This new dating app encourages people to pursue imperfect matches

Get loud about your icks

If you’re guilty of immediately rejecting people on dating apps because of an imperfect selfie or group photo, you may be advised to lower your bar. But you don’t need to forget about your icks, being open about them may help you find your perfect match.

Struggling with dating app fatigue? If you’re over judging photos of guys holding fish and selfies in front of gym mirrors, you may want to try a dating app with more of a focus on personality than pictures. 

Hily (Hey, I Like You) is encouraging daters to ‘have fun and not look for a perfect match’ by pushing people to ‘date as they are’ through compatibility testing.

Shifting focus from pictures to personality

We’re all entitled to our icks. But a lot of the time we can let them take centre stage when forming our opinions of people, leaving us ruling out potentially great matches. 

“People often get the ‘ick’ over trivial things like mirror selfies or photos with friends on dating profiles,” says Hily’s relationship expert Dr. Marisa T. Cohen.

“While some ‘icks’ may signal deeper incompatibilities, many are simply superficial quirks that don’t reflect a person’s true character or potential as a partner.”

A clinical psychologist over at Hily has developed the ‘Icks&Clicks’ compatibility feature to help us look past these surface-level icks and ‘focus on meaningful compatibility’.

A clinical psychologist over at Hily has developed the ‘Icks&Clicks’ compatibility feature to help us look past these surface-level icks and ‘focus on meaningful compatibility’.

You can answer the app’s 40-question quiz relating to communication styles, personality traits, values, relationship types, and lifestyle preferences, as well as your turn-offs (icks) and things you look for in partners (clicks). 

You can then see which of your icks and clicks you share with possible matches, so you’re not stuck telling a potential partner two weeks into chatting that actually, you hate bouldering regardless of how important a climbing date is to him, or that you can’t be with someone who won’t love your dog as much as you do.

If you’re stuck for an opener after seeing a breakdown of your shared values and priorities, the app gives you the option to share your compatibility score with matches to hopefully help you cover some topics a little deeper than your favourite colour and where you grew up.

You can answer the app’s 40-question quiz relating to communication styles, personality traits values, relationship types, and lifestyle preferences, as well as your turn-offs (icks) and things you value in partners (clicks). Image: Pexels

Hily also helps you out with some icebreakers and data-backed dating tips if you’re still struggling to get the conversation going. 

“Communication is key to connecting for Gen Z”, according to the app’s founder, Alex Pasykov. 

He says that “by introducing Icks&Clicks, we’re helping users look past initial impressions and concentrate on real compatibility, fostering deeper and more lasting connections.”

So if you’re looking to plan a Valentine’s Day date with a better chance of leading to more, maybe getting on the same page from the first swipe could be the key.

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Originally published as This new dating app encourages people to pursue imperfect matches