A short, honest note about what we’re making and the promises behind it.
Most dating apps are quietly designed to keep you there. The longer you scroll, the more you match, the more you pay — the better it is for the app. Meeting someone in real life is, oddly, the one outcome the business model doesn’t reward.
So the apps fill up with games: swipe streaks, paid boosts, likes you can only see if you subscribe, matches that go nowhere. It’s a lot of motion, and not many actual dates.
Go on the date. That’s it. Aroha is shaped end-to-end around getting two people who like each other into the same room. You say hi, you talk, you make a real plan — a coffee, a walk, a drink — and you go.
We cut the parts that exist only to keep you swiping, and we kept the parts that help you meet.
We charge for a single, optional subscription with a few genuinely useful extras. That’s the whole plan. To be clear about what we will not do:
We’d rather make a little money from an app people trust than a lot from one that wears them down.
Meeting in person is the goal, so safety isn’t an afterthought. Photo verification helps confirm people are who they say. Your safety circle — a couple of trusted contacts — can be looped in on a plan and alerted if you don’t check in.
Aroha is a Māori word for love, compassion, and respect. We chose it as a standard to hold ourselves to — in how we treat you, your time, and your trust.
Aroha is coming soon. Search “Aroha” on the App Store or Google Play to be notified the day we launch — see the FAQ for details.