My long-term married friends don’t envy their Tinder-afflicted singleton friends. ‘Let’s never split up,’ Richard leaned across and took Rosie’s hand during a group dinner as we discussed the app that helps singletons (and plenty of non-singletons) get together. Izzy thought her Tinder date’s suggested date to the zoo was a little off. ‘Caged animals are depressing to look at,’ I agreed. ‘But Christian enjoyed his trip to the zoo while high on mushrooms.’
‘If you take that route, I’d definitely recommend checking out the planetarium,’ Christian said.
So I’m not sure how delighted Richard and Rosie will be to know that there’s now a free app designed to help those already in a relationship to get to know each other better… Happy Couple springs five questions a day (from six different topics, such as Emotional and Responsibilities) on each partner about the other, much like the Mr & Mrs games played at hen parties. There’s also a daily relationship-boosting tip and activity suggestion.
While it might seem ironic to be encouraging communication via yet another app on a device invented for communication, the questions seem to be downright redundant – if you don’t already know the answer to ‘What are so-and-so’s feelings about monogamy?’ then you’re probably in a spot of bother. Rather like couple counseling (taken when it’s too late), Happy Couple is probably for those who aren’t particularly happy in their relationship.
I have an alternative suggestion… While not free, there’s nothing like a good bottle of plonk and a bit of face-to-face time to help all of us – single, newly coupled-up or long-term married – achieve some quality interaction. ‘A drunk man speaks a sober mind’ as the saying goes.
