A new social networking app is set launch in New Zealand next week with the goal of helping neurodivergent people find love and friendship.
The app’s name, Wable, is a combination of the words “willing and able” as many neurodivergent people want to sustain meaningful relationships, make friends, and fall in love.
The app is designed to give users complete control of their profile and information with a range of colour schemes that suit sensory preferences and customisation including how messages can be sent and received.
It also has a chat wheel feature for users to spin for interesting questions and topics to help kickstart a conversation and videos from a psychologist who offered advice on how to handle first date nerves or rejection.
Wable founder Holly Fowler told Breakfast thousands of users had already started using the app since it first launched in Australia in February.
“We’ve actually had users already in New Zealand who have tried to download the app, and we don’t want to turn them away for much longer, so pre-signups are available.”
She said the app would also be available in the US and UK from September.
Fowler said she was inspired to create the app after watching hit Australian show Love On the Spectrum, which followed neurodiverse Australians on their quest to find love.
After gaining popularity as a star on the show, Michael Theo joined Wable as an ambassador to continue his search for “the one”.
“It’s really important to me that I find the right woman to settle down with because that’s what I’ve always envisioned for myself… I want to share my life with someone special. The right woman, that is.”
He said he tried to find love on a traditional dating app, but he “didn’t really get anywhere”.
“Wable is different to a lot of different dating apps because it caters to the needs of the neurodiverse community and also has helpful tools such as videos with a psychologist named Phoebe who gives tips on first date nerves, how to handle rejection, things like that.”
Fowler said the app was designed with heightened safety and security tools to ensure users aren’t taken advantage of or catfished.
“Security was a really important decision for any app like this, but particularly because we’re really trying to foster a safe and inclusive community and that’s what we’ve tried to set out to do from day one.”
Theo said he had been on two dates recently with someone he met on the app.
“I don’t want to jinx anything, or give anything away, but I guess you could say there’s some strong potential with this match.”