The Thursday dating app that only works one day a week

George Rawlings launched Thursday in 2021

A dating app has been developed that only works one day a week to help combat "dating fatigue".

George Rawlings, 29, wanted to make dating less complicated and launched Thursday from his bedroom last year.

He hoped by narrowing the app to one day it would give users a sense of urgency to organise a date straight away and cut down on small talk.

A couple who met on the app in January are now living together and said they enjoyed the spontaneity of it.

It has been downloaded 750,000 times in the last nine months.

Mr Rawlings, from Cheltenham, said: "I really do believe we've overdosed on dating apps.

"They've been around now for 10-15 years and the novelty of a match or swiping has kind of worn off.

"I used to run my previous dating app seven days a week, but matches weren't resolving in dates - the conversations didn't go anywhere.

"So we thought we'd make a small window of opportunity for people who want to go on, or organise a date that day. It forces people to act."

The Thursday app is only open one day a week

Mr Rawlings says he chose Thursdays because his previous dating app - Honeypot - peaked on a Thursday, with about double the number of people logging on compared to other days.

"I think it's because people want to date, but also protect their weekends to do other things" he added.

As well as the chance to chat online, Thursday also organises face-to-face singles events in London and New York, on a Thursday of course.

"It's working really well, we're only nine months in, but we're getting there, we're on the map," Mr Rawlings said.

"I want Thursday to be known across the world as 'date day'."

Scott and Annie met on a Thursday in January 2022

Scott Gledhill, 33, met his girlfriend Annie Aitken, 27, through Thursday and they now live together in London.

"We liked the spontaneity of it - you can get quite worn down by dating apps," Mr Gledhill said.

"If you want to meet someone you feel like you should be swiping more, doing more, it's an overload of options. I found it quite overwhelming.

"When Thursday came I could spend an hour or two finding someone I might be able to meet that night.

"It streamlined the process and made the rest of my life more comfortable."