The Sunday Edition: The decline of dating apps, and what could replace them
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Official figures show that for the first time, people are leaving dating apps. So why the exodus? And could future apps - with AI and augmented reality - be any better at matchmaking?
This episode first ran on January 7 2025.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.com/thestory
Guests:
Hannah Skelley, Fashion Writer and Stylist, The Times.
Dr Liesel Sharabi, Associate Professor of Human Communication and Director of the Relationships and Technology Lab at Arizona State University.
Host: Luke Jones.
Producer: Olivia Case.
Clips: TikTok / aidenheaney, TikTok / hopeyoufindyourdad, TikTok / gaelaitor, TikTok / zoecsheehan, TikTok / drcatpsych, TikTok / louisohno.
Photo: Getty Images.
Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This episode of The Story is sponsored by Uber. These days, it is pretty easy to tap an app and |
| 0:05.9 | grab a ride or a car service, but they're not all the same. Uber has been helping to set the |
| 0:11.1 | standard on driver protections and benefits, offering flexibility to their drivers around when, |
| 0:17.1 | where, and for how long they work. Eligible Uber drivers also have access to holiday pay, a pension scheme, new parent payments, and for how long they work, eligible Uber drivers also have access to holiday pay, |
| 0:22.0 | a pension scheme, new parent payments, and even fully funded Open University courses. In fact, |
| 0:27.8 | they were the first major app-based operator to provide this range of benefits. And they also |
| 0:32.8 | support sustainable choices with Uber Green, where passengers in London can choose a fully electric ride |
| 0:39.1 | at the touch of a button at no additional cost. So the next time you're looking to tap an app, |
| 0:45.1 | think about the driver too. Tap Uber. Go to Uber.com forward slash driver protections to learn |
| 0:50.1 | about the benefits and protections that Uber has introduced for drivers. |
| 0:54.4 | This episode of The Story is brought to you by PWC, who are experts in helping businesses get to grips with emerging technologies, such as Gen A.I. |
| 1:05.1 | PWC's research shows that around 40% of business decision makers say integrating Gen AI with their existing systems and processes |
| 1:13.6 | is proving to be an obstacle. But here's where the incredible team at PWC come in. |
| 1:20.6 | They've empowered more than 5,000 technologists within their firm to solve clients' business challenges. |
| 1:26.6 | They were recently named the Microsoft Partner of the Year award winner for Building with AI, |
| 1:33.3 | and they were named a leader in the IDC MarketScape Worldwide Cloud Professional Services |
| 1:38.3 | 2024 vendor assessment. |
| 1:41.3 | PWC has strong alliances with many leading technology companies, which combined with their |
| 1:47.6 | own in-depth industry understanding, tech skills and capabilities, enables clients to use |
| 1:53.7 | emerging technology responsibly and securely to solve their most critical business problems. |
| 2:00.2 | This is human-led, tech-powered. |
| 2:03.5 | Learn more at pwc.co.uk. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.