Guy makes dating app that features just one guy -- himself
The Singularity app has a singular focus: Aaron Smith.
- Third place film critic, 2021 LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
There are few places you're as likely to be overcome by the tyranny of choice as on dating apps. Choice is not an issue on Singularity, a new dating app for women. It features one guy and one guy alone.
Aaron Smith is trying to make it easier for you.
That guy is Aaron Smith. He created the app to sidestep all that dater-against-dater competition. Swipe through and you'll see photos of only him.
There's Aaron in a Santa hat. There he is playing guitar. There he is playing guitar again, this time in a floppy wig. And there he is holding an adorable dog and making puppy eyes. Aaron is 32 and "gainfully employed," the app reveals.
The Greensboro, North Carolina, resident is indeed employed, in technical support. He also has a YouTube channel, Aaron Loves Gear, where he posts videos of music gear, software and "other random crap that I feel like putting up here."
The channel now also hosts an amusing ad for his dating app. "By utilizing the latest in personality analysis and machine-learning technology, Singularity saves you countless hours of swiping by just matching you with me," Smith says in the vid.
The ad gives a good sense of Aaron's feelings about online dating -- and probably reflects the sentiments of a lot of others too.
Hey, it's Aaron again!
"Online dating is terrible, and getting more nonsensical with each passing year," the narrator in the ad says. "Sure, you could meet people the old-fashioned way by going outside, but that feels like a lot of work. So instead you navigate this bleak dystopian hellscape sifting through the dregs of humanity through your smartphone while each day brings you closer to the cold hard hands of death."
Smith tells me he was getting bummed with the rat race to romance, but instead of posting an online rant, he decided to mine the situation for humor. Smith created Singularity with the help of his friend Scott McDowell, a software engineer. It doesn't appear on app stores (yet), just via a mobile website accessible via singularitydating.com.
The app makes its humorous bent clear from the start screen, which prompts you to log in with your Social Security number. You can also get in by just clicking on the "Okay fine" button.
Unlike the infinite scrolling that characterizes most dating apps, this one ends on a page with Smith's contact information in the form of a Facebook page and an email address. "Yes, this is a joke," it reads. "But what if it isn't?"
Smith says he's gotten a few Facebook friend requests through the app, but so far nothing that's going to get him to give up Bumble for good. He is, however, more than open to meeting someone through Singularity.
"I met my last serious girlfriend through Tinder," he says, "so is this really that different?"
Having interviewed the single Smith, I can share a pro tip for anyone interested in standing out. "If you're an eccentric, socially anxious cat lady, we're probably each other's type."