This Dating App Tells You Which People Are Quarantining At Home

DFH is the new DTF, y'all. Ever since the coronavirus outbreak caused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to recommend social distancing, dating apps have become more popular than ever. Betches' dating app Ship reports tens of thousands of new downloads, as well as a 45% increase in group chat messages and 20% increase in right swipes. And in an effort to encourage those users to date virtually, Ship's "dating from home" badge allows you to see whether potential matches are open to arrange remote dates. Once you opt in, a #DFH badge appears on your profile, so everyone will see that you're down to date from home. (DTDFH — can we make that a thing?)

If you haven't given Ship a try yet, then there's no better time to download. The app, which has been around for just over a year, allows users to swipe alongside their besties and discuss profiles and matches in a group chat. It's the first friend-powered dating app, and now, it's the first dating app to create an opt-in pledge for social distancing. Never again will you have to explain to a match why you'd rather not hook up in the midst of a global pandemic.

Elite Daily spoke to Ship cofounder Jordana Abraham, and she gave us the scoop on why Ship decided to introduce the new #DFH badge. "We realized there are a lot of users that still want to continue dating, and keep up with usual routines like chatting with friends and socializing," she explains. "At Ship, we're all about navigating dating together, and we wanted to ensure users could continue to do so — but also realized our responsibility to ensure safety is top of mind for our users as we all get used to this new way of living." Three cheers for putting the social back in social distancing!

Abraham also explained how they hope this new feature will help users feel comfortable with the idea of at-home dating during the coronavirus outbreak. "We're in a position to help change dating behavior and normalize virtual dating, so that's why we're asking our users to pledge to date from home," she says. "And what better way than a visual indicator that a potential match is taking things seriously?"

Ship gets that a virtual first date may not be your ideal scenario, so they've also released a library of over 100 Zoom backgrounds for users to choose from. From a romantic dinner in Paris to front row seats at a concert, you can select from backgrounds that will virtually place you just about anywhere (because, if you're hunkered down at your parents' house, you probably don't want your date to see the Backstreet Boys posters hanging above your bed). My personal fave: the "Too Lazy To Clean" backgrounds, which feature Pinterest-worthy rooms that don't require any tidying up.

I, for one, am definitely shipping this new Ship update, and I couldn't be happier that they're pushing to make #DFH the new norm for the time being.