I originally wrote this review of the dating app “Thursday” in March 2022. As it’s been a popular post, in September 2024, I downloaded Thursday again to see what’s changed.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I’ve been on and off dating apps for the best part of 200 years. I’ve tried Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, Feeld, Happ’n, Coffee Meets Bagel, Her, Plenty of Fish, Match.com, eHarmony – and now, Thursday.

How does the dating app, Thursday, work compared with other dating apps?

In the world of dating apps, Thursday has been shaking things up. Rather than be available all day every day (and users developing dating app fatigue in the process), Thursday only allows users to message and arrange dates via the app one day a week. Supposedly, Thursday is the day for dates.

You can still access Thursday and make a profile on any other day of the week – in fact, I’d encourage this so that when Thursday comes, you’re ready to match, chat and arrange a date. On any other day of the week, when you open Thursday, a countdown shows how long until the app’s open for “IRL dating”. There’s also a link to Thursday’s events app – a place for singles to “meet new people in vibrant cities worldwide”.

In many ways, Thursday is similar to other dating apps: view profiles of local singles, send a “like” then chat with matches. Where Thursday differs is that seeing profiles of other users and messaging connections is only possible on Thursdays. The idea is that you should only use the app if you’re free for a date that same Thursday so that everyone you connect with that day is free on the same day.

On Thursday morning, local singles fitting your preferred criteria appear in the People section of the app. You’ll see their main photo, their age and stated job, from here you can navigate to view their entire profile. On Thursdays, you can also see local, available singletons on the map – but only if you have agreed to be visible on the map. This avoids silent swiping.

When you first connect with someone on a given Thursday, you can message them until 23:59. This connection is held under your “Active” chats. As soon as your local timezone ticks over to Friday, matches from Thursday are moved across to “Locked” and you won’t be able to message. Premium users receive five opportunities to unlock a match and continue chatting until the following Thursday. A previous version had chats disappear at the end of the day. Now, chats are locked for a week and reopen on the following Thursday for a day. At the end of the second Thursday, the match disappears.

(Avoid bots, scammers and timewasters: here’s how to spot a fake profile on a dating app.)

The dating app Thursday’s got a new look

A few years ago, the UX on Thursday wasn’t great but the updated version is an improvement. The design still seems intentionally retro, but it no longer feels old-fashioned or clunky. When messaging someone, there’s now a bit more space to read previous messages because the text box at the bottom no longer takes up lots of the screen.

A key issue with the previous version was the location services. At the bottom of the screen that showed a map of your local area, Thursday promised that “Exact location never revealed”. This was technically true because the app didn’t share your address, but if you zoomed in and knew the local area, you could work out which road someone lived on. Personally, I found this was a big problem.

Here’s how Thursday’s dating profiles look now:

Here’s how Thursday’s dating profiles used to look:

Thursday’s the day for dating – if you live in a major city

Naturally, a dating app is only as good as its users and unfortunately, Thursday offered up slim pickings both times I tried it. Credit where credit is due, Thursday’s objective is to get people dating IRL and it hosts events in major cities, globally. The app is currently available in six markets: Australia, Canada (Toronto only), Ireland, the U.K., the U.S. and Sweden (Stockholm only) and in 26 cities, including Austin, Texas; Dublin, Ireland; Chicago, Illinois; London, England; Miami, Florida; New York, New York; Sydney, Australia; and more. Unsurprisingly, my local town is not listed.

When I opened up the app this Thursday, only five local guys appeared though I gather this was because of where I live (a large town in the South East of England) rather than Thursday’s popularity. (Users have a 200-person limit on the number of profiles they can see each Thursday so there’s probably far more opportunity for connection in one of the above cities.)

I really like the premise of Thursday and look forward to seeing how the app evolves. Perhaps I’d have more luck trying the app in London – oh, and if I were single.

Featured photo credit to Thursday dating app. All other screenshots from my profile on Thursday.