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Tangent

Opening first in Cambridge

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Doomscrolling doesn’t belong in dating.

Tangent shows you up to six people a day (ten with Tangent+), each with the reasons you might click. Everyone fits your dealbreakers, and we choose them for what you both prefer and have in common.

By signing up, you confirm you’re 18 or over. We’ll only email you about Tangent’s launch. To be taken off the list, email hello@datetangent.com. See our privacy notice.

Find out more

A first look

Each profile tells you what you have in common.

Why Tangent exists

Dating apps are built to keep you swiping. The stack never runs out, you give each person a split second, and before long people start to feel like content. Anyone worth meeting deserves a bit more than that.

So we built a dating app you’re meant to put down.

From endless… Hundreds of faces, and no reason to stop on any of them.
…to a short list. Up to six a day on the free plan, ten with Tangent+. All of them pass your Musts, and the people who fit you best arrive over several days.
That’s everyone for today. Come back tomorrow, or don’t. Go and see a friend. Or a date.

What we stand for

We want online dating to lead somewhere.

  1. Before you match

    Know the big things first.

    Finding out on the fifth date that you’re fundamentally incompatible costs a lot of time, money and emotional energy. Your Musts are the things you won’t compromise on. You’ll only see people who fit them, and they’ll only see you if you fit theirs.

  2. When you talk

    Plenty to talk about.

    You answer questions about what you love and what you’re looking for, and we use your answers to choose who you see. Every profile shows the reasons you might click, so there’s somewhere to start and plenty to go off on a tangent about.

  3. When you meet

    Make it an actual date.

    When you’re ready, plan the date in the chat, with ideas based on what you both enjoy and always somewhere public. Everyone will do an age check before they can match with anyone, and after the date we check in privately to ask how it went and whether you felt safe. Your match never sees your check-in answers.

How it works

You tell us what matters, and we do the sifting.

  1. 01

    Start with your dealbreakers.

    A few quick questions on the big things, like children, smoking, drinking and what you’re looking for. For each one you say where you stand and how much it matters in a partner: a Must, a Strongly prefer, a Prefer or not at all. A Must rules people out; the rest decides who comes first.

    As you choose, you’ll see roughly how many people each one rules out, shown as a band rather than an exact number.

  2. 02

    Then the rest of you.

    Your photos, your interests and 21 short questions on things like values, conflict and humour. You pick the two areas that matter most to you, and those count for more. Written answers and the rest are optional.

    Tangent is for adults. When it opens, you’ll do an age check and take a selfie before anyone can see your profile.

  3. 03

    Up to six people a day.

    Nobody you see fails your Musts, and you pass all of theirs. On relationship structure and drugs, “Prefer not to say” counts as a pass. Each profile shows up to three reasons you might click, based only on what you can both see on each other’s profiles. Once you’ve seen today’s people, that’s it until tomorrow.

    That’s on the free plan, which also gives you three likes a day. With Tangent+, a paid plan, it’s up to ten people and more likes.

  4. 04

    Then start talking.

    Like a particular answer or photo and say why. If they like you back, a chat opens with conversation starters and date ideas based on what you have in common, so nobody has to open with “hey”.

    If a chat goes quiet you’ll both get a nudge, and after two weeks it closes.

Musts and Prefers

Make a Must of the things you won’t bend on. Everything else is a preference.

Try it: tap a switch and watch who’s left.

Musts on: 0. Everyone near you who fits the basics.

How we choose who you see

Musts rule people out, and we usually leave out people whose answers are far from yours. The rest is about finding people you’ll click with.

The dealbreaker questions

  • What you’re looking for
  • Has children
  • Wants children
  • Smoking
  • Drinking
  • Pets
  • Where you’re heading
  • Relationship structure
  • Drugs

Relationship structure and drugs are private. We only ask if you agree, we never show them on your profile or mention them in a reason, and “Prefer not to say” never rules you out. If someone has a Must on one of them and you appear in their feed, they can tell your answer isn’t one they ruled out. If you stop appearing, they may be able to tell it is. Faith and politics are never dealbreakers, and both are off unless you switch them on.

  • Prefers count for both of you. Things you’d like but won’t insist on move people up your list, as long as you suit each other.
  • Rarer shared interests count for more. Two people who love bell-ringing probably have more in common than two people who like films. Interests that are close count too, like climbing and bouldering.
  • You see what you have in common. There’s no compatibility percentage. The reasons only use what you can both see on each other’s profiles.

Some rules we’ve set ourselves

We’d rather you were out on a date.

6

A daily limit.

Up to six people a day (ten with Tangent+), then that’s it until tomorrow.

%

You’ll never see a score.

You won’t see a percentage or a rating anywhere, just the reasons you might get on.

⇄

Your Musts work both ways.

If you rule someone out, you won’t appear to them either. We’ll never loosen a Must behind your back.

14d

Quiet chats close.

If a match goes quiet you both get a nudge, and after two weeks the chat closes. Nobody ends up sitting on a hundred chats they’ll never answer.

Aa

Profiles have words as well as photos.

You can like something someone wrote and tell them why.

Privacy & safety

You tell us a lot, so we’re careful with it.

Tangent isn’t open yet, so this is how it will work when it does.

An age check for everyone.

Before anyone can appear in a feed or message someone, they’ll do an age check and a selfie match.

Your most personal answers stay off your profile.

We only ask about relationship structure and drugs if you say we can, and those answers are never shown on your profile. Faith and politics are only used if you switch them on. We never ask about ethnicity.

We only keep your neighbourhood.

Distances never show as less than a kilometre, and the pin you drop on the map isn’t saved.

Photos will be checked and cleaned.

Location and device details are removed on your phone before upload, and every photo will be checked before anyone sees it.

Photos in chat are opt-in.

Photos in chat stay off until you both switch them on, and anything explicit will arrive blurred.

Report from a profile or a chat.

You can also report someone for up to 90 days after a match ends, including for something that happened on a date. We never tell anyone who reported them.

The name

Why we called it Tangent.

Where two things meet.

In geometry, a tangent is a line that touches a circle at exactly one point. The word comes from the Latin for touching, and it’s the idea behind our logo: a heart meeting a ring.

The best chats go off on tangents.

You start on a film you’ve both seen, and an hour later you’re debating the best Sunday roast in Cambridge. We hope Tangent starts a few conversations like that.

Where we’re opening

We’re opening one city at a time.

Cambridge is first. Oxford and London are coming soon.

Meet someone worth putting your phone down for.

Up to six people a day (ten with Tangent+), chosen for what matters to you.

By signing up, you confirm you’re 18 or over. We’ll only email you about Tangent’s launch. To be taken off the list, email hello@datetangent.com. See our privacy notice.