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“I had never really done online dating,” Los Meyers said. Meyers, an app developer living in Brooklyn, met all of his previous partners the old-fashioned way, in person. But last summer, his ex-girlfriend broke up with him and, newly married, he decided to say goodbye to online romance. Meyers spent a month Hinge, They took advice and tips from their friends about profile photos, spent entire days writing personalized messages, and even tried paying for a premium account. But by the end, Meyers felt disappointed. “It felt like the apps just weren’t for me,” he said. But Meyers is a builder, and he thought of a unique solution. He created a dating app that was just for him. Truly, for him and no one else.
It is called “flirting with los, There is no algorithm recommending an endless stream of polished photos. There are no “super likes” to consider. The app doesn’t try to sell you a subscription when your swipes expire. There’s no swipe to get started. There is only one profile to choose from. You open the app, type in your Twitter or Instagram username and there it is. This is a picture of Meyers with two options: “Flirt” or “Pass.” Flirt With Loss is worth downloading if you’re single. You may just find the love of your life.
The Internet promised to bring us together, but 30 years on, it feels like it’s tearing us apart. For many people, the apps and devices that fill our lives are making things isolating, while the web offers an unprecedented kind of interpersonal connection. Dating apps are a prime example of this. Millions of single strangers are looking for love online, but more people than ever say so hard to find a date, But in a world where technology erects strange, unwritten barriers between us, Flirt with Loss goes in a different direction. It’s the kind of direct one-on-one connection that almost no other app can offer.
It’s unfiltered self-expression. The app gives you a selfie of Meyers, standing confidently with her head tilted to one side, looking into the mirror in a clothing store. She is wearing a T-shirt, a gold chain, patent leather shoes and what looks like a skirt. Not your thing? Try a different app.
If you hit pass, it brings up a picture of Meyers crying and asks you to try again. When you hit the flirt button, and it’s hard to resist, it brings up a series of signals. “Hey Lass, will you bring your style to life someday?” or “Shining too much?” Magic on point.” If they’re not to your liking, you press refresh and it generates more. Meyers wanted to eliminate the stage fright that comes with a blank text box. “I just want you to choose something that looks attractive and interesting. It’s not about finding the right words, it’s just a moment of connection,” he said.
In 2023, Meyers challenged himself to release a new app every month for a year. Part of it was about increasing his coding skills, but he was also looking for a new way of thinking about creating software.
Meyers said, “I spent a lot of time reconciling these two parts of myself, the part of me that has CEO, builder-like energy, and the part of me that feels like a rapper and just wants to make art.” , “I wanted to see if I could put out apps the same way other people put out mixtapes.”
Many tech companies build their business around “connection,” but he takes it a step further by turning apps into art projects. Meyers wants his apps to connect you to him, or at least his unusual form of personal expression.
Meyers went through several different iterations, some of which were more successful than others. They released a reminder app called Intentionally It offers personalized incentives based on how you describe your to-do list. They found that users learned to phrase their actions based on the kind of feedback they wanted from the app. then there was post post, a seamless social media app that uses AI to rewrite your posts once a day based on a constantly changing cycle of themes. It lets you express yourself without worrying about looking clever and adds a layer of quirk to your social interactions.
But Flirt With Loss is the purest example of this form. The whole thing is partly a sick joke, but it also has a level of seriousness to it. “This is the most personal thing I’ve ever done,” Meyers said. “All of my apps are based on a problem I’ve experienced, but this is the first time it’s literally saying ‘This is me.’ This is my face, and that’s my problem. I can’t get any dates.” It was so personal that, in fact, she had a hard time releasing it. It was such a display of app insecurity that Meyers mustered the courage to share it. I sat on it for weeks before committing. “But then I realized clarity. If you want to find connection, especially with the barrier of technology, you have to present 100% of yourself, with all your imperfections, “They said.
After years of dull, corporate, copycat sameness, the tech industry is finally at a moment of transformation. Big tech companies are rewriting the paradigm of society-wide communication channels, and experimenting with new forms of content creation and consumption – but changes at the bottom end of the chain are just as significant.
Meyers said his work is part of a growing movement of independent app developers who are really playing with what apps can be. This is the kind of exploration we haven’t seen since the early days of the iPhone. there is drum rollAn app that rotates hundreds of photos at a time through your camera roll, creating a kind of memory-spanning flip book. @Me Reminiscent of the early days of the Internet with ephemeral, AIM-style live text chatting. Knock Lets you send Snapchat-esque videos to your friends, but they can’t include sound, intended to encourage more creative expression. sound map Crosses Pokémon GO with Bandcamp, letting artists leave singles on the map for users to go out and collect. And, of course, countless app developers, including Meyers, are experimenting with non-boring efforts to use AI mood boards, diaries, playlist makereven more.
It’s easy to flirt with loss. You open it, choose your flirts and go on with your day. It’s cute, if a little counterintuitive, but Meyers promises that the magic will come after you close the app. After all, you didn’t give him your social media handle until you typed in a fake username.
“Trust and believe me, if you keep flirting, I’ll send a DM,” Meyers said. “I have transformed myself into a guy who will take that shot. Hope it will be useful to you if you download the app.
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