LADIES FIRST
Could these three free apps designed for women cure all your dating woes?
LULU Over 100,000 Canadians are using this crowd-sourced take on the little-black-book-for-the-Tindergeneration. Women (and a small percentage of men) can rate guys they have dated (on everything from sense of humour to dress sense) and give them prefab descriptors like #neversleepsover. Pros It’s a huge boon to be able to check out a dude before a date. Cons The bathroom-wall potential is high. BUMBLE Imagine Tinder but with the proviso that only female users can initiate contact once the mutual right-swipe has happened. It boasts 100,000 Canadian users with an even split of men and women. Pros Matches have to be approached within 24 hours. The app has additional information, such as education and profession of the daters. Cons Someone can still send you an unsolicited, um, intimate picture, even if you initiated contact. WYLDFIRE This app sells itself on making women the “gatekeepers,” meaning guys can only join if a lady invites them into the network. Once in, users (15,000 in Canada, with 46 percent dudes) can send messages or drop “hints” to one another. Pros There’s a higher level of accountability given that every man in the platform’s dating pool has been vouched for. Cons Works on the debatable premise that other women have good taste in men.