New Christian dating app, Salt, is addressing relationship challenges and aims to become the most popular way for Christians to meet, date and marry.
Johannesburg - Online dating has increased dramatically in the last 10 years and more so during the past 18 months becqause of Covid-19 challenges.
Now a new Christian dating app, Salt, is addressing relationship challenges and aims to become the most popular way for Christians to meet, date and marry.
The app already has 10 000 South Africans signed up to meet their heavenly matches. Salt was launched in the UK in 2018 where it became the highest rated and most downloaded Christian dating app, for Christians of all ages.
Founder, Paul Rider, said the stigma of online dating has largely fallen away and online dating has become the new norm and the pandemic has only accelerated this process.
“Online dating was traditionally seen as a less romantic way of meeting people or for people who can’t meet anyone ’in real life’. But with the growth of mobile phones, and the usage of apps increasing, data shows that 40% of people now meet online. Traditional dating can be difficult and pressurised for Christians and it is a challenge to meet Christians beyond your own church community,” he said.
Rider added that many churches have limited attendance at services or have moved online and interaction has become even more difficult. Salt successfully launched in Germany and Australia earlier this year and he is particularly excited about launching the app in South Africa.
“Having been born and grown up in South Africa, it was always going to be a priority market for me. We feel that Salt has a big opportunity to help Christians in South Africa meet, match, build relationships and get married.”
Rider met his wife through online dating, and saw the need for an improved app that matched people of faith.
“Working for a mobile app business at the time I met my wife online, I could see mobile use growing at a very fast rate but I felt there were a number of problems with the dating solutions that existed for Christians. A lot seemed very out of date, old-fashioned, and just not relevant. The products were not mobile first and price points tended to be very expensive. We hoped that Salt could change a lot of this and really make a difference for Christians around the world,” he said.
The app is free of charge to download, create a profile, meet people, match and chat, with the option to upgrade to premium for additional features. User safety and privacy is paramount with individuals only being able to receive messages from people they have chosen to match with.
“I think for anyone who has a faith, be it Christian or otherwise, it forms the foundation of your life, how you make decisions and your approach to everything. So if you're able to find someone who shares that same foundation and outlook, you're in a much better position to build and develop a long term relationship. And that is what Salt is passionate about..”
On the question of why Christians only, Rider said: “Niche apps are proven to work and be successful for their focused demographic. Christians typically want to meet other Christians and we’ve seen global success for apps like J-Swipe (Jewish dating app) and Muzmatch (Muslim dating app) so are excited for the role Salt can play for Christians.
Here are some quotes from couples who have used the app, connected and got hitched:
“Our names are Mike and Sally. We met on Salt and two years and two days later we were married. Thanks Salt for our happily ever after. We are eternally grateful to Salt for creating a platform for Christian men and women to meet. And of course we are thankful to God our creator who gave you the desire, the skills and team to create and maintain Salt. Without him, none of these would have happened.”
“Isabel and I got married at the weekend, we couldn’t be more grateful for Salt.” Tom and Isabel
“We are both so grateful for the app, the time and effort that’s gone into it and for how papa God has used it in our story.” Jasmine and Peter
“I joined Salt last year, having never tried a dating app, and went on my first date. We’d swapped messages for a few days before but I was sceptical of internet dating and really didn’t think it would work out. I’d never have believed a year later I’d be married to him or that I could ever be this happy. God has used the Salt app to bring more joy to this family than you could ever imagine. I’ll never be able to thank you enough. God bless you”. Abigail.
The app is available on Android and iOS. For more information go to www.be-salt.com