The future is mobile. As we’ve become increasingly busy, many of us have taken to relying on our smartphones to help us navigate our everyday lives – from locating the nearest Starbucks to connecting with local singles. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that mobile dating apps have seen an explosive growth in popularity recently. Whether you’re looking for true love or just someone to grab a coffee with, you’re sure to find a mobile dating app designed with you in mind.

If you’re the kind of person who loves using their smartphone, the benefits of mobile dating are obvious. Mobile dating apps from the likes of Match.com, Zoosk and eHarmony allow you to connect with other local singles while on the go. If you’re like me and spend most of your workdays tethered to your laptop, mobile dating apps are a welcome respite from more hours spent in front of a computer screen. Instead, you can connect with potential dates while you’re enjoying a smoothie after the gym, in line at the grocery store or out for drinks with friends – wherever your life takes you. As an added bonus, most mobile dating apps reply heavily on location based technology. This means that you’re given access to the singles who are in your area and online, allowing you to connect with them instantly. In theory, mobile apps help you get out from behind your computer and doing what’s important: actually dating!

However, with so many apps on the market how do you know which one is right for you? To help you start off on the right foot, here are some of the best mobile apps and who might enjoy them.

If you’re busy and aren’t quite sure what you’re looking for…

If you like the idea of connecting with other singles who are already in your online social network and want to date or hook up on the go, Zoosk has an awesome mobile dating app that’s perfect for you. Used by 25 million people worldwide, the Zoosk features an extremely  simple sign up process and a user friendly, easy to navigate interface that allows you to cut right to the chase and start connecting with local singles almost immediately.

Once you’re signed up, you can easily access the main menu by tapping on the top left-hand corner. Here you can see who’s currently online, see the connections you’ve made, who’s viewed your profile, and check your inbox for new messages. The nice thing about Zoosk is that it’s flexible and offers a little bit of everything for everyone – making it perfect for people who aren’t quite sure what kind of dating experience they’re after.

One of Zoosk’s most popular features is Carousel, which allows you to swipe through profiles to see if anyone catches your eye. If you want to interact with them, you can connect instantly using Zoosk’s in house, unlimited chat program. Whether you’re looking for a casual dating experience or something a bit more serious, the easy to use search function allows you to find exactly who you’re looking for – making Zoosk a great app for daters who are super busy and want to date and/or hook on the fly.

However, if a more tailored approach to dating is what you’re after, with the Zoosk app you also have access to free Behavioral Matchmaking™ Zoosk uses specialized technology to show you singles with whom you’re likely to discover mutually attraction based on your actual clicks and messages. With over 40 million singles worldwide, Zoosk identifies the matches most likely to click with you. This helps streamline the process, saving you time by minimizing the guess work.

Zoosk also connects to Facebook and several email programs, working similarly to a social networking site by “finding” people you already know. After all, maybe the person you’re looking for is actually someone you’ve already met!

If you’re looking for your perfect match and love Instagram…

Match is responsible for more dates, relationships, and marriages than other free dating sites and is home to the largest and best pool of personals in online dating. It has something for everyone including Christian singles, gay singles, lesbian singles, and much more. Match.com credits it’s success to it’s legendary matchmaking algorithm that only connects you with singles that meet your standards and criteria. Therefore, the Match.com is more than just a dating app, it’s your mobile matchmaker.

Like Zoosk, Match gives you lots of options when it comes to connecting with other singles. With Match you get access to traditional criteria based searches and matching that mirror those on the website, combined with unique mobile features only available through the app.

When you open the app you’re brought to the Discover page. There are two parts of the Discover page: Stream and Mixer.

The Stream is an endless, stream of people that may be interesting to you. Singles are pulled based on location, your preferences, things you’ve liked before, etc. The experience is highly visual and feels more like you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed versus an online dating site. Similarly to Zoosk’s Carousel function, with Mixer you swipe right if you like someone, and swipe left if you don’t. You also have the option to like their photos or message them from within the Mixer tab. If you’re the kind of person who loves the one-touch accessibility of popular social media like Instagram or Pinterest, you’ll love this app.

However, if all of this “swiping” and “liking” totally isn’t for you, the Match app offers a clear, easy to navigate interface that allows you to search for, message and interact with singles in a way that’s similar to how you would on the website. Combined with a huge user base, this is a great option for anyone looking for a very well-rounded mobile app experience.

If you’re very relationship oriented and love your iPad…

eHarmony provides itself on being very relationship oriented. They really like to get to know their users, so that they can help them find great relationships (In fact, one of their bragging rights is that they help 438 people get married every day!) This detail oriented, relationship based philosophy definitely translates to their recently launched mobile dating app.

The eHarmony mobile app allows you to easily view and communicate with your matches, update your profile with latest photos from your phone or Facebook and answer profile questions. The interface is really easy to use and within ten minutes you can sign up, create your profile and answer eHarmony’s signature relationship questionnaire. You’ll then be matched with other singles who have been prescreened for deep compatibility with you. With the app you can view profiles, send icebreakers to your matches and plan dates – all from the comfort of your smartphone, eliminating the need to worry that you might have missed a message while you’re away from your computer.

Because eHarmony is designed to help you find a happy relationship, their mobile app designed for iPad is really fun to use and includes a copy of “The Book of You”, your very own detailed Personality Profile to help you gain a deep understanding of who you are and what you’re looking for relationship wise.

Whether you’re looking for your soulmate or just someone to grab a drink with on a Saturday night, with so many different options out there for mobile dating, you’re bound to find one that works for you.