Gone are the days when you have to download several dating apps, create a profile in each one, then keep the conversation going in separate apps. Viber Dating lets you do all these in one app.
Despite what seems to be an instant way to find love, using dating apps can get you feeling a little paranoid or hopeless, as I know from experience. You swipe and swipe, only for prospects to leave you on seen. Sometimes, what started as a fun chat with a match leaves you asking, “Am I being ghosted—again?”
Then there are the scammers and fraudsters. They appear as walking—or rather, chatting and talking—green flags until they ask you to move to a messaging app and start asking for money. It can be annoying, really. But don’t get us wrong, there are plenty of people out there who, after many tries, found their significant other in dating apps—me included.
Despite the crazy, sometimes upsetting, at times kilig-filled cycle, there definitely is hope! This is true, especially now that communications app Viber has begun offering an in-app dating service that lets singles actually meet their “the one” in a secure environment and convenient setup.
Gone are the days when you have to download several dating apps, create a profile in each one, then keep the conversation going in separate messaging apps when you and your match have found a spark. Viber Dating lets you do all that within one app while protecting you against scammers using dating platforms as their hunting grounds.
Launched during Valentine’s Day, on Feb. 14, Viber Dating is built for people who, despite feeling fatigued by dating apps, still use them to connect and meet new people. In fact, a 2024 survey conducted by Rakuten Insights shows that 40 percent of Filipinos use these apps because they enable them to meet people they wouldn’t normally encounter in daily life.
Besides creating new connections, respondents considered convenience and boredom as among their main reasons for using these apps. Now with the launch of its dating service, Viber aims to make your love hunt much easier, as it enables Viber users to meet within the app and continue their conversations right there as well.
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It starts with creating a profile by clicking “Viber Dating” on your account page, providing necessary details such as your name, birthday, gender, and who you are interested in, then uploading two or more photos of yourself. You are also given the option to write a short description of yourself, provide more details of your interests, and enable location tracking for possible matches.
While the account creation is pretty much the same as other dating apps, Viber said that what sets it apart is how the in-app dating platform is exclusively available to verified users, ensuring a more secure experience for all.
“When we asked users what are their concerns on dating apps, most of them referred to safety, fake profiles, fraud,” Viber CEO Ofir Eyal said at the press conference attended by The POST last week. “Our experience at Viber at combating fraud, making sure that people really own the number they use, allow us to offer a dating experience which we believe could be the safest in the world.”
Viber verifies the identities of its users by requiring them to confirm their phone numbers via OTP. “Users cannot create a dating profile without activating Viber with their phone number,” Eyal continued. “We have our algorithms to ensure that your number is not fake. We have 15 years of dealing with fraudulent activity.”
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Part of its continuous effort to fight fraudsters—from its communication channel and now to its dating platform—is the use of both artificial intelligence tools and human moderators in filtering the profiles. Eyal explained, “We employ both AI and human moderators. So since the launch of Viber Dating, every profile goes through not only AI but also human moderation to verify it’s a real person, it’s a real photo, and this person is not doing anything fishy. We are committed to this and will continue investing in this.”
Adding to the advanced security features is Viber’s technology that keeps your phone number completely hidden while chatting with your matches within the app. This ensures that no contact information is shared throughout your dating experience until, of course, you choose to share it.
Whether you’re a newbie or a veteran of online dating, there’s always this embarrassing feeling that you wouldn’t want your family, colleagues, friends, and even office crush to know that you’re searching for love online. That is why Viber designed its dating platform in such a way that your contacts wouldn’t have a clue that you’re actually there.
Unlike when it’s your birthday or if you recently changed a number, Viber will not notify your primary contacts when you have created a dating account. Your dating profile and the rest of your chats will be separate from your primary Viber account and will only be visible to your fellow Viber Dating users.
“Apart from fake profiles, scams, and frauds, many dating app users are concerned that it will mix with their private life. Some are concerned that their boss, colleagues, and family will see their dating profile,” Eyal said at the press conference. “So what we did is that, the dating service is in the same app but there’s a wall for your dating profile. You use a different photo and just a part of your name if not your full name. The chats are in a totally different place in the app from the regular chats, so your family and friends wouldn’t know.”
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And when you think that you’ve (finally) met your perfect match and decide to take things further, you and your new bae won’t have to leave Viber as it allows you to seamlessly continue the conversation from its dating platform to the main app.
It’s a win-win for both the users and the company, as Eyal explained in last week’s event. “There is a fundamental flaw on how dating apps work ‘cause once you meet your partner, you’re no longer single, you’re also no longer a customer. In fact, some claim that keeping you single is the interest of dating apps. But it’s not the case for us in Viber because the dating service is within the app,” he said.
“What do people do after dating? They move to a messaging app in Viber,” he continued. “Hence, whether you find a partner or not, you’re still in Viber. We are not playing the game of keeping you single.”
So, are you swiping left or right to Viber Dating? Might as well give it a try because, who knows? The love of your life must just be a few clicks away! And if all else fails, you can always head back to your work group chat bugging you about your pending deadlines.
