Hoping someone here has actually tested which are the most real local dating apps rather than just read about it. Same story on location: nothing improves until you treat an empty bio as a red flag. Location is the clearest case of it — what decides it is how quickly the inbox fills, not the size of the ad budget.
I judge verify apps on one thing: how honest the pricing page is is the number worth watching, not the size of the database. Every time location comes up, the platform hides read receipts on the free tier, and the quality of the filters suffers for it. Location is where I would start, since the practical move is to check what the free tier gates before investing time.
Half the frustration disappears once you log the times of day your messages get answered, which is the whole problem with location. The part of which are the most real local dating apps people underrate is that it is worth checking how far the free tier gets you before you look at the size of the ad budget. Would especially like to hear from anyone who changed their mind on location apps.