In 2019, it’s not hard to find a dating app or hook up website that claims to almost instantly connect you to other like-minded singles. However, when folks attempt to find an instant connection through one of these sites, they’re almost always met with frustration and a lack of success. I myself have even occasionally had to struggle through a site that doesn’t promise what it offers.
SPDate caught my attention for this very same set of reasons, as it claims to have an over 98% connection rate for its users. In addition to its claims of robust security and loads of features, I decided it was time to give SPDate a try.
My Review of SPDate (Find Out The Truth)
Upon typing in the web address, I was surprised to be instantly redirected to another site. However, SPDate claims that this is done as their #1 step in ID verification, so I would reserve judgment on this particular…quirk.
Registration
Getting started on SPDate is pretty average, beginning with a prompt to enter a valid email address. Once verified, you’ll then create a password for the site. After that, I’ll be free to begin browsing user profiles. I should note that while you can get away with browsing without completing your profile, you won’t have access to any of the higher tier options until you’ve finished your profile.
High-Level Member Security & Fraud Protection
Something I’d like to focus on here is the profile completion, as its more than just a gateway into SPDate’s full functionality. Rather, the profile completion acts as an additional security step, both for you and other users.
When you click on the prompts that SPDate gives you to finish setting things up, you’ll be redirected to your profile creation dashboard. Here, you’ll see a list of standard questions like sex, locations, etc. But below this, you’ll see that the site actually asks for your date of birth, as well as your social security number. These are then used to verify that you’re who you say you are.
I absolutely love this approach for a few reasons. Firstly, asking for critical details like your social makes it much less likely that spambots or hackers will be creating in-depth profiles on SPDate, as they most typically don’t have those kinds of legitimate details.
Secondly, it verifies that the people you’re connecting with aren’t trying to catfish you. As
Customer Support & FAQ
Something that I was very impressed by was SPDate’s exceptional customer support. While I experienced the disconnection issue mentioned above several times during my weeklong experience, I must say that the responses I received during each error call were articulate, friendly, and always left me back on the site, right where I left off.
SPDate has taken an aggressive stance to its tech support over the past few years, and this is due in no little part to its history as a, shall we say “glitchy” website. Prior to 2015, the reviews for SPDate are filled to the brim with negative experiences, almost all of them related to getting logged out without trying, 404 error pages, etc.
So, in early 2015 SPDate hired a third party web design & logistics company to help them repair the components of the site that were faulty, while also acting as defacto tech support for the site.
While I can certainly say that I wasn’t thrilled to experience these issues, they were met every time with a proper explanation, as well as a solution to my dilemma. This shows me that
Taking It To The Streets
After getting a good feel for SPDate’s offerings, it was next time to try out their mobile app. I gave this app a shot on both iOS and Android platforms and was pleasantly surprised. Just about everything that I found on the desktop site was available on my phone, albeit in a compressed form. But while SPDate offers this application for both types of phones, the Apple crowd will have a slightly better experience, thanks to some newly added features.
The first of these is called “Why Type?” and it works sort of like a cross between a video message and a “like” that you would commonly see on a site like Facebook. The member profiles on SPDate function a lot like other social media profiles in that users can leave statuses. If you’re looking to comment on one of these statuses, you can use the “Why Type?” feature to instead leave a video response.
The second and more exciting feature is called “Track Me Down,” and works as a sort of last-minute date connection. Users can opt into this function, after which they’ll be asked their plans for the night. If they follow this to completion, their profile will then be temporarily put into the TMD database.
Here, other individuals looking for a date that evening in their town can look to see if anyone is open to a last-minute connection. You can find out where they’ll be hanging out and then send a request to see if you can meet up.
While I’m not sure exactly how safe this function is, it’s a novel and fun approach to a dating/hookup website, and something I used quite successfully during my trial.
My (Avg. User) Results
I was surprised by SPDate. I must say, I was skeptical going into this review. A free site that promises (sometimes) same-day connections? It had to be good to be true.
However, while the technical issues I experienced were frustrating, they did little to tarnish a site that clearly has a lot of thought and effort behind it.
When paired with the added features offered by the mobile app, I have to admit that users could do much worse than a site like SPDate.
Would I recommend using it above all others? I think not! However, it’s definitely better than some of those shady dating apps or even worse, streetwalkers, out there today.
If you’re wondering whether or not I put it in my top 5 apps list, then you can stop because I definitely did not. But it may be worth giving a shot if you’ve got patience. The choice is yours…
