RetroMeet v0.1 is out!

Published: Feb 14, 2025 by renatolond

RetroMeet v0.1 is out and this blog post will explain a little bit more of what it is and what I hope it will be in the future.

Why RetroMeet?

RetroMeet is an open-source dating and friend-finding app. Like most dating apps, the idea of RetroMeet is to match you with folks close to you so that you can meet them, either to make new friends or to find a new relationship, fling or whatever you might be looking for.

The focus of RetroMeet is on who you are, not on what you look like. That’s why the RetroMeet interface is not a “swipe-left-and-right” kind of interface, but a listing of nearby people.

A lot of people ask me what is the advantage of an open-source dating app over other platforms they already know.

Being open source, RetroMeet allows other people who know how to code to modify it and distribute it, but that is only a part of the users anyway.

However, RetroMeet’s philosophy is also quite different from other, commercial, platforms. RetroMeet is not trying to make money out of your connections. It doesn’t have a subscription model. No VC money.

RetroMeet exists because of the time and effort donated by its contributors.

Our contributors are people like you who want to meet people with things in common with them. They also want to make a platform that works towards that goal.

And that is why I believe RetroMeet is better in the long run.

What features does RetroMeet have?

In its current version, RetroMeet is a very simple app. It provides you with the basic functionality a dating app needs: it allows you to set a location, see people around you, message people and get messages back.

Unlike other apps, your location is defined by you. You can move your profile a few days ahead of travelling without any kind of complication. While tracking your location can help in big cities, you are ultimately the one who knows where you are most likely to be and RetroMeet will also make it easier for you to expand the radius of your search to what you’re comfortable moving around.

Because we know the internet is not all unicorns and rainbows, it also allows you to report other profiles that are not behaving as you’d expect and it allows you to block people.

Here are a few screenshots of what you can expect when you sign up for RetroMeet:

What is RetroMeet future?

RetroMeet is simple right now but I want RetroMeet to get better in the long run.

I’d like RetroMeet to be a place where users try to filter who sees parts of their profiles. Much like in Social Networks such as Mastodon or GoToSocial, users should be able to display parts of their profile only to people that they liked and/or who liked them back.

Also, I’d like the profile page to be more complete. While the focus for RetroMeet is not only on the photos like other apps, I do want to allow users to add more pictures if they’d like to, be it pictures of themselves or their pets.

I’d like to find ways to target the imbalances naturally found on dating apps; while RetroMeet won’t have some kind of “pay-to-play” dynamics, it will have dynamics around the maximum number of conversations one can start per day and it will filter out profiles to best match what someone is looking for based on their own profile and search criteria.

How do I join?

I’m currently only accepting sign-ups through an invite list. This is so I can work out the kinks and fix any bugs that might pop up in the first few days.

If you’d like to join, here’s a link to a form to request access (opens in a new window )

Otherwise, wait a little bit and I’ll announce when it’s open for sign-ups!