June 3, 2013, Updated June 4, 2013

I am a dinosaur in matchmaking speak – I met my soul mate through person-to-person interaction –but two of my siblings were young enough to be successful in the online dating field. Of course, now even the way they met their matches is becoming old-fashioned.

Whether you’re an Android user or an iPhone fan, GPS tracking apps for those looking for local love has become the norm nowadays.

mobile apps for love

There’s no more hiding behind a computer screen as was the case in online dating; the singles of the world want real location-based meet-ups. And since bringing traditional matchmaking back into style isn’t likely to happen, GPS dating is the way to go.

In a country brimming with inventiveness, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Israeli innovation is helping millions of singles on the lookout around the globe find their soul mates.

Tel Aviv-based startup Appliz launched 4Singles as an iPhone app in 2010 and thanks to its immediate popularity and demand has now rolled out an Android app (still in beta form). The technology is based on 40 different preferences so that users get as close a match as possible.

Speaking to Newsgeek, CEO Liran Moreno explained that whereas in online dating the person you’re interested in may be miles away, when using 4Singles and knowing someone nearby is potentially interested in a relationship, the chance for something to happen is greater.

The 4Singles app comes in English, Hebrew, German, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.

Hands-down, the dating apps with an Israeli connection that is making the biggest impact on the mobile market is Grindr – and its spinoff, Blendr.

Tel Aviv-born Joel Simkhai, the founder and CEO of Grindr, launched the world’s largest gay mobile location-based social dating network in 2009. Though it took some months to take off, to date Grindr boasts four million users in 192 countries with more than one million users online on a daily basis. The app runs on iOS, Blackberry OS and Android devices.

In 2011, Grindr launched its sister app, Blendr, another location-specific dating app — this time aimed at both the heterosexual and homosexual communities. With more than 175 million users, it’s available on Android, iOS and through Facebook.

Then there’s Frimper, a Facebook app that searches for your match and shows you who it is before you make a date you’ll later regret. The app was started by Maayan Kimhi, a woman tired of mismatches care of online dating, and Itamar Koren, whom she met at university.

The app says it is “an online video chat dating service bringing back LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!”

And finally, there’s an Israeli-inspired app for couples who still want to have fun – even if they’ve already found love.

Weesh – created by three Israelis living in the US — helps couples find activities they wish to do in a specified location. Weesh (a mash-up of “we wish”) is a planner, wish list and scrapbook combined.

It’s dubbed “the ultimate app for couple communication” and allows couples to share things they’d like to do together or see what their couple friends are up to and get new ideas for dates.

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