Match with just 5 words—New dating app rewrites the rules
What's the story
LoveJack, a new dating app created by Julia LeStage and Lisa Le, reimagines online matchmaking by focusing on personality over profiles.
Instead of swiping through photos and bios, users are presented with just five words chosen by potential matches.
These words can be anything from personal traits, jokes, current feelings to random details like sandwich ingredients.
This unique approach encourages users to be creative while also challenging them to be concise and clever.
Inspiration
LoveJack's creators were frustrated with traditional dating profiles
The idea for LoveJack came from the creators' frustration with traditional online dating profiles that often resemble job resumes.
These profiles are usually filled with posed photos, filters, and carefully crafted bios that can feel exaggerated.
LeStage got the idea while judging at the Webby Awards, which limits winners to five-word speeches.
The app also takes inspiration from The New York Times' popular Wordle game.
App functionality
LoveJack's unique features and user experience
LoveJack offers a "Bet On" or "Hold" feature for matches.
Betting is like liking a profile but users have to place a bet by entering a five-word opening line. This gives the match something interesting to respond to.
Users can have up to five matches per day, making strategic choices crucial.
The app also allows daily updates of five-word descriptions, adding a social aspect to it.
To reveal a match's photo, users press and hold on their screen, eliminating swipes.
Subscription details
LoveJack's premium subscription and unmatching feature
In the future, LoveJack will offer a premium subscription with an "All In" button, its version of a "Super Like."
This will let users use all five bets on one person so they can't match with anyone else for the rest of the day.
To minimize ghosting, LoveJack requires users to write a preset message when setting up their profiles.
This goodbye note is automatically sent to anyone they unmatch.
User security
LoveJack's safety features and future plans
LoveJack encourages users to use fake names for privacy protection. The app also has a selfie verification process to confirm user identities.
Other safety features include reporting and blocking capabilities, censorship of banned language and explicit photos, and an emergency feature that enables users to contact police and safety hotlines.
The iOS app will first launch in London next month, before expanding to US markets like Boston, New York City, and San Francisco.