A Different Way To Date
What happens when dating apps surface real-life chemistry instead of profiles.
By Seattle Mag December 30, 2025
This article originally appeared in the September/October 2025 issue of Seattle magazine.
The perils of contemporary dating—especially trying to find love, or lust, online—are widely known. Exhausting, disappointing, and in some cases dangerous, swiping on strangers has become the ubiquitous norm.
Amelia Bonow, founder of the Shout Your Abortion campaign, hopped on the apps during the pandemic and soon found herself underwhelmed by the selection. “I realized that, in part, I was just using the apps in the hopes I’d see someone I knew or knew peripherally, maybe someone who I hadn’t seen or thought about forever, or who was recently single,” she says.
Bonow started thinking of fresh ways to use the swiping system, developing Would, which she describes as “an extremely simple new app for shooting shots with people you know.” With Would, you import your contacts, and next to each one is a “Would” button that you can toggle to show interest. Nothing happens if the interest isn’t mutual, so there’s no risk of embarrassment or awkwardness if they don’t reciprocate. If there’s a match, it’s up to one of you to make the first move and see where things go. “I think of Would as more of an anti-dating app,” Bonow says. “As opposed to swiping your way through strangers, Would is all about surfacing real-life chemistry that already exists.”
Currently, Would is only available on the iPhone.
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