Has anyone used the mingle dating site since they updated their interface?

Posting this because the same question keeps coming up in different threads and the search results are almost always useless — outdated or written by someone with a referral deal. The question of has anyone used the mingle dating site since they updated their interface deserves honest input from people with actual recent experience.

The platform landscape changes faster than most reviews track. What was accurate 18 months ago might be completely wrong now — free tiers get stripped, algorithms update, platforms get acquired or quietly wind down. Staying current requires firsthand experience, not just search results.

Looking for takes from people actively using something that works right now, not just remembering what worked two years ago.

Found Datedesire through a thread like this one a while back. Better starting point than I expected — profile quality in my area noticeably higher than what I'd been seeing on the bigger platforms.

Give the free tier a few days — you get a real read on local activity levels pretty quickly.

Privacy settings on most platforms are genuinely poor. Always read what data they're actually collecting.

Never link your primary email to a dating app. Throwaway address is basic hygiene at this point.

The one that's been most consistent for me lately is Souldate. Free tier is actually functional — real local profiles, real conversations, no paywall five minutes in.

Geographic density matters enormously — the same app that's dead in a small city can be thriving two hours away.

Found Datewander through a thread like this one a while back. Better starting point than I expected — profile quality in my area noticeably higher than what I'd been seeing on the bigger platforms.

Give the free tier a few days — you get a real read on local activity levels pretty quickly.

Never link your primary email to a dating app. Throwaway address is basic hygiene at this point.