Mechanics create app to prevent the dangers of online dating
From mending cars to fixing problems with the world of online dating, two mechanics in Birmingham have designed an app that helps to keep users in safe hands whilst going on a date.
Mechanics Nick Powell, 29, and Abdul Halim, 25, are the founders of inSync Dating, a dating app designed with a safety feature that tracks users on their date from start to finish.
Nick said: “There are constant news stories about women finding themselves in serious trouble or being harmed and hurt via dating app hook-ups. Our aim was to help make sure stories like Grace Millane’s (the girl who was murdered by her Tinder date whilst holidaying in New Zealand) become a thing of the past.
“There were no safety features on Tinder, so the police didn’t have any evidence of where either Grace or her date had been. This is something that could have been prevented with our app. All location information is stored for up to six months so if something terrible did happen this safety feature could help with gathering evidence if needed.”
Distraught by the ongoing press about numerous women being harmed on dates, Nick enlisted the help of his friend Abdul. Both mechanics, they threw caution to the wind and started to put their app into action in 2020.
Despite needing a £20,000 start-up loan to launch the app, a huge part of developing inSync Dating was to keep it free to download on IOS devices. Nick said: “We want to make safety a normality, it’s our number one priority. Tinder’s safety features have to be paid for and Bumble’s is hidden so users rarely know it exists. Safety shouldn’t cost anything, it should be a basic human right.”
The way their app inSync Dating works is that once a user wants to meet up with someone else they simply click the inSync Dating icon to turn their location on and the other user is asked to accept or decline the date. If they accept, both users are tracked from the start to the finish of their date.
Their app is also unique in the sense that it is not just a match-making website but also a service for people to make friends.
Nick said: “We obviously want to encourage people to find their match but our app also allows you to build friendships. There is an option to swipe up to match as friends and swipe right for romantic interests. We have built a friendship platform, not just another match-making app. Users can be more descriptive so it’s obvious what people are after and there is no confusion.
“We wanted to create the safety feature to help people feel more confident and safe about online dating and have more success. The future for our app is that we want to get more revenue to continually improve the app and increase its safety features.”
