London (CNN) \u2014 Rob Perez only has one dealbreaker when it comes to dating \u2013 his partner needs to be a gym rat like him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be the same sport, but\u2026 I think lifestyle-wise, (she has) to understand: I work out, you work out, we do our thing,\u201d he tells CNN.<\/p>\n
So when the 33-year-old content creator first heard about Surf \u2013 a dating app allowing users to filter matches based on their fitness habits \u2013 he was immediately intrigued. As an avid runner, he thoroughly enjoyed knowing that everyone on his screen might be up for joining him. No more \u201cI have to figure out if they like this, and I have to figure out if they like this\u2026 It\u2019s all listed right there, makes it pretty easy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Surf is one of several dating apps eschewing endless swiping and encouraging potential matches to meet up in the real-world and share experiences together.<\/p>\n
This comes as older, more established dating apps like Tinder are reckoning with a decline in paid subscribers. In August, Tinder\u2019s parent company Match Group reported a 6% year-on-year drop in customers paying for its apps to 13.3 million across its portfolio, which includes Hinge, Match and OkCupid. Bumble, in the same month, saw its paid user base fall by 16.4% to 3.2 million, down from 3.8 million the previous year.<\/p>\n
About 15 years ago, Tinder revolutionized the way we seek romance in the digital age. But as 78% of app users report burnout across the board and in-person dating events surge, the role of tech in our love lives is changing once again.<\/p>\n
When a user downloads Surf, they\u2019re presented with a scrollable grid of about 30 profiles and they don\u2019t need to swipe left or right to move between them. Users can flag their passions and match with others based on theirs.<\/p>\n
While founder and CEO Rob Long says users can bond over anything from pickleball to ros\u00e9, the app is best known for its partnership with Hyrox \u2013 an indoor fitness event combining running and other workout competitions. Users can see when others are in town to compete. This year, they were able to sign up for mixed doubles blind dates in a handful of global cities, from Sydney to NYC.<\/p>\n
Still, Surf is a minnow in the dating app market. Surf had only roughly 28,800 downloads worldwide in 2026, with monthly active users too low to track, according to a research firm Sensor Tower. However, it is growing quickly.<\/p>\n
Perez was exhausted by repetitive dating profiles and wanted more information on potential matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt one point, I know a lot of people were on Bumble, Tinder, and Hinge. They used all the same pictures, they used all the same prompts. It\u2019s a rinse and repeat thing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Perez is now in a committed, exclusive relationship with Grace, his mixed doubles partner from Surf\u2019s Hyrox blind date in Ottawa. After finding someone who values exercise as much as he does, he wishes there were more apps directly arranging first dates.<\/p>\n
An app from the Netherlands is doing just this. Breeze, founded in 2020 by a group of university students, doesn\u2019t allow users to chat at all. Instead, the app gives them a time and a place to meet in one of its partner bars.<\/p>\n
To avoid swipe fatigue, users get about seven profiles a day to choose from. Now, the app is organizing group dates for between 6 and 10 singles who can be selected based on shared interests.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardest part of dating isn\u2019t meeting people, it\u2019s the pressure we\u2019ve attached to it,\u201d Breeze co-founder Marco van der Woude said in a statement. \u201cA table of eight is a night out first and a date second. Worst case you have a fun evening, and best case you meet the love of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018There\u2019s only so much you can do online\u2019<\/p>\n
Even legacy dating apps are transforming. On Feeld, a dating app catering to ethical non-monogamy, polyamory and kink, users can sign up to do their hobbies as well as talk about them.<\/p>\n
Where London has seen the app\u2019s users bond over nostalgic arcade games, Los Angeles has seen them connect through bouldering, chess and hiking. The app has an events page, where it advertises group meet-ups from comedy nights to clubbing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s only so much you can do online,\u201d Abigail Gaskin, Feeld\u2019s Director of Brand Marketing, told CNN. \u201cDating apps are there for the initial connection, and then everything else should be about being in person, a meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pointing to a \u201cquiet disillusionment\u201d with repetitive and transactional chat features, she says people are craving low-pressure physical spaces where they can meet people and explore common interests.<\/p>\n
To Gaskin, the abundance of tech everywhere doesn\u2019t help: \u201cAs we\u2019ve become increasingly online as a society, there is that need for, I suppose, a little bit of friction \u2013 having to get up and get dressed and make your way somewhere and meet people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every dating app, new and old, will have to keep up. Major player Bumble is trading its classic swipe to launch a feature setting up in-real-life dates. Tinder is launching an events page on its app.<\/p>\n
\u201cNowadays people are much more discerning about how they spend their time and how they connect,\u201d Gaskin said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just about swiping on a picture and liking it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The-CNN-Wire
\u2122 & \u00a9 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"London (CNN) \u2014 Rob Perez only has one dealbreaker when it comes to dating \u2013 his partner needs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[61,60,202,80],"class_list":["post-622895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}