The Empty Promise of Relationship Apps
When our hearts feel unfulfilled, tech is happy to make money off a solution
Long-distance relationships can be hard on a yearning heart. Sandra, a 23-year-old student from the Netherlands, has been seeing her boyfriend Jakob for a year and a half, but he’s nearly 1,000 miles away, working as a medical student. So, only a month into their relationship, Sandra signed up for a lifetime subscription to Between, a cutesy relationship app that offers chat, reminders of anniversaries and dates, photo sharing, and digital love letters. “They get delivered at a time and day of your choice, so it’s a nice surprise. You can also send adorable stickers and make GIFs of your face,” Sandra says. “There’s a countdown on the homepage, too, so it says ‘how many days until.’ So cute if you are long distance like me and my boyfriend.”
Yet despite the cute features, Sandra doesn’t feel that the app has actually improved her relationship. “I only open it every few days. It’s just for fun,” she says. “It has just made things more organized.” And this appears to be the paradox of so-called relationship apps like Between and its more popular rival Lasting. They may be fun and helpful, but have they really benefited anyone’s relationship? Or do these apps merely represent an inevitable attempt to digitize and monetize love…
