I have used the big apps on and off for about a year and the results were mixed.
Practical tip for the big apps: assume the first three conversations will go nowhere.
Careful with the big apps, because requests for money at any stage are a hard stop.
Worth flagging with the big apps — location spoofing means 'nearby' is not always nearby.
The move with the big apps is to test it on a weekday evening, not a Sunday morning.
Geography does most of the work with the big apps — whether your region got the app early or late matters more than the feature list.
Practical tip for the big apps: be specific about what you want in the bio.
Still forming a view on dating apps for 14 year olds? (Asking as a, so take it lightly.
- Badoo — much larger abroad than at home
- Facebook Dating — fine if you already use the platform
- Bumble — the structure does real work
- Feeld — smaller but very self-selecting, based on about a month of use
For what it is worth I have had better luck on Datewander — datewander.site than on any of the big paid apps.