For all that dating apps feel ubiquitous in 2025, there’s an equally forceful counterweight to them: frustration with dating apps and everything about them. But there’s a growing body of evidence that people, especially in Gen Z, are logging out of these apps for good. In an article for WIRED, Daniel Roman observed that the percentage of Americans who were using dating apps dropped from 18% to 15% between 2019 and 2022.
Late last year, The Guardian cited the U.K.’s Office of Communications in an article on a similar phenomenon across the Atlantic. “Some analysts speculate that for younger people, particularly gen Z, the novelty of dating apps is wearing off,” the agency stated. But a lack of interest in dating apps doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of interest in dating — so what, if anything, is supplanting the apps?
In a recent article for Air Mail, Paulina Prosnitz explored the activities that have cropped up for singles looking to meet other singles without a screen between them. The article points to activities like pickleball, cornhole and backgammon, and it’s easy to see why a competitive activity could have an advantage over, say, more traditional ideas of speed dating. Prosnitz also cites the growing popularity of run clubs as way for people to make a potential connection.
As for Gen Z, the University of Leeds’s Luke Brunning told The Guardian in 2024, “Very few of them are turning to the apps as an exclusive means of setting up an in-person meeting. It’s much more fluid now.” Air Mail’s reporting also notes that more activity-focused meetups tie in to two other Gen Z-centric trends: an emphasis on physical activity and less of a focus on booze. Will this shift in emphasis make for happier singles? Keep an eye on a pickleball court near you and find out.
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