If you turn to astrology to guide your love life, you’re not alone. About 45% of people who are looking for their soul connection consider astrological signs when swiping and a new Austin-based app is making it even easier.
Ilios, an Austin-based relationship-building app, lets the stars guide you to your soulmate by filtering out those most compatible to you based on astrology. CEO Melanie Davidson told Austonia they’re looking to turn the surface-level world of dating on its head and give Austinites a connection that is more modern.
ilios is a niche dating app that hopes to give Austinites a deeper connection. (ilios)
One of the app’s most famous profile-holders, former American Idol and The Bachelor contestant Trevor Holmes, has signed on as the Chief Influencer Officer for the app. As the reportedly most-swiped person on Bumble and a swoon-worthy reality TV contestant, Holmes, in his vast dating experience, has said that the first question he gets asked on dates is “What’s your sign?”
“We are trying to make it more equitable across gender lines,” Davidson said.
The app has a real-life story: When ilios’s founder, an Austin man who Davidson said is choosing to remain anonymous, recently went through a divorce, he took to dating apps like Tinder and Bumble to get back out there. Although many of the profiles mention astrological signs, it didn’t take into account star sign compatibility the way he wanted it to.
Ilios uses the traditional swipe left and right method on profiles, but what sets it apart is the prominent display of Western (the astrological signs used to read horoscopes, e.g. Aries), Eastern (the Chinese zodiac, e.g. year of the ox) and Vedic (the Hindu reading of stars) astrology signs. Those on the app can swipe based on a compatibility score that focuses on signs and lifestyle choices—think politics, religion, family aspirations—from zero-100.
Your Western and Eastern Zodiac are the main factors on the app. (ilios)
“It’s really helping surface compatibility and then sort of taking dating to the next evolution,” Davidson said. “We’re staying modern about how people identify and things of that nature. I love that aspect of it.”
On ilios, the days of having to surrender your phone to your friends for them to scroll through your matches are over. The app has a matchmaker function, which …….