Flirting Tips for the Tongue-Tied, or the Simply Shy
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Some people are born flirts. For everyone else, a pocket-size Cyrano de Bergerac awaits.
With Valentine's Day approaching, more apps to help singles flirt their way to romantic attachment are popping up on mobile devices.
The Web abounds with matchmaking sites like Match.com, eHarmony, Jazzed and Grindr, and all those services have apps for people who want to arrange dates remotely.
But flirting apps are different. Some are meant to solve the so-called last yard problem, in which a prospective flirter might lose the nerve to say hello, while other apps help people engage more with people they've already met.
IFlirt4U ($1 on Apple) is for the first-time encounter. It's for across-the-room flirtations, presumably in dark and loud nightclubs. The app displays short, flirty phrases on the screen, one word at a time, in extra-large white type against a black background.
Just point the phone at your crush and let it do the work.
It has seven phrases to choose from, including the traditional lines like "you are cute," "you are hot" and "can I buy you a drink?" (Given the huge value of many free apps, it's a little disconcerting to see only seven phrases in this app for $1. But if it manages to help someone secure a date, it's arguably worth the buck.)
The phrases appear slowly on the screen, and in a typeface big enough that recipients could understand them from 10 yards away -- plus or minus a couple of yards, depending on the recipient's blood alcohol content and visual acuity.
Sometimes there is a second helpful step. The "Can I get your number?" screen includes small yes and no buttons. The no button yields a "too bad!" message, but the yes button opens the phone's contact list to a new page.
If you don't want your phone to do more than provide specific lines, you can turn to apps meant to help with flirting strategies. Of the ones I tested, How to Flirt - wikiHow (free on Apple) was the most useful.
First Published February 10, 2012 12:00 am
