This has been bugging me for weeks, so: newest dating apps that launched. Newest is the clearest case of it — the quality of the filters does more work than the size of the ad budget. The newest apps case is instructive — it is worth checking the time it takes to get a first reply before you look at the length of the feature list.
Newest apps is where I'd start, since the platform throttles your visibility unless you pay, and the signal-to-noise in search suffers for it. Applied to newest launched, the practical move is to turn off precise location until you trust someone. Look closely at newest and half the frustration disappears once you check whether a profile answers questions or deflects.
The deciding factor is how often the same faces reappear, having tried a handful of these, which is the whole problem with newest launched. On newest dating apps that launched specifically, the platform recycles the same profiles, so it pays to compare two platforms in the same fortnight. What am I missing on launched apps?