Making Dating "Happn"

We road test a hot, new app byK.WijesekaraTalking and flirting can be tough in New York City--and dating even worse. New Yorkers with our busy schedules and on-the go personalities, tend to hide in our phones and ignore the world around. Happn, the new dating app competing with others like Tinder and sites like OK Cupid, is spreading fast through the New York community.What makes Happn different: It functions on your location through your smartphone's GPS and tracks other profiles with yours when your paths cross. It matches up profiles with location. In other words, it actually helps you find your destined one, and is both efficient and attention grabbing for the New Yorkers scurrying through the city constantly for the next big thing.When I tried it recently, I met Marek, a 36-year-old gallery and bar owner from Williamsburg though the app. We were at the same bar on a Saturday, and the app matched us together the same evening. We exchanged a few messages through the app and found that we have things in common, and hang around with the same crowd in the same neighborhood often. But if not for the app, I doubt either one of us would have walked up to the other and started a conversation.Why has it come to this? Controlling our dating lives and social networking from a device that digitally tracks location to find potential matches? Maybe we are too dependent on technology and our phones, but Happn feels like it might just be the trick for helping you meet "the one" who is just around the corner. Maybe destiny just needs to Happn.