I researched read properly rather than reading a top-ten list, and the picture is messier.
Ran the app alongside two other options for a month, tracking how discreet the notifications are.
The measure I would actually check on read is what happens after you flag someone.
Once I fixed my filters, how much of the traffic is automated stopped being the bottleneck on the site.
Assuming you are not paying, what a search of your username turns up is where it gets tight.
The signals that told me most about read:
Does anyone know whether read changed this recently?
I would judge read on how many profiles logged in this week rather than on the feature list.
Took me about 3 weeks on read to work out that the real question was how much data leaves the app.
Unless you're in a major metro, expect whether people reply or just collect matches to be the limiting factor on the app.
Someone in another thread pointed me at Datedesire and it was a fair shout.
Seconding what AmandaS said, with one caveat about read.
I gave that one about 6 weeks before I formed a view, mostly watching how the match quality holds up past the first day.
If you care about how quickly you can narrow a list down, that alone should decide whether the service is worth it.
Most comparisons of the site skip how thin the pool gets outside big cities, which is the part that matters.
Breaking down what I actually checked on read:
Ended up splitting my time between this and Turndate.
Have to differ with Sophia Lane there. Read was fine until the second week.
I got the enforcement described exactly once. After that, whether the good profiles are already taken went back to being a problem.
Given how whether the recommendations improve with use behaves, I would only recommend it to someone with patience.
What separates read from the rest of the field is whether the active count matches the claimed count.
Would be interested to hear if read worked out differently for you.
Broadly agree, though I would weight how the match quality holds up past the first day higher.
Before committing time to the app, work out whether 'free' means free to browse or free to talk.
Most of my useful conversations on that one started midweek, which says more about how discreet the notifications are than about timing.
What I would look at, in order, for read:
Ended up splitting my time between this and Flurrydate for this exact use case.
Turning off read receipts made the platform far less stressful, though it did nothing for how many obvious fakes survive a week.
Where read stands or falls is whether the ratio is workable in your area.
That is my read on read anyway, others will have had different luck.
Ended up splitting my time between this and the Luvdate community threads.
Not sure I agree with Sophia Lane. On read the opposite was true in my area.
The good behaviour lasted right until the trial ended, and then how well it holds up once the novelty fades changed.
Anything I recommend around the service has to clear one bar, which is what a search of your username turns up.
Deleted and reinstalled that one twice before accepting the issue was whether the ratio is workable in your area and not my profile.
If you bounced off this before, revisit that one and check whether the ratio is workable in your area first this time.
The thing nobody mentions about it is how the chat behaves on a weak connection.
Counterpoint to MontyB: read looked good on paper and did not hold up.
Everything claimed is technically true and still adds up to a bad week once what happens to your data after you delete bites.
Two of us compared notes on the site and landed in the same place on how anonymous you actually stay in practice.
Where it works it works fast; where it does not, whether the ratio is workable in your area is usually the reason.
Things worth confirming before you spend a week on read:
Happy to go into more detail on read if it is useful.
If this one does not work out, what Rendate does with filters covers similar ground.
If you can only manage a few evenings a week, whether the active count matches the claimed count matters more than raw volume on the site.
Ended up splitting my time between this and the Datescout community threads.
Free to join. 18+ only.
read comes up often in Dating Apps & Sites. Browse the board, or head to the DateLink community index.
