A new female-founded dating app called After is launching in Austin, Texas, on Thursday with the mission of tackling ghosting and holding people accountable.
What sets the app apart from the rest of the dating app scene is that After requires users to share why they have unmatched a person before they are allowed to keep swiping. The idea behind the feature is to get rid of abrupt disconnections and confusion.
Founded in October 2023, After is the brainchild of Katie Dissanayake, who came up with the idea for the app after spending a decade in the dating app industry. Prior to founding After, Dissanayake worked at Hud, where she fell in love with tech and learned about everything from trust and safety to product development.
With After, Dissanayake wants to address problems around dating app fatigue, and do something different from what the major dating apps offer.
“Our standout feature is anti-ghosting, which I think holds people accountable,” Dissanayake told TechCrunch. “On the flip side, it gives people closure.”
If two people match on After and start a conversation, but one person stops replying, they will be nudged to respond. If the person still doesn’t message the other user, the match expires. Before they can use the app’s features again, they need to choose a reason why they let the match expire.
Users can choose from a list of reasons to explain why they decided to stop responding. For instance, they can say distance was an issue or that the vibes didn’t match. After will then create a kind message and send it to the other person, and remind them that this isn’t a representation of who they are or their worth.
Plus, if two people match but neither of them messages each other, the app will prompt them to talk to each other. If neither person sends a message, then After will end the match. So instead of having an inbox filled with matches like you would on other dating apps, After is focused on only surfacing matches you’re interacting with.
The app also includes dating guides to help users have a better dating experience. For instance, if someone is having trouble getting matches, After will suggest that they change their image or spruce up their profile.
In the pursuit of transparency, After features “visitor” and “local” badges so that matches are aware of whether someone actually lives in Austin or if they are just visiting.
After will soon include opt-in mental health check-ins where you can reflect on your mood and feelings. And if the app thinks you have been using it too much, it will suggest that you take a break.
After operates on a freemium model, letting free users get basic access to the app. The app features “petals,” which is After’s in-app currency that lets you buy extra features, such as boosts and super likes. While free users can earn petals by doing things like filling out their profile, paid subscribers get 500 petals per month and full access to unlimited chats and likes for $19.99 per month.
In terms of expanding beyond Austin, the company plans to launch the app across Texas before offering it in a different state.
“I’m really passionate about growing a little community first before moving on because nothing is worse than opening an app up and then you have, like, one user in each state, and it just doesn’t work for anybody,” Dissanayake said.
