person can use as a way of contacting you. If you don’t have any, then it’s very difficult to start a conversation.” And you don’t want all that hard work to be for nothing, right?

Love at first sight is either a myth or a mantra, depending on who you ask. Whilst we’re tepid about falling down that particular rabbit hole in online dating, it is certainly advisable to make a brilliant impression, placing yourself firmly in the contest for a soulmate. Take these hints on board when creating your FreeAndSingle dating profile and you’ll soon be making the most of your online dating experience!

James Preece is an author, coach and regular keynote speaker on a variety of dating and relationship issues. Styled as the Dating Guru, he helps men and women work on their pickup skills.  

The post Love At First Sight: How To Turn Heads With Your Dating Profile appeared first on The FreeAndSingle Blog.

However, it really is a loser’s game to do so. Deception won’t do you any favours, and here’s why you shouldn’t lie about your body type:

The source of the trouble

The internet can do strange things to people. Although we build up walls around ourselves anyway – subscribing to fashion for the sake of it, saying what we think people want to hear – the online bubble takes all of those impulses and makes them twice as powerful.

Social media has done a lot of the damage, asking us to edit our lives to become vibrant, interesting people, the kind that complete strangers want to be friends with. Since online dating asks strangers to (potentially) be so much more, the same pressure begins to boil, with awful consequences for our self-image.

It becomes more ferocious when we consider that appearances, at first, can make or break an attraction. We might look thinner, larger, balder or older than we’d like, but readying that profile photo, and selecting your body type, cements those shortcomings in the glare of a PC screen. Simply put, it seems to sum us up, as if that chunky cleavage or rogue nostril hair is all that people will think of us.

Why none of it matters

“There I am,” you might wonder, biting your nails, “for all the world to see.” That’s a scary thought. Before you know it, you’ve edited your profile photo, changed your ‘body type’ to athletic or lean, and created a bio that stretches the truth into something you hope will be more impressive.

The façade might last for a while, but dating shouldn’t be about that. As soon as you start to make a genuine connection, the lies are at risk of being peeled apart. You’ll be forced into a situation where a meeting will be delayed, and then another, because you’re too terrified to reveal yourself without a Photoshop filter. And when you do meet, the illusion will be shattered.

So, we’re telling you – don’t count yourself out. Not everyone goes for a certain type. Beauty may surprise you; a girl or a guy might seem way out of your league, yet completely adore your humour, insight and point of view on the world. Being as honest as you can means all those hours and days scouring for a great match could, actually, pay off. Otherwise, you’ll break their trust: it’s might be a small deception, but it’s a lie nevertheless. And conscious lies are kryptonite to a real connection.

Sign up for a FreeAndSingle account, and be proud about who you are. Some thinning hair on top, or a little sag around the waist, shouldn’t stand between you and the match of your dreams. Remember, physical characteristics only make a single impression – your persona has the chance to make many more.

The post Why You Shouldn’t Lie About Your Body Type appeared first on The FreeAndSingle Blog.

Strange, isn’t it? We’re caught between modern and classic gender identities, bemoaning the death of chivalry just as we encourage girls to be strong, independent and free of male pandering. Let’s try and make some sense of what to do on the dating scene when this age-old question presents itself…

Blurred lines

Until very recently in our history, a patriarchal society was unquestioned. To bygone generations, the idea of a man guiding the courting process just seemed to make sense – business, politics, trade and world affairs were already open to them, so it was logical to assume that men should take the lead in wooing the fairer sex too.

This thinking eventually succumbed to social changes, such as an explosion in youth culture, paving the way for casual dating. Nowadays, women are just as likely to make the first move as men. Predictably, though, it destabilised the gender roles and expectations we were accustomed to.

It’s hard to know whether he should approach you first, air a chat-up line and offer to pay for drinks; or whether the woman should instigate a connection, deciding what happens from there. All sounds pretty complicated, doesn’t it? Surely there’s a middle ground we can reach?

Guidance from the expert 

Well, yes, there very well might be. Looking for answers, FreeAndSingle managed to catch Kezia Noble, a successful dating expert, for her views on how singletons should approach the dating game:

“Women should not make the first move,” she states, “unless they want to make the first move.” This treads the line neatly between what a women wants to do and what is potentially expected of her i.e. thinking you have to assert yourself every time is a prescription in itself. Going with the moment is the truest freedom there is.

A girl can leave the power in his hands, yet still make her intentions known. Non-verbal signals include a long-held gaze, responsive body language and touching him lightly on the shoulder or back. Noble says that “if a man can’t read the signals that say we might be interested in talking to him, then it’s usually a sign that they either lack experience or self-belief. It might sound like a fairly antiquated rule, especially now that we live in an era where women possess an increasing amount of power and self assurance, but there’s still something primitively sexy about a man going for what he wants.” It seems, then, that a woman can make the first move and leave things to interpretation, simultaneously playing coy, keen and open to what happens next.

By doing so, the question of who should hit on who becomes a finely tuned bowstring of respect. Too much pressure on either side will snap that initial connection; the cannily direct female approach can fuel a man’s ability to take charge and decide how the conversation will go, satisfying old and new gender ideas in one swoop. Nice work, Kezia.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Is it right for a woman to kick romance partly into gear, but keep the full extent of her affections under the hood? Sound off your comments below…

Kezia Noble is a female pick up coach and founder of Kezia Noble Inc. She released her best-selling book, ‘The Noble Art Of Seducing Woman’, in 2012, and continues to coach thousands of men about dating techniques.

The post Dating Etiquette: Should Women Make The First Move? appeared first on The FreeAndSingle Blog.

What to say back? It’s not as maddening to think about a reply as it is the first point of contact – which we’ve talked about at length – but, for some, it’s an equal struggle. Crafting your first reply to an online dating message might be easier with the following advice:

No straight-up sarcasm

A good sense of humour can do wonders for a relationship, and sharing sarcasm is actually an awesome way to bond if you have the same disregard for small talk and ‘romantic’ tables for two in restaurants.

However, don’t ever try and do it off the bat, in the very first reply. The other person will have to get to know you before they see through those icy words, recognising that you don’t literally mean whatever  comment you’re making. Irony is indelibly hard to pull off when online messages tend to be taken at face value.

Embrace enthusiasm

Taking compliments goes against our nature. If you’re lucky enough to be given one, expressed eloquently and with real passion, there’s a tight line to walk between acknowledging their sentiment and staying hard-to-get. This second point is crucial, because you don’t want someone to stop impressing you, right?

If they’ve taken the time to comment on your eyes, body or even amazing online dating profile, embrace their compliment and think about how you can return the feel-good favour. In doing so, you’ll appear confident and self-assured, which can only be a good thing.

Respond in kind

Good manners are hard to come by. The internet, for all its perks, can encourage lewd behaviour more readily than an actual life situation. If someone is messaging you crude and execrable things, you have every right to ignore them.

But the opposite is true for a potential match who’s taken care with their words; don’t pass over their questions, thoughts and opinions as if they’re white noise. Been asked where you are in that beach picture? Well, it’d be a shame to keep them in the dark. Indulge their curiosity, and show your interest by coming up with a few questions of your own.

They say that bands struggle with the Difficult Second Album; after an awesome debut, the follow-up has huge expectations to meet. We like to think the second message – your online dating reply, crafted with considerable verve – shouldn’t be crippled by the same sort of pressure. Just stay calm, clear, and focused on what the sender was trying to articulate, and decide how you will encourage another bout of breathless typing.

Finding that response should be easier with these tips in mind. FreeAndSingle is a 100% free dating platform, and we’re constantly on the look-out for helpful hints to set your romance on fire. Join us today, and stay tuned for more juicy dating advice…

The post Crafting Your First Reply To An Online Dating Message appeared first on The FreeAndSingle Blog.

This can be terrifying, or open you up to new horizons, depending on how you look at it. Embracing niche dating, for instance, has never been easier. If you’re wondering what the web can do for some very specific dating tastes, we’re here to tell you that, actually, you’ll benefit from the online scene more than you realise…

Being honest and true

The concept of ‘face value’ is hard to rely on when you first meet someone. We all perform a little to impress our dates, but people can take it a bit further than necessary, making up claims about their background, working life and preferred relationship boundaries. In essence, it can be hard to gauge what people really want, or whether they’re coming from a place of honesty.

Online dating can fall prey to these tendencies, actively helping people lie in some cases. Yet niche categories, such as dating for divorcees, can filter out some of the potential for deception.

Using this example, two people who have previously been married can lay their cards on the table straight away, getting rid of any awkwardness or temptation to gloss over the past. By going down the niche dating route, you can meet genuine people in the same demographic as you.

Showing what’s important

In the same vein, some attributes could be really close to your heart, and you want dates to know this from the get-go. Although we wrote a piece recently admonishing those petty ‘checklists’ that don’t mean much, there are a couple of traits permissible for niche dating hook-ups, since they can really make or break the course of a partnership.

A great example of this is single parent dating – raising a child by yourself surely colours everything in a unique perspective, and it’s obvious to see why some people can be reassured by someone with the same responsibilities. Senior dating is another field that’s worth exploring, giving more seasoned daters the chance to stay on an equal footing of life experience.

These desires can be transferred to all kinds of niche categories. Courtship might bloom at a rapid rate if two professionals get together, especially if a career has held back couplings previously for one or both of them. Daters who are into fitness, too, might see that as a vital aspect of their ideal match. No matter your quirks, perks and ambitions, niche dating sites are there for the taking.

That’s why we’re really in support of particular romantic platforms – they appeal to our innermost array of characteristics, the ones that honestly define us in some way. We’re not saying that being elderly, divorced or a fitness junkie should be everything you associate with yourself, but it can have an impact on finding love with the right beau.

Hence, you should check out the cornucopia of niche dating extensions in the FreeAndSingle universe. There’s something for every personality in our gaggle of special categories.

The post Finding The Right Fit: Does Niche Dating Really Work? appeared first on The FreeAndSingle Blog.

A bit like love, isn’t it? A true, dynamite projection of goodwill that can cross cultures and oceans. As you can see, we’ve been pondering how online dating has a touch of that Olympic glory about it, a little of that same excuse to bring people together…

Opening our eyes

See, the thing is, love doesn’t need a language to be understood. Someone can spend five minutes in another’s company without ever saying a word to them, and know pretty instantly that something special’s in the air.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re from the same country or not: a backpacking student can have just as much of a frisson with a Cambodian as two people stuck at either ends of an office party, making eyes at each other. The important factor is the mood, the magnetic attraction you can’t ignore, even when there’s no discernible reason for it.

Since the internet has made insulated lives a relic from another era, we’re more open than ever to what strangers might mean for us. It’s frankly impossible to function today without encountering people from another country. The Millennial generation is so accepting because we’re able to learn and interact with anyone, anywhere, about anything we want. We want unity, acceptance; we want to find the partner who is just right for us, no matter where they come from.

A welcome mix

Differences can be romantic enough in themselves. It’s the reason why travel is thought of as such a great aphrodisiac – simply going somewhere new, with a person in tow to explore or be enlightened by, reminds us that there’s more than our standard work/play/sleep routine to fulfil our desires. Paris, Luxemburg and Venice embrace their romantic stereotypes, but any location can be a catalyst for love, especially if it surprises us.

In the same way, we encourage any internet daters to reach out and connect with their overseas counterparts. Think of it like diving into an unknown city: you might be a little nervous, yet the rewards will be splendid if you find somewhere to fit in, and everything will taste and feel so much better than what you’re used to at home.

That’s our opinion, anyway, so you shouldn’t limit yourself, just like we can cheer at Chinese ping pong white-knuckled on an armchair. Having an open attitude to dating around the world will keep dating fun and full of intrigue. Get a FreeAndSingle account today, and start hunting for an exotic lover who can book a one-way ticket to happiness…

The post Dating Around The World: Why It’s Good That Dating’s Gone Global appeared first on The FreeAndSingle Blog.

But sometimes you have to accept that someone just isn’t that into you, that you should test other waters with a new conversationalist. Giving up the ghost is hard, so here’s how you know when the time has come to move on:

They’re short, but not sweet

Typically, woo-ing requires two to tango, even on the basic level of hashing sentences out on a keyboard. Some people like to compose elegant essays of why they adore someone’s eye colour, or relay their day in a way that shouldn’t really be detailed at any length.

God bless these Chaucerian wordsmiths, yet it hurts all the more when the reply comes to a thousand-character poem: “Really? LOL”. Heart-breaking. Don’t waste your skills on daters who don’t share your love of good conversation, and who can’t be bothered to type anything of value.

Midnight rambling, and then nothing

Okay, so we’ve all had a moment where a bottle of wine has vanished over our tongue, rendering us in the mood for love. You don your comfiest dressing gown, play some amorous music on your speakers, and hope to sway an online beauty round to a meet up with some wild, random message.

Satisfied, you hit ‘send’ and fall asleep, feeling the satisfaction of a plan well-executed. Yet, in the morning, you realise you’ve barely spoken to this person before, and everything you’ve said is achingly desperate.

You were just acting on a whim weren’t you? Now think about anyone who exhibits this behaviour on the flip-side: if you’re getting nowhere with a potential partner, and then they reach out in the depths of early morning, they’re probably just using you to kill time, or merely to entertain themselves.

Delay after delay after ….

The dating merry-go-round has to lead somewhere – very few people will admit to having a persistent user account as a joke, or a hobby, or another pointless impediment to the real deal. However, you can just easily assume that things are heading somewhere special when they aren’t, which usually can be pinpointed by stalling tactics.

This is the hardest sign to guard against, because you could be misreading the situation. A beau’s father really might be ill, cancelling your picnic plans. Their car really might have broken down on the way to your place, warranting tears of frustration.

Or, just maybe, they’re stringing you along as a backup, indulging in the worst traits of online behaviour. For some people, an online relationship is all they need; for the rest of us, that kind of behaviour is tantamount to a lie. Cue their imminent arrival in the ‘no’ pile.

Whilst free online dating lets you scour the web for suitable matches, every conversation should be approached with care. Your love life, after all, should be safe from those who don’t deserve your affection. By placing high standards on yourself, and straying away from impulsive and angry comments, you’ll gravitate towards that ultimate soul mate, the one waiting for your messages with trembling hands.

Let’s put these points into practice – join our ranks of local singletons looking for romance, and let them do half of the heavy lifting.

The post Fatal Reaction: How To Know When Someone Isn’t Interested appeared first on The FreeAndSingle Blog.

It’s enough to put anyone off their love pudding before they take a bite. To counter, we’ve put our detective hats on to break down some baffling acronyms, portmanteaus, and plain slang knocking around the digital dating hemisphere…

DTR = Define the relationship

You’ve heard of Facebook relationship updates, right? Announcing your matchmaking to close friends and family can put a lot of pressure on blossoming romance. As such, more and more couples are content to ‘date’ for several months, or even years, before they officially become an item. However that’s expressed will be down to you, but at some stage you’ll have to DTR, and initiate a serious talk.

Ghosting = Au revoir!

Unfortunately, some daters do like to string along daisy-chains of admirers, getting a buzz out of holding several, intimate conversations at once. They might even meet you for a drink and keenly pronounce their interest. You feel warm and happy and then the next moment… POOF, they’re gone in a cloud of unanswered text messages. This is ghosting: the practise of leaving a potential lover’s life, without so much as a goodbye.

Bae = Essential emotional property

Baby, boo-boo, bebz… the B word of the moment has gone through another permutation. Bae is an affection, endearment, and label of ownership. We all have one bae, like a soul or a special pair of undies, and like these items, it’s impossible to share yours with anyone else.

Lumbersexual = A man who can’t possibly exist

This is a term that we took time to unearth… Basically, a lumbersexual is the epitome of the rustic romantic: think big arms, a barrel chest swathed in chequered print, and a scraggly beard that looks noble under an acorn tree. So almost like a lumberjack-themed stripper-gram, except a lot more tasteful, offset as it is by the suspicion that men who dress like this probably have an admin job at the local pharmacy.

Catfish = Here be monsters

Spawned from a 2010 documentary and its subsequent TV series, catfish are a definite staple of internet fears. They’re the stories we tell ourselves can never happen to us – a long-distance relationship built on a gargantuan lie, for instance, or unnerving age gaps that are papered over with deceptive pictures and conversation tactics.

Anonymity is a powerful drug to the catfish clique; any dating sites that don’t rigorously monitor profiles, user behaviour and multiple accounts can’t be trusted to keep them from your door.

We don’t want dating to confuse you; the process of finding someone should be as a clear as an arrow slicing through the sky. So we hope you have a bit of a handle on these terms, and some of your doubts are allayed about getting back on the horse. Start looking for local singles today, and test out your newfound glossary to see how clued-up they are; just please don’t use DTR as your subject line!

The post The Code of Love: Explaining Dating Terminology appeared first on The FreeAndSingle Blog.