5 Point App Review

1. Quick and intuitive start

Starting my Zepeel account was simple, quick and hassle-free. Once I downloaded the app, I signed up with my email address, date of birth and current location. That was it! And I was logged into the world of simple and innovative mobile video dating.

Once I was in, the app’s registration wizard walked me through step by step on how to set up my profile. The three steps included setting up a profile photo, a profile video and some profile information like ethnicity, height, weight and what I’m seeking. I had a very good first impression of the app because of its smooth process and simple and beautiful design.

After the three steps of the registration wizard, I felt prepared to start searching, but wanted to take my profile to the next level with the app’s Video Wizard. I wanted to make sure my profile was as appealing and marketable as possible and the app definitely let me do this with a simple step-by-step walk through to uploading more videos. I couldn’t believe how easy this uploading process was – I either selected an existing video from my camera roll or recorded one from my mobile device right then and there. 

Overall, I was impressed at how quickly I was able to get started and “put myself on the market”; it took me less than two minutes to sign up. Most of my videos were less than 20 seconds long, so it was really quick to record. 

2. Designed to optimize success

 

The app has a lot of cool and useful features that I haven’t seen before. One of them is the Video Storyboard with an evaluation score, indicating the “completeness” of your video profile. This percentage score keeps your profile in check. To ensure your profile is as accurate a representation of your real self, it encourages you to upload not just a profile video, but also others in different categories that it sets up for you.

Along with my profile video, I also uploaded four more fun videos displaying my personal sense of fashion, daily status, favorite pastime activity and a YouTube video of my interest. After this, my profile was definitely a better representation of myself. Each one of these set categories let me express myself and if I had left one or another blank, my profile would be missing a big part of me that I’d want to share.

This is a really creative concept, I found; it felt like the app wanted to help me excel in my search for a mate. After uploading the 5 short videos, my profile was 100% complete because I had uploaded at least one video for each category.

This evaluation system made it easy for me to optimize my potential. It’s a pretty fair scoring system as well – if your profile score is at zero, it would mean that you have absolutely no videos set up, which would really lower your chances in getting people interested.

3. You’ll get what you ask for

The app is designed to really help you find the perfect match. I know this because the app lets you fill out personal information and search preferences for match-up purposes. Ethnicity, profession, education, religion and height are all attributes that may matter when looking to find a compatible match. The app filters your search according to what you put in. For example, the app asks for your intention on the app (friendship, dating, relationship or marriage) so it can match you up with others with the same intention. It matches you up with members with similar lifestyles.

If ever you want to be low-key, you can go into your Privacy Settings and simply tap to go offline, hide proximity or hide your identity from the app. If you ever need detailed information on how to use each feature or each section of the app, you can go into the Help section. Everything is displayed in bite-sized chunks of information, easy to read and understand. Simplicity is really the theme here!

The app seems genuine about feedback. There’s a designated Feedback tab on the side menu that lets you submit suggestions for improvement in the app! These suggestions go public onto a feed and people can vote and comment on these suggestions. I haven’t thought of any suggestions yet, but it’s nice to know that it’s always an option. It’s cool to see a community of members coming together to vote on a suggestion.

4. Safe and realistic messaging and chat features

A really cool messaging feature on this app that helps me keep organized is the ‘action’ options. The app compiles multiple messages from the same member into a thread and labels which ones you already viewed. Then when you tap the ‘action’ button on the top right corner, there are five ‘actions’ you can take, like labeling messages as ‘considering’ or ‘not interested’ (‘not interested’ gives you the option of deleting the messages or keeping them anyway). You also have options to ‘delete thread,’ ‘block,’ or ‘report’ to keep your inbox clean and free of unwanted messages. Maintaining my inbox is super easy with these actions. It’s customized, safe and always under control. 

The content of the messages are exciting, because members can send videos along with text. I sometimes record a video on the spot to share what I’m up to, or save a video on my mobile device to send to someone at a later time. It’s always exciting to check your inbox and see realistic messages from someone. 

When I want to chat in real-time, I use the ‘video chat’ feature with other members who are online. This is like Skype, but exclusive for Zepeel members. This is fun because when I’m online, I often get incoming video chat requests. I always check the members’ profiles first before accepting the chat request, by tapping on their profile photo thumbnails. If it’s a go, I click the checkmark. Otherwise, I click the ‘X’ or ‘block.’ 

5. Have a say in who and what you want to show

It’s really easy to narrow down my options on Zepeel. At the bottom of a member’s profile and storyboard, there are four options, and one of them is a star-shaped button that lets you add the member to your ‘preferred’ list. That way, when I tap the ‘preferred’ tab on the side menu or main banner header, only those I’ve ‘preferred’ will show up on that news feed. It’s a convenient way to filter only those I want to keep tabs on!

Other options on the bottom of someone’s profile include ‘request’ (request a video message), ‘compose’ (sending them a video message) and ‘access’ (giving specific members permission to view my private videos). The access feature is really cool. 

Any style, status, activity or interest video I upload onto my storyboard, I have the option to make it ‘private’ – because sometimes, I’m not going to want everyone looking at them. For these specific videos’ I tap the ‘lock’ icon on the bottom right of the video to make them accessible to ‘special eyes only.’ I can choose to lock or unlock these videos any time I want, but for the time they are on ‘private’ mode, only those granted my permission can see them.

The ability to customize who can see what on my profile makes me feel safe and free to upload whatever I want. Also my personal ‘preferred’ list only shows me those I actually want to see. Overall, I can be selective about who I want to connect with.