Why HeyArab

Finding someone who gets it

If you grew up Arab in the US or Canada, you know how this goes. Most apps know nothing about your family or your languages.

That's not anyone's fault. It just means the first conversations are spent on the basics.

There are plenty of Arabs out here. Meeting them is the hard part. On the big apps we're a small slice of a huge pool, and a profile tells you nothing about home, language or family.

Why another Arab dating app

The community is big enough to build for. The Arab American Institute puts Arab Americans at about 3.7 million, and Canada's 2021 census counted 795,665 people of Arab origin, with a median age of 30.2. Our Arab Americans numbers post and Arab singles in Canada have the detail.

Most Arab dating apps are built around Muslim marriage. That's the right app for a lot of people, and it leaves out plenty of others. The last national survey of Arab American religion found 63% Christian and 24% Muslim. It's from 2002, immigration has narrowed that gap since, and the mix changes a lot from city to city, but anyone who assumes Arab means Muslim has it wrong. Coptic, Maronite, Orthodox and Chaldean Christians, Druze, and plenty of people who keep religion private all need somewhere to go too.

We wanted one place for all of us, from the Levant, Egypt, Iraq, the Gulf, the Maghreb, Yemen and Sudan. You say what you're looking for, and if marriage is it, say so. There's more on that in an Arab dating app that isn't a marriage app.

What we learned from other apps' reviews

While building HeyArab, we read more than 600 recent App Store reviews of two of the bigger apps in this space. Both are well rated, and reviews lean unhappy, so treat this as a list of problems and not a score. The same problems kept coming up, though.

Of 500 reviews of one app, 114 were about the paywall, 77 about fake profiles, 58 about bans with no reason given, and 46 about filters locked behind a subscription. Of 109 reviews of the other, about 25 asked for a religion filter. People there also couldn't find Druze, Assyrian or mixed backgrounds, or kept getting matches 1,000 miles away.

Those complaints shaped what we built:

• Filters are free. Age, distance and religion don't sit behind Club.
• More of us fit on a profile. Faith is optional and includes Druze, heritage goes past Arab to Assyrian, Chaldean, Armenian, Kurdish and Amazigh, and you can add a second origin if you're mixed.
• Cards show how far away someone is, so distance isn't a surprise after you match.
• Photos are checked and you can verify with a selfie, because fakes came up in both apps.
• If your account gets restricted you can still reach support and appeal.

Your people get a say

For most of us, finding someone was never a solo thing. A sister, a cousin or a close friend usually has an opinion. Apps that involve family mostly add a chaperone who reads your chats. We wanted the people who know you to help, and to stay out of your messages.

So on HeyArab:

• Matchmakers. Invite up to three people you trust. They browse profiles that fit your filters in a web browser, no app or account, and send you picks with a note. They never see your chats, likes or matches, and you decide what happens next.
• Vouches. A friend writes a few lines about you, and you approve them before they show on your profile.
• Family involvement. Your profile says how involved your family is: involved early, private until it's serious, independent, or a bit of both.

Profiles you read

Profiles here are meant to be read through, one person at a time. Heritage, languages and family involvement all count toward who you see.

The prompts are written for us. "At home we speak…" "Summers back home meant…" You can answer in text, by voice, or with a photo, a song, a place on the map or a poll.

Then there are hot takes. You agree or disagree with lines like "Knafeh is a breakfast food" and show three on your profile. To like someone on one, you pick a side, and if you disagree you have to say why. It gives you something real to talk about.

Small communities need more care

Arab communities are small and people talk. So photos are checked automatically, and you can verify with a live selfie. Voice likes are transcribed and screened before anyone can play them, and one that can't be screened is never delivered. You can report a profile or a single message, block anyone, and our staff read those reports.

What we want

We want Arabs far from home to meet someone who already understands their family and their languages, without a long explanation first. Most of us will always live with a foot in two places, and we'd like dating to fit that.

HeyArab is for every Arab community in the US and Canada, and more countries will follow.