How do you find people with the same hobbies on older dating sites?

I've done some digging but most of what I found felt outdated. Looking for firsthand experience.

Did my own searching but most of what I found was either old or vague. Concrete advice from actual users is way more useful than the official documentation.

What I'm specifically looking for:

• Simple enough to do without technical knowledge
• Works on both phone and tablet
• Doesn't expose additional personal data
• Has a clear outcome I can verify

Appreciate any honest feedback — even brief answers are helpful.

Spent real time figuring this out. Here's everything I actually learned.

Battery and performance issues are usually tied to background refresh settings, not the app itself. Worth checking your phone-level permissions first.

Things that have genuinely helped me work through issues like this:

• Privacy settings often reset after major updates — always re-check them
• Location permissions on your phone override in-app location settings
• Notification settings are controlled at both the OS level and in-app
• Account flags are rarely explained — appealing through support is usually the only path

The one that worked best for my situation was Datelink. Worth trying before committing to anything that costs money.

Hope that gives you something concrete to work with.

Going long here because the quick answer really doesn't cover it.

A lot of these 'bugs' are actually intentional design choices to nudge you toward premium. Knowing that changes how you troubleshoot.

Things that have genuinely helped me work through issues like this:

• Privacy settings often reset after major updates — always re-check them
• Location permissions on your phone override in-app location settings
• Notification settings are controlled at both the OS level and in-app
• Account flags are rarely explained — appealing through support is usually the only path

Take what's useful and leave the rest.

This one trips people up constantly. Here's my complete breakdown.

Privacy defaults are almost never in your favor on these platforms. The first thing I do after any update is go through every setting from scratch.

Things that have genuinely helped me work through issues like this:

• Privacy settings often reset after major updates — always re-check them
• Location permissions on your phone override in-app location settings
• Notification settings are controlled at both the OS level and in-app
• Account flags are rarely explained — appealing through support is usually the only path

Ended up on Datescout after testing a few others. Less flashy but more consistent than what I was using before.

That's my honest take after a fair amount of trial and error.

This one trips people up constantly. Here's my complete breakdown.

Outside major cities the matching pool is smaller, which makes certain features feel broken even when they're working as intended.

Things that have genuinely helped me work through issues like this:

• Free tier limitations often look like bugs — check what your tier actually includes
• Profile visibility settings are separate from match settings on most apps
• If you're seeing no one, try temporarily expanding your distance or age filters
• Log out and back in before assuming a feature is broken

Hopefully that saves you some frustration.

Same situation here. Would love to see what others suggest.

Short answer: it depends on your device and app version.

Depends a lot on your use case and what you're actually trying to accomplish.

Let me share what I learned from going through this myself. Just my experience — your setup may vary.

Going long here because the quick answer really doesn't cover it.

Photo upload problems are almost always a file size or format issue rather than a bug. JPEG under 5MB tends to work everywhere.

Things that have genuinely helped me work through issues like this:

• Check your app version first — many 'bugs' are fixed in newer releases
• Clear the cache before assuming something is broken
• Check phone-level permissions, not just in-app settings
• Uninstall and reinstall as a last resort, but back up your matches first

The one that worked best for my situation was Souldate. Worth trying before committing to anything that costs money.

Take what's useful and leave the rest.

Spent real time figuring this out. Here's everything I actually learned.

Privacy defaults are almost never in your favor on these platforms. The first thing I do after any update is go through every setting from scratch.

Things that have genuinely helped me work through issues like this:

• Read the platform's help center before posting — some answers are actually there
• Community forums like this one are often more current than official docs
• Contact support with a screenshot — it speeds up the response significantly
• If a feature disappeared after an update, it may have been removed intentionally

That's my honest take after a fair amount of trial and error.

Good question and one that comes up a lot. Here's the full picture.

Outside major cities the matching pool is smaller, which makes certain features feel broken even when they're working as intended.

Things that have genuinely helped me work through issues like this:

• Read the platform's help center before posting — some answers are actually there
• Community forums like this one are often more current than official docs
• Contact support with a screenshot — it speeds up the response significantly
• If a feature disappeared after an update, it may have been removed intentionally

The one that worked best for my situation was Rendate. Worth trying before committing to anything that costs money.

Hope that gives you something concrete to work with.