2024 DOWN Dating App Review (The Results You Need to Know)

There are a lot of dating apps out there these days, which can make choosing the right app extremely difficult—especially with relatively new apps like DOWN. You only have so many hours in the day, and spending all your time on the wrong app can be extremely frustrating. Fortunately, I have done the hard work for you by creating this DOWN review.

But before we get into that, let’s first talk about what DOWN is up against. Here’s how DOWN stacks up:

There’s no denying the popularity of online dating these days. 

Around half of Americans under 29 have tried online dating according to data published in the International Journal Of Sexual Health. Statista data says that there were 366 million dating app users in 2022 and that figure is only predicted to grow. Meanwhile, data from wedding planning service The Knot suggests that dating apps are now the number one source of meeting your spouse. 

“Dating apps are the largest catalog of single people accessible to everyone,” says relationship therapist Michelle Mouhtis. 

But this huge stampede of single men in particular to mainstream dating apps has made it difficult for average guys to stand out on the likes of Tinder, Bumble or Hinge. Indeed, Pew Research data suggests that 47% of Americans say dating is harder now than it was 10 years ago

If you’re reading this DOWN review, perhaps you’re wondering if alternative lesser-known hook-up apps could provide an easier path to what you want.

There are some 2,500 online dating websites to choose from these days, according to Forbes. In this guide, you’ll specifically discover how easy or difficult you’ll find how easy it is to find a great hook-up on Down. 

As an online dating expert who has reviewed dozens of dating apps over the years, I was excited to review this relatively new app and help youg men discover whether it’s worth their time.   

Methodology: How We Reviewed The DOWN Dating App

Here at Heart Insider, we pride ourselves on writing reviews based on several weeks testing the app and trying to land dates for ourselves.

To be able to accurately compare DOWN to other apps, I used the same detailed methodology that we have used for all our other hook-up app reviews. 

For the first 24 hours of the test, I kept my profile completely blank with no photos or bio. This allowed me to see whether Down used bots to tempt users into signing up for a paid account. If my blank account was flooded with messages, that’s an undeniable sign that bots are being used. No legitimate hotties would message a blank profile on a dating website, after all. 

After this test, I created a profile using the same photos, bio, location and other information that we use for all of our tests. I sent messages to 50 women in our designated target area and kept track of how many responses I received. These messages were all from our vault of tried-and-tested online dating openers.  

From there, I would do my best to create rapport with the women who replied and try to swap contact details with the intention of meeting for a date. While I’d test and pass comments on all the features available with Down, my overall verdict would be mostly based on how easy it is to connect and meet with amazing women on this app. 

A Detailed Look At The DOWN Dating App

Above you see a quick comparison between the Down hookup app and the top-rated hookup app from this year. As you can see, there are some good things to like about the app but it isn’t one of the best we’ve tried. Read on for the full details!

Originally designed as a way to secretly swipe on your Facebook friends, Facebook changes broke that model. As DOWN mentions in their FAQ: 

“As of April 30, 2015, Facebook changed their platform, killing the original idea of viewing your friends and secretly matching with them, without anyone knowing who uses DOWN. Due to those changes, it may now be possible for your friends to infer who uses DOWN while using it themselves.”

Linked through your Facebook account, the DOWN dating app is quite similar to most of its competitors. You set up a profile, swipe to decide which profiles you’re interested in and talk to those you match with. The biggest difference is you have three options when swiping.

You can ignore a profile and just move on to the next, swipe up to mark them as “Date” or swipe down for “Hookup”. Rather than just swiping left or right for “Like” or “Dislike”, you can now specify exactly what you’re interested in.

I’m sorry to say that in my six weeks of using the app I’m yet to get a single match. . . we’ll get into this later. Frustrating, since we put so much time, effort and money into these reviews. Look on the bright side—at least you know not to spend your money on it now, right?

Let’s take a closer look at how it stacks up against AFF, the top competitor for the DOWN hookup app. After all, if an app can’t satisfy these parameters, is it even worth downloading? I’ll let you decide.

Our Thorough Review Of The DOWN Dating App

In order to really understand how Down compares to the best apps out there we’ve put together a high-level comparison with the hookup app we’ve seen average guys have the best success with, AFF. Results are certainly not guaranteed, but it tends to be where guy can see the best results unless they are really good-looking (which is when Tinder does better).

Here is how they compare in our opinion and based on our testing:

Overall Our team rates each site objectively based on many hours of independent research, the features each site offers, and how it compares with other sites. The ratings are the opinion of our editors and their extensive experience.	2	9.5
Quality of Women Our opinion of how attractive the typical woman is that uses this site and how easy they are to connect with compared to other sites.	5	9
Popularity How many people are using this site to actually meet people compared to other sites.	1	9
Usability How easy is this site to use and how quickly can an average person begin meeting people compared to other sites.	9	10
Privacy & Safety Does this site take proper precautions to safeguard its members, their identity, and their data.	9	10
Effectiveness Our opinion of how easily an average person will be able to achieve their dating goals with this site compared to other sites.	1	9
Value Will the time and money spent using this site pay off for an average person based on the opinions and experience of our editors.	1	10

Positives and negatives

Ever the optimist, I’m going to run through the other factors I usually cover in these reviews. Just on the off chance that they might fix this one glaring issue and it becomes usable. Matches or not, this will be a complete DOWN app review! 

The thing is, the app has a bunch of positives, and I wanted to like it so badly. So let’s go ahead and evaluate it fairly.

Profiles, pictures and members

As I mentioned above, the one thing I’ve done a lot of in this app is look at profiles. Hundreds. Of all those profiles I didn’t see a single one that looked fake. Perhaps scammers know better than to target a ghost town?

I should mention that you can only choose photos from your Facebook or Instagram uploads, so it’s no surprise the photos seem legit. This is a flaw in my opinion though. 

“The photos you use give clues about you and your lifestyle, so make sure you’re giving the best possible impression,” says dating photographer Saskia Nelson. “You’re not just showing people what you look like, but you’re showcasing your lifestyle.”

That’s true, but what if I want to upload something especially to appeal to a partner, but I prefer to be more low-key on social media? Come on, Down. How difficult is it to let me upload a photo from my camera roll?  

They were all your standard fare, though many users have opted to have just one in their profile.

Also worth noting, Down profiles don’t give you a space for a bio. It’s just your photos, age and location which makes choosing the right ones even more important. Yes, it’s a hook-up app and most people don’t read the bios, but this still isn’t ideal when you’re weeding out fake profiles though.

Indeed, a RAINN spokesperson advises: “If the person you matched with has no bio, linked social media accounts, and has only posted one picture, it may be a fake account.”

As it stands though, no accounts have even reached out to me on Down, whether that’s to try and scam me or not. 

In terms of the ‘quality’ of women, this one was questionable. They appeared to be real people by all means. Instead, what I’m referring to here is attractiveness. To quantify it, I’d estimate maybe 30% of the profiles I saw were women I’d notice on the street.

In my personal life I’m a very picky swiper. If I were to apply my personal Tinder habits to this app my swiping would have been quite limited. Naturally for this review I opened myself up a little more to boost the volume of matches and conversations. Clearly, I was not successful.

These apps to tend to run on an ELO scoring system of some form so I was still cautious. If you go swiping on everyone from day one, you’ll actually lower your score and get fewer matches. According to expert dating coach, Ash Wright, “It’s generally used in gaming to calculate relative skill level to other users. In the context of Tinder, think of it as calculating the relative desirability of a profile. Basically, how likely it is that someone will swipe right on and interact with you based on your profile as a whole.”

As a final point here, I did see a lot of profiles from men despite stating my preference to women. Whether this is gay men setting their gender to “Female” or a glitch in the app I just don’t know.

 

The Top Alternatives To Down For Hookups Dating Experts Use

If you’ve read this far down you’re serious about meeting girls. If you haven’t actually done that yet it’s probably because you’re using the wrong apps. Stop making that mistake and start using the apps that actually get results like:

Design

Overall, the design of this app is great. It looks sleek and clean, functions well and is very easy to use. Even the free version has a premium feel to it which made me so much more comfortable handing over money.

Aesthetically it has a very modern look and the animations that overlay as you swipe are a nice touch. As you swipe up and down either a “Date” or “Hookup” overlay will slide over their profile in case you forget which is which.

This might sound like a silly detail but since most people use dating apps casually, I really like the idea. You can also scroll back through people you’ve swiped on too which I could see being helpful.

Comparing the app design to Tinder and Bumble, I think it’s perfectly on par. Overall I prefer the Down interface, my only gripe is the fact that profile pics show up as a smallish circle. While Tinder and Bumble show you photos about ⅓ the size of your screen, Down shows a circle about the size of your Facebook profile pic.

All in all though, we’re talking about very minor details here.

Messaging and chatting

I’ll be sure to report back if I ever get a damn match!

What I can say is that I didn’t get a single spam message of any kind, so that’s nice.

Honestly, this is quite frustrating, given how clean the app is. I started out excited to test this out and write a DOWN app review. I suppose we can’t win them all, right?

What can you do with a free membership

Like Tinder, the Down hookup app lets you do everything you need to with the free version. The way they push you to the paid version is by limiting you to seeing just 10 profiles per day.

If the app had active users, I see no reason why you couldn’t be entirely successful with the free version. It allows you to:

• See women in your area (limited to 10 per day)
• Define and edit your age range
• Swipe on those 10 profiles each day
• Chat with women you’ve matched with

In terms of dating apps, there’s really nothing more that you need from it. See women, match with them, chat and exchange phone numbers. That’s the whole process in a nutshell.

Advertisements

Besides their constant ad to upgrade to a paid subscription, there are no ads in the Down dating app at all.

This adds to the premium look and feel of the app. I have to admit some course language was uttered several times when getting their ads for Premium though. Swipe, swipe, swipe, ad. Tap the close button, swipe, swipe, ad. Argh!

Pricing

The cost of the paid membership is $19.99 per month. Perhaps a little higher than I’d like to see but if Down provided success I’d probably pay it.

The premium membership gives you:

• “10x more matches” (technically 10 x 0 is still 0 so they’re not wrong)

• More profiles each day. I suspect it’s unlimited but I can’t seem to confirm that anywhere
• “DOWN Compass”. The ability to view matches from a different location rather than just your local area. Helpful if you plan to travel I suppose.
• Hide your profile from Facebook friends
• See who has liked you without having to match

All in all, these would be helpful if the app had active users. If their user base does improve I’d certainly recommend the paid version. As it sits right now though, save your money.

On top of this, you can also pay $2.99 for a “Supercharge Boost”. This boost makes you the top profile in your area so you stand out and get more matches. This boost lasts just 24hrs.

Most Other Users Aren’t Impressed With Down

Here are a few testimonials from people who have used Down.

Guyver7088 – Google Play

“I’m getting zero matches I had this app for awhile and some of the profiles are either bots or cat fish I send a few messages get none back. This app is a waste of my time.”

Damon Wilson – Google Play

“Better luck using aff over this, for the price it’s not worth it!”

Michael Toth – Google Play

“You spend money and you don’t talk to not one woman.”

 

How To Stay Safe In Dating Apps

We didn’t find any red flags as far as scams or dangerous users on Down, but that doesn’t mean that a scammer won’t be able to slip through the net. So, it’s worth reading up on these quick tips to keep yourself safe.

• Be careful with your personal information. “Never give someone you haven’t met with in person your personal information, including your: social security number, credit card details, bank information, or work or home address,” a RAINN spokesperson advises.
• Don’t be too vulnerable too quickly. “When we are making decisions that make us vulnerable, we need to also be thinking about safety” , explains psychotherapist Kelly Scott, LMHC. “There’s a lot of physical and emotional vulnerability in dating.” So, make sure to keep a logical head on your shoulders when deciding who’s safe to date and who seems suspicious.   
• Ask for verified profiles. Down and most other mainstream dating apps give users the option to verify their profiles. If you’re suspicious about another dating app user, ask them to verify their profile. It’s usually a low-effort process, so legitimate users should have no reason to not want to do it. 
• Swap social media details with your matches. Viewing the social media profiles of your matches will allow you to learn more about them, including how accurately they were representing themselves on the dating app.  
• Arrange a video call before meeting anyone. Catfishing is regarded as “very common” among 71% of dating app users, according to Pew Research data. Arranging a video call with your matches will stop you from being catfished and help you test for real-life chemistry.   
• Never send money to strangers from the internet. Some $3.3 billion was lost to online romance scams in 2022, according to FBI data. You might think that’ll never happen to you, but many of these scammers are smarter than you realize.  “These people are very good at recognising opportunities,” says detective chief insepector Gary Miles, who specialises in cybercrime. “The social engineering is quite remarkable,” he adds. Better Business Bureau data suggests that 18 to 24-year-olds are just as likely to be scammed as older users. FBI data suggests that these scams have increased by 25% since 2019. So, no matter how much you think you can trust an online stranger, don’t send them money.  
• Trust your gut. As many tips as we’ve shared, your gut feeling is usually your best tool. “When it comes to online dating, your instincts are your best friend,” explains experienced NYC matchmaker Vince Ricco.  “If something feels off or too good to be true, trust your gut and proceed with caution.”

Down Review FAQ

Finally, let’s take a look at some of the most common questions people have been asking about Down. As always, if you have a question I haven’t covered in this review, let us know!

What is DOWN?

Down is a dating app designed to facilitate both dating and hookups. Similar to most dating apps, you can swipe on those you’re interested in and chat to your matches.

The biggest difference here is you don’t just swipe ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Instead, you swipe ‘Date’, ‘Hookup’ or skip their profile. Sadly, DOWN’s users seem extremely inactive.

Who actually owns DOWN?

DOWN is owned and operated by Pakton, a company based in Singapore. They also own other apps like Goodnight and Groopify.

How can I contact DOWN?

DOWN has a contact form that you can use to send feedback and concerns: https://www.downapp.com/contact

Is DOWN real?

Yes, DOWN is a real app that perhaps once had real people using it. But after weeks of using the app, I got ZERO matches.

Is DOWN legit?

From my experience, the Down app is legitimate, albeit a ghost town. While I’m still yet to receive a single match on the app, that appears to be a lack of active users rather than a scam.

Just because you’ll struggle for interaction doesn’t make this a Down dating scam. Nonetheless, I can’t say I’d recommend installing it.

Is DOWN a scam or fake?

DOWN is a legitimate app; it just lacks an active user base. While you will be presented with profiles each day, they appear to be of users that have stopped using the app. You may read some skepticism online, but there is no DOWN dating scam.

Is DOWN safe?

DOWN seems perfectly safe. However, it looks like no one is using the app anymore.

What are DOWN alternatives?

The app store is littered with dating app alternatives. So much so that identifying successful apps can be tough.

To save you some time and frustration, we reviewed the year’s best hookup apps. Take a look at that review for the best alternatives to the Down app.

How does DOWN work?

DOWN is an app that shows you a series of profiles. You can choose if you want to “date”, “hookup” or ignore a profile. However, with a free account, you can only see 10 profiles a day.

Is there a DOWN app?

Yes, DOWN has an app on iOS and Android.

How much does DOWN cost?

If you don’t mind being limited to 10 profiles per day you can use Down for free. If you’d like to increase that volume and get a few extra perks, you can sign up for the premium membership. This paid membership costs $19.99 per month.

How can you use DOWN for free?

With the free DOWN membership, you can only swipe on 10 profiles a day.

Can you send messages for free on DOWN?

Yes. If you match with someone on DOWN, you can send them a message for free.

How do you cancel your DOWN account?

Canceling a paid subscription for Down has to be done through your App store (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android). Follow the steps below for your device.

iOS

• Launch the Settings app
• Tap iTunes & App Store
• Tap on your Apple ID
• Tap View Apple ID when the pop up window appears
• Enter your Apple ID password or fingerprint ID when prompted
• Tap Subscriptions
• Tap the Down subscription
• Tap Cancel Subscription
• Tap Confirm when prompted to confirm that you want to cancel your subscription

Android

• Open the Google Play Store
• Check if you’re signed in to the correct Google Account
• Tap Menu then Subscriptions
• Select the Down subscription
• Tap Cancel subscription

Have you tried the DOWN dating app? If so, review it here and let us know how it worked for you! 

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References:

• BBB. (2020). Adults 18-24 Report Highest Scam Risk in 2020. Better Business Bureau.
• Fletcher, E. (2023, February). Romance Scammers’ Favorite Lies Exposed. Federal Trade Commission.
• Ricco, V. (2023). 12 Essential Dating Safety Tips. Tawkify.
• Tandon, N. & Battle, M. S. (2023). Dating App Safety. MindBodyGreen. 
• Scott, E. (2022). Horrific Date Turns into Rape, Terror in Stafford, NJ. NJ1015.
• Pew Research Center. (2020, February 6). The Virtues and Downsides of Online Dating.
• RAINN. (n.d.). Online Dating and Dating App Safety Tips.
• Dixon, S. J. (2023). Topic: Online Dating. Statista. 
• Hanlon, S. (2022). Best Dating Apps for Marriage. The Knot.
• McNiff, S. (2023). Dating Apps & Mental Health. The Skimm. 
• Whaley, S. (2016). Photographer reveals what’s REALLY going wrong with your dating profile. Daily Mail.

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Contributing Authors:

Joe Elvin

Joe Elvin is an internationally known confidence and dating coach with nearly a decade of experience. He is the successful author of several dating and confidence books that have helped thousands of men find success. While traveling the world Joe consistently finds new and valuable ways to meet and attract women. Joe has a Bachelor’s Degree in Multimedia Journalism from Bournemouth University and he has been featured in many large publications including AskMen, TSB Magazine and The Good Men Project.

As one of the most prolific writers on Heart Insider, Joe has reviewed over a hundred dating apps. He is the site’s foremost authority when it comes to selecting what dating app works for whom. From an app’s mechanics to its algorithm to telltale signs that a dating app is a scam, Joe’s is able to expertly discern between dating apps that provide value and those that don’t.

Ash Wright

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