Voice-Based Dating – Soundate

I think this is a great idea for everyone. Not just for blind division impaired people. I mean that’s how I know people I’m totally blind so I’ve literally never seen any of my friends so it gives you more an idea of who some is cause you can go by how they treat you versus like how they look and I think that’s a lot more valuable. Great idea. I’m not looking for anybody right now, but I still think it’s great.

Congrats on the release, this sounds interesting. A few questions though. Is this app mainly for US? Or would you be able to interact with people from other countries? Could you explain more about what are the inn-app purchaces? I.e, what does premium gives you? Ligetning voice? Do you need to be subscribed in order to use the app?

This is a great idea. How are you marketing it? and would you be marketing to people in Australia?

going to try it out myself to see how it is :) especially since i am single to :)

greetings ozera, i just got my profile established in the app and my audio intro done. when i was setting specific distance after allowing my location, it said the distances in kilometers instead of miles. in the next update will the app be able to appropriately addapt since i am in the US?

Do you have plans to bring this to Android? This is an interesting concept, so I'll have to dig out my iPhone 11 I barely use since I'm primarily an Android user with a Pixel 7. I'll give this a try, but I mainly want to meet people near me, and I doubt this is going to work unless the user base significantly expands. My concern is only blind people will gravitate to a system like this, but I wish you the best of luck.

Hello, I just downloaded the app and create it a profile. However, it shows me that there is no user found in my current location. Is there a way for me to change my location if I have to pay for it? Also, where is the location that had users right now?

Doll Eye speaks only for themself. Grand pronouncements, sweeping statements, supposed declarations of supposed universal truths hoping to make others think they speak for all, but they do not, as we all know. Oh, of course they are entitled to speak their opinions, but only their own. We all know they do not speak for anyone else, except possibly those very few who chime in afterwords to let you know they might agree with this or that.

Joy!

Let me just say that I think this is a great concept, I will have to wait until it comes to android as I am switching over, but I’ll be very eager to try it out. If there’s anyway that I can help promote this while they’re posting it on Mass on or other forms of social media, please let me know.

Hello,
At this early stage, it may be wise to take a global approach rather than showing people that there are no people in their area, as that can be discouraging. You can still show where a user is from, but I wouldn't use that to limit reach for now.
Also, a method of verification that might be hard to fake could be a voice matching system. Think something like the hey siri setup process for iOS, where you have to repeat a few phrases live. Then, the voice in your introduction has to match the other samples you provided.
Just a thought! I realize this would be complicated to implement.

I agree with the person that suggested a global setting, especially right now when there aren't very many users. Either that, or maybe a country setting in addition? For example, I want to find women in the United States specifically since that's where I live.

Hi,
A very interesting concept indeed, just downloaded this app and set up a profile. Very smooth all the way, although not sure how I feel about the Emoji part if I'm honest, but that's probably because I don't use them all that much.
I guess for me the issue first is what's already been mentioned multiple times, that's the number of users, but outside of advertising, the only way this can improve is posting it in groups, websites and anywhere else that your target audience might be hanging around really. I will keep it and see how it develops certainly, and as I'm looking, I might as well have another option.

Thank you for clarifying your intentions, Doll Eye, although I had assumed your remarks were not intended to be as parental and lecturing as they sounded.

"You" statements are a large part of problems in inter personal communication. This you will learn in counseling, if you haven't already. Statements such as, "you need to narrow the scope, be more specific in targeted in user base. You will need to take out advertising but to build the user numbers you could start with European Capital cities and spread from there," sound more like instructions than suggestions. . You might want to use "I suggest" instead of "you need to".

Parental: "your current request for us to do your advertising for you won't work. Showing someone a cool app you've found is one thing asking others to use it where dating is the intended outcome comes with all sorts of baggage."

Lecturing: "It sounds like you've got an interesting app, but without considered marketting, it's dead in the water."

Parental: "Sorry to be so frank about this. You've obviously put a lot of effort into developing the app. Unfortunately, the maxim, build it and they will come, in such a crowded market simply won't work."

Condescending authority figure: ""Also, if this is for a non-specific user base, you'd do well not to advertise it is accessibility first or anything similar. Be proud of that, but keep it in the background. When it comes to dating people are far more picky than their usual virtues would suggest."

I very rarely step in like this, Doll Eye. I see you have intelligence, so I'm hoping you will look for better ways to communicate, ways that don't sound like the sounds I heard, above.

It's OK, AppleVis. I'm done.

Joy!

Bruce

OK, people need to step back and relax. This is an app and people will check it out or not. Long live cats.

Know what I think? I think the two of you should meet on Soundate, and go out for a cup of coffee. 😛

Noticed that when someone wants to present an app and make it accessible, people complained about this and that. One day developers will stop asking because what is the point. Instead of just checking it out or just saying is not for me, people jump all over it. Well people are free to express their views. Long live cats. Be safe all.

I really like this idea! I won't be using it as I am in a relationship, but it's something I've been saying we need for years! So much of dating apps is visual and I like the voice messages concept. Sorry for the backlash you're getting.

I wish they had a similar thing but for friends. I'll have to do some research.

I love the idea of this app! I do have a question, though: do you have a version of this geared toward friends, or can I join the app even if I am on there strictly for friendship instead of dating?
I have seen some of the discussion, and I want to point out that there is absolutely nothing wrong with looking at an app and simply saying, "This concept is great, but it's not for me." I personally like to have a diverse group of friends—some who are blind, some with various other disabilities, and sighted friends with no disabilities whatsoever. But if an app doesn't fit exactly what you are looking for, there is no reason to bash it or tell people they should have friends outside of the blind community. Some people only have friends who are singers, or dancers, or who are in their local chess club or gaming community. It might not be the most universally fulfilling friendship for everyone, but it is their version of friendship, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
This conversation actually reminds me of a time when I used Facebook more often. A member of the blind community from Pakistan, whom I talked to on and off, reached out to me. They were super nervous and said they had online friends who asked people to be their girlfriends, and they wanted to know if I would be theirs. I told them, "No, I'm sorry, this isn't something I signed up for. You're great, but I'm not interested in you like that." It wasn't about the distance or never meeting in real life; I simply wasn't interested.
But in situations like this, my default response is never to tell someone to "stop living in your head and get off the internet." I know that getting out there and meeting people in real life is ultimately the healthiest approach. But a lot of people are lonely, or for whatever reason, they are not able to go outside. Sometimes, a virtual relationship is the best or only connection they are going to have, and for them, it's mentally and emotionally fulfilling. Even if I am not on board with participating in that myself, I can still be kind and empathetic to the situation. I don't have to point out every flaw in their logic, because most people are already fully aware that they should ideally be meeting people in person.
Outside of the obvious dangers—like creeps hiding behind screens or people who stalk and don't respect boundaries—I think there are very healthy online friendships that never come to fruition in real life. You may never meet this person, and there is no guarantee you ever will, but it doesn't mean those friendships can't be meaningful and special. The connection is genuine within whatever limits that online capacity allows for. I don't know the other human being behind the screen in all of their messy ways outside of what they show me, but I always remind myself that a little bit of kindness, compassion, and empathy goes a long way. It takes courage for someone to come to you with a hard topic, even knowing what your answer is going to be, and this deserves mad respect. It is so easy to bash somebody else and pick apart every single idea they have when you've never put an original idea out there yourself. Kudos to the developer for putting something like this on the market. Whether it resonates with everyone isn't the point. You saw a need, you had a conceptual idea, and you brought it to the table. If I see an application that isn't to my taste, I leave it alone and respectfully keep it moving. There is nothing wrong with scrolling past a post or commenting to say, "This is a great idea, it's not for me."
This is a wonderful idea. I would love to join this app for the friendship aspect if this is something we can choose on our profiles. I wish you all the best of luck with this project, and I truly hope it finds its perfect market!

Cool idea and congrats on the launch. Most of the dating apps out today have been taken over by swiping algorithms that drive people to keep swiping rather than forming real connections and getting off of the apps entirely.

Reminds of the old IVR chat line days of yore. We went from that to text and pics to swiping incessantly and now we're back to where we started with voice.

A few business comments:
De-risk your app by making it hard for people to voice clone someone with AI, grab pictures or PII (personally identifiable information) from profiles or communication. Perhaps a verification system that can certify the person is not a stalker or a scammer.
Apps like this work with the network effect. Reach out to influencers and journalists who can drive interest and traffic. you have excellent positioning with dating app and swiping fatigue, especially in the North American market. People want real connections and voice is reclaiming that space again.
Finally, you've got a product road map in this thread with requests for future features like a friendship focused section of the app and so on. For now, focus on the core features until you're able to easily expand. Sometimes, that's building the feature, testing and then turning it on once you've got the marketing machinery lined up.

Best of luck!

I really like the concept of this app, but I do have some comments when recording my introduction. It seems to be very difficult due to the audio being very low and it seems as there is a limitation to how long you can record so I’m not able to get past anything I was able to do my profile picture and the vibe emojis but I’m not able to record anything.