Playdate is the UK’s first dating app catering solely to single parents. The app is founded by single mum and marketing entrepreneur, Nevine Coutry, who knows how tough dating as a single parent can be. Frustrated at the lack of opportunities to meet like-minded single parents, she decided to launch her own app. Her vision with Playdate is to allow single parents to find meaningful relationships, which work alongside their lifestyle and commitments.
Developing an app for single parents seemed to be a logical step as most people are familiar with dating apps. 1 in 5 relationships begin online in the UK and approximately 68% of the UK population has used or is currently using a dating app.
The purpose of the app is for single parents to find love and to also find a partner who can support them and their children. Nevine recognises the importance of re-establishing a family unit and how beneficial this can be for children of all ages. With Playdate her goal is to make this possible for single parents across the country.
Nevine comments, “I came up with the idea for Playdate because the idea of online dating has always been quite daunting for me, as current mainstream apps seem to cater for the more adventurous, wild types, but what makes it increasingly daunting is the fact that I am a single parent.
“As a single parent, there is more at stake, you can’t be as spontaneous or adventurous as you were before having children. You have responsibilities and are juggling a million things at once. Your time is precious. You can however seek to meet and hopefully develop meaningful relationships with like-minded people.
“As most single parents looking for a meaningful relationship or a long-term partner, I would much rather date someone who is in the same boat, a fellow single parent who understands what it means to be a parent and also would automatically have a sense of added responsibility about them. They are not intimidated by the fact you are a single parent, in fact, they are attracted to you because of it!”
The app’s main features are based on your location so will only show you other single parents in your area and school districts. You may find that you have like-minded single parents in the same school(s) your children go to! Users can also filter their search based on age, whether or not they are open to having more children, and their single status, so for example users who are single parent widows can match up with other widowed single parents. There is a shared experience there that could lead to connection and potentially love.
Because of the lifestyle and usually extremely busy schedule of single-parent life, the app also provides both childcare options and date ideas to make the dating experience stress-free. One of the special features on the app is Date Ideas which will include suggestions for lunch dates or coffee meet-ups instead of only dinners or nights out when babysitting can be challenging. This feature is updated regularly with mentions of local ‘child-friendly’ restaurants, cafes, and bars should you feel comfortable enough to bring the children along after a few successful dates.
The app has partnered up with Bubble, the UK’s number one sitter and nanny app which offers on demand childcare, to provide its users with instant childcare solutions so they can finalise arrangements for their date, while enjoying a special discount for all bookings generated through Playdate.
One of the things Nevine wanted to avoid was the fear of rejection, often found with other apps, so with Playdate, there will be no swiping left or right, users simply send a ‘chat request’ and users can choose to accept or not. The app will of course have a standard chat feature option for you to speak online with your potential date before you agree to meet in person. A premium membership is available which includes audio and video messaging and allows users to see who has viewed their profile.
Perhaps the most interesting feature in the premium membership is a ‘make invisible’ feature which allows users to make themselves invisible to certain users, even if they are not on the app yet. Most single parents for example would not want their ex-partners to see their profile.
For more information about the app, please visit www.gotoplaydate.com Playdate is available from the App Store and Google Play now.
