Anyone else witnessed a serious decline in dating apps since 2023 or so?

[Indian Race Troll (IRT)]

Back in the 2010s, the dating apps were my bread and butter for meeting women because I did well on them. I had professionally done photos and had 100s of matches on each of the big 3 apps (Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge). The women I matched with, I would consider above average but not downright gorgeous. I know @Chase criticizes the apps a lot but in the 2010s and even early 2020s, they worked for me. The women I would go on dates with, most guys I met in the Pickup community (more on that later) would happily approach at a bar.

When you traveled a lot and did not know a place too well, they made things easy.

However, since 2023 or really after 2022, I noticed something about the big dating apps and really all online dating:

• Far easier to get banned for just about anything
• They find far more reasons to "Shadowban" you so your profile no longer gets matches and likes
• Far more difficult to get back on (new phone, new number, new email, new pics, and even that is not enough for apps like Hinge that are strict)
• Pro photos were not enough and it was around 2023 I noticed a lot of guys seeing a drop in matches
• Lots of fake accounts, Only Fan accounts asking for money, and bots
• So many glitches that they matched you with women thousands of miles away

The thing is, every guy I knew who cracked a lay count of 50+ for the year was leveraging the apps.

This made me look at cold approach and I joined a WhatsApp group full of former RSD students. Needless to say that the one in Miami really sucks and these guys have Aspie-tier social skills so I will not judge Cold Approach from that alone. I have not met anyone who has managed to crack a high lay count from cold approach in the city I am in (Miami) but I rest my judgment until I meet more professional guys who know what the hell they are doing.

However, I have read about how Match.com's stock has started to sink a lot and then I read this article below. Granted it is UK based but I get the feeling that it is impacting us Americans too.

‘It feels like admin’: why are people falling out of love with dating apps?

About 1.4 million people have left online dating in the past year as experts say users see it as a chore rather than social activity

www.theguardian.com

Ofcom’s 2024 Online Nation report shows that dating app use declined significantly between 2023 and 2024, with a drop of nearly 16% in the use of the top 10 most popular dating apps this year.


Tinder experienced the biggest loss, with more than half a million users abandoning the platform since May 2023. Bumble and Hinge were also hit

I guess my question now is for guys who are cracking a high lay count every year (50+), how are they mainly doing it in 2025?

 

[average_daygamer]

I tried apps once in 2017, back when I was 27 and I got my first full time job which was what made me feel like I could offer value.

I think my photos were pretty bad as I don't really have a lot of photos of myself due to a limited lifestyle.

So I didn't get any matches. I remember having a couple of interactions on plenty of fish (a non matching style app) with just a selfie style photo. Anyway, I really didn't know what to say or I don't think the girl was that hot, maybe older than I was as well.

Now I am 35, the age filter will mean that the young hotties won't even see my profile, so it is cold approach all the way.

But the whole idea of taking pics and curating a profile seems cringely...feminine?

Cold approach is all about action. It was actually the helpless of apps which pushed me to cold approach. We are taking control of the situation with cold approach and not giving our information to anonymous companies.

 

[POB]

Apps are on the downside since 2017 or so.
(you just named the reasons)

That said, if you do everything right on your profile and text by the book, you still gonna get laid.
(Just not on the same clip as before).

Cold approach is king now (especially for daygame).
Just ask guys that are doing the rounds like @Kvothe , @Skippy , @Devilicious and @alleniverson if they rather use apps, or go straigh for the kill when they see a cutie.

 

[alleniverson]

Apps are on the downside since 2017 or so.
(you just named the reasons)

That said, if you do everything right on your profile and text by the book, you still gonna get laid.
(Just not on the same clip as before).

Cold approach is king now (especially for daygame).
Just ask guys that are doing the rounds like @Kvothe , @Skippy , @Devilicious and @alleniverson if they rather use apps, or go straigh for the kill when they see a cutie.

Of my 38 kills so far in 2025 only 5 are from dating apps

 

[Indian Race Troll (IRT)]

Of my 38 kills so far in 2025 only 5 are from dating apps

Wait a minute, you are a murderer?

Bruh.....

 

[S.S Can]

Of my 38 kills so far in 2025 only 5 are from dating apps

American Sniper

 

[Swati]

Have the same problem.

Got shadow banned from tinder and bumble, going to find some ways to get through it. It's fucking annoying, cause they want you to rely on the app and continuous drop money into the bullshit. They store your data if you recreate an account n etc, makes you feel like shit overall. But with more in-depth research it seems like those company, continuous nerfing males profile to being invisible having to buy the premium, boost and etc. total fem centric software.

only elite dudes gets 50+ a year, they're specialized, only doing one form of game, night game or online(apps and instragram or other social platforms) only. but they paid for the premium and are well above average in looks or just an OGs in night game.

 

[Indian Race Troll (IRT)]

Apps are on the downside since 2017 or so.
(you just named the reasons)

That said, if you do everything right on your profile and text by the book, you still gonna get laid.
(Just not on the same clip as before).

Cold approach is king now (especially for daygame).
Just ask guys that are doing the rounds like @Kvothe , @Skippy , @Devilicious and @alleniverson if they rather use apps, or go straigh for the kill when they see a cutie.

See you say cold approach is king but I am finding that the guys I know who are getting dates more frequently as well as higher lay counts in a year are still mainly getting them off of the apps. Even looking back on my time on the apps, I did get lots of dates with above average looking girls. The issue is resetting, they have made it so difficult for apps such as Hinge.

 

[isildur1]

See you say cold approach is king but I am finding that the guys I know who are getting dates more frequently as well as higher lay counts in a year are still mainly getting them off of the apps. Even looking back on my time on the apps, I did get lots of dates with above average looking girls. The issue is resetting, they have made it so difficult for apps such as Hinge.

For me cold approach was king as I never got enough matches in my hometown in London to make it worthwhile or build up momentum. It also got me my girlfriend which I’m very greatfull of whom she herself never download

I did ok with online in Brazil but really it wasn’t delivering me the women I wanted. With cold approach you can take your choice -

For men in the top 10 percent of dating profile it’s probably worth it still but even men I know who are that level use online alot less than 3-4 years ago complaining of diminished quality and more only fans accounts - out of roughly 25 wingmen I had in London 2 of them were doing really well on the apps like smashing double figure lays - 3-5 were doing so so 1-10 lays and the rest including myself were getting next to nothing so it was very much a “winner takes all” environment

 

[isildur1]

See you say cold approach is king but I am finding that the guys I know who are getting dates more frequently as well as higher lay counts in a year are still mainly getting them off of the apps. Even looking back on my time on the apps, I did get lots of dates with above average looking girls. The issue is resetting, they have made it so difficult for apps such as Hinge.

In terms of standing out - it’s much easier from cold approach , like my second ever daygame lay showed me her tinder and she literally had two thousand men swipe right on her - even if I’m in the top 10 percent of men which I’m not I’m never gonna stand out above 200 men- and a lot of the profiles she showed me a I’d argue 30-40 percent of them were better looking than me- online the competition is so fierce it’s just not worth the squeeze for most men - statistically speaking aren’t going to get enough matches to build up the volume and dating experience that they need. There’s simply too much dick on the apps and not enough pussy to make it worthwhile for most of the men involved

that being said the top 5-10 percentish of men I think it’s still worth the time

 

[POB]

See you say cold approach is king but I am finding that the guys I know who are getting dates more frequently as well as higher lay counts in a year are still mainly getting them off of the apps. Even looking back on my time on the apps, I did get lots of dates with above average looking girls. The issue is resetting, they have made it so difficult for apps such as Hinge.

But it is king.
On apps you have to:
- match
- banter
- check availability
- try to find a time in her schedule
- deal with flakes
- etc, etc

Cold approach makes the hook way stronger!
Even if the lay is not there, just your presence alone can be the difference maker for her to show up for a later date.
If you cold approach, you are basically getting rid of the middle man.

 

[Indian Race Troll (IRT)]

Lots of good thoughts on this thread and I think in a way, maybe the Game evolved in the past 2 years and I have just not evolved at the same rate. FWIW, my dating and sex life took a nosedive when I got banned from the apps. I used to have multiple dates a week from above average looking women back when pro photos were enough to get a match. Now, I am not really sure what happened on the apps but the matches on Tinder and Bumble are hard to come by, likely due to shadowban, and for Hinge itself I have been banned.

The thing with cold approach is that while I do it and everything, it just cannot seem to produce the same results for me with the quality of women that the apps did. I have been working on it since 2022 and managed to lose approach anxiety and everything but it is a lot more of a grind and a lot less seamless.

For example, with daygame I am not in a prime part of town so this means I have to go out to a Brickell or Miami Beach to get the sets in and even then, the issue becomes trying to set a date when I am a bit further out. Can work for Brickell since I am near it.

For my own part of the city, which @Skills knows about, I might encounter 3 sets when I walk to the main shopping area back to where I stay but that is about it.

For nightgame, it is the long nights out as some venues do not get going until midnight.

In other words, as someone who values the results (dates and lays), I am finding it to be a lot tougher ever since being off the apps. Then I even made a post about guys getting laid from cold approach and it seems like even in a Game community like this, very few are doing so consistently.

Psychologically for me it is dealing with the falloff from the results I used to get. The multiple dates a week and such.

 

[KnownUniverse]

in order of what's most effective at getting lays: passportbroing>>>>>>>>>>>>>everything else. lol.

I jumped on a site called thaifriendly which is a dating website founded in thailand but includes the rest of Asis to a lesser degree and I am getting dozens of likes per day using basic pictures that barely get me any likes at all in my home country. And the girls in Asia liking me are half my age and many from small provinces so it's not all prostitutes or anything. I'm guessing this is the same in south america and other developing nations. This is what it must feel like to be a top 5%er in the west. Personally though i couldnt live in a developing country long-term just for sex so I'd never be a passportbro. I was thinking it might be fun for a couple of weeks but then as soon as you get back home you're back to square one if not worse (you're now accustomed to paying for easy sex--success with cold approach feels even more alien).

 

[Adventurer]

in order of what's most effective at getting lays: passportbroing>>>>>>>>>>>>>everything else. lol.

I jumped on a site called thaifriendly which is a dating website founded in thailand but includes the rest of Asis to a lesser degree and I am getting dozens of likes per day using basic pictures that barely get me any likes at all in my home country. And the girls in Asia liking me are half my age and many from small provinces so it's not all prostitutes or anything. I'm guessing this is the same in south america and other developing nations. This is what it must feel like to be a top 5%er in the west. Personally though i couldnt live in a developing country long-term just for sex so I'd never be a passportbro. I was thinking it might be fun for a couple of weeks but then as soon as you get back home you're back to square one if not worse (you're now accustomed to paying for easy sex--success with cold approach feels even more alien).

It's exactly like that to travel to South East Asia or other countries where white skin is the beauty ideal (which is most of the world). Except you don't even have to pay, most developing countries don't even have that much prostitution or gold diggers

 

[rockstar]

Dating apps have been on the decline the past couple years. A lot of people are feeling dissatisfied or burnt out on them. But they're still probably the most common way for people to find casual hookups, and you can definitely still pull a lot on them.

I guess my question now is for guys who are cracking a high lay count every year (50+), how are they mainly doing it in 2025?

Dating apps are the common source. Some guys do this with set ups like having access to the right party circles or tourism jobs that put them around a lot of young traveling girls. As KnownUniverse mentioned, passport broing is very powerful for this. Very very few guys are doing 50+ a year just off of cold approach, but some of them are here on this forum.

Pro photos were not enough and it was around 2023 I noticed a lot of guys seeing a drop in matches

I don't know where you live, but in some places, pro photos are a lot less cool on apps than they were 5 years ago. It's a lot more important to make things look natural on apps these days. Professional-looking photos with bokeh and certain poses can come off as too curated. It's more important to show uniqueness, personality, and a cool lifestyle (while also looking very attractive of course). Trends change and you gotta stay aware of how your presentation is being interpreted to stay competitive on apps

 

[Indian Race Troll (IRT)]

See that is where the decline has happened for me as I have shifted off the apps. I used to have it so easy with multiple dates a week and my dry spells were almost unheard of when I was at my peak. Now with cold approach, I feel as if I am doing 2x more work with much less reward. I am sure my Game needs some improvement and I am down to meet more Miami Locals from this Forum to wing with me in the coming months as well. Here are some things I have noticed.

Quality.

I know the apps get a bad name for this but when I had a peak profile, I would get matches left and right. I'd say these girls were in that solid 6.5 to 7 range. Almost all PUA dudes would have approached them at a bar. In fact, most nightlife venues I go to in Miami, some of the better looking women are in that category, same with women I meet in Daygame. The hottest women are almost always in large groups that you have to invest a ton of time in.

Quantity.

I have gotten laid from cold approach but I feel as if it is far less frequent from the apps and you run into a lot of problems like:

• She genuinely is taken while apps have a lot of single girls
• You can do daygame and find times when it is really empty
• Go out some nights in Miami and the venues are blank

It has been a transition period to say the least.

I never knew how much of my dating success came from having great pics for the apps.