How Hookd is becoming the dating app *You* wanted in 2025 and beyond

The People

As with any good product, service, or idea, the heart of the issue is giving people what they want—in the way they want it. At Hookd, we think there are two ways of doing this: the corporate, research-driven, short-term dopamine-rich way, or the ground-up, community-first way that genuinely listens to what people really want.

We prefer the latter. We want to give people a dating app that actually helps them understand where they're at in their dating life, supports mindful, intentional connections, and delivers the kind of experience you're all begging for.

The Want

People are fed up with a lot in the current dating app landscape—ghosting, unclear intentions, romance scams, and a general sense of superficiality and inauthenticity.

Being yourself is underrated. Overthinking every line and trying to present a picture-perfect version of yourself has become the norm. Instead of fostering authentic connections, many platforms reward users who seek only validation or stir up drama.

The real want? Fixes for these problems. And we’re here to deliver them.

How Hookd Solves

We started with the problem: what aren’t people happy with? Then we created fun, innovative ways to solve it. And we went a step further—how can we bring this to everyone without charging huge amounts of money?

Our goal is to create meaningful relationships of all kinds, with genuine connections, clear intentions, no superficiality, and none of the typical dating app stigmas.

Here’s what we built:

• Time-to-reply system to reduce ghosting — You wanted closure in conversations, now you’ll know when a thread is actually over.
• Less superficiality — We manually audit accounts to remove fake profiles, heavy filters, AI-generated content, and catfishing. You deserve to know who you’re really talking to.
• Clear dating modes — End the awkward “what are you looking for?” chats. Users can set their intentions up front—short-term, long-term, casual, serious—and if they lie, they can be reported. Transparency = better dating.
• More genuine matches — We use #hashtags in profiles to map compatibility. Find people who actually share your interests, without hard borders—just real compatibility.
• Human-powered safety features — We manually review reports and spot subtle scam patterns that AI misses. Whether it's fake accounts, bots, or dangerous users—we shut them down fast. No more unanswered safety reports while your well-being hangs in the balance.
• Coming soon: Audio and video in your profile! — Show off your true personality and vibe with video or voice clips, helping you connect more authentically from the start.

Conclusion

Unlike other dating apps built to drive endless engagement, get you swiping endlessly, and offer just enough matches to keep you hooked (but not happy), we went to the ground floor.

We built research reports, gathered first-hand accounts, and spoke with countless confused, frustrated singles to design a product that actually works for you.

We kept what works—a UI that's friendly and familiar—but added just enough difference to help you find what you’re really looking for.

If you haven’t already, give Hookd a shot today—and experience Dating Elevated.

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