Mobile apps help us discover and learn new things, as well as make every day tasks a bit easier. A smartphone is a great companion for online dating especially, with most dating sites offering apps that work in tandem with their profiles. But what about apps to use while on a date? Yep, those too. Here are 4 great apps to help your dating life.

Datecheck – Free

Datecheck is powered by Intelius, provider of background checks, so if you’re interested in snooping a bit before your first date, this is the app for you. A Google search can only show so much, and this app can serve as an on-the-go private eye. The app itself if free, but you can activate certain services within the app for a fee. The app’s “Sleaze Detector” scans criminal records to determine if anyone with that name has been charged with drug possession, assault and battery, sex crimes, DUI and other offenses. You can also check for your date’s net worth for information about home ownership and property value, as well as searching for social networks connected to your date. Download on iTunes.

DateEscape – $0.99

If you’re not up to recruiting a friend to bail you out of a horror date with a phone call, check out the DateEscape app. This nifty app will let you schedule phone calls or text messages ahead of time to aid in your great escape if the date makes a turn for the worst. Settings include fully customizable background image, name, carrier, message, vibrate alerts and more. Download on iTunes

Blendr – Free

If you’re new to the area, or just looking for someone new to meet, Blendr is a great option. You can use it to either meet new friends, or someone to date. Using location-based tech, the app can show you others around you with similar interests. It’s easy to use, too — simply upload your photo, choose your interests, and begin discovering people around you. If you’re looking for a hot spot, Blendr’s “Heat Map” view can show you where the action’s at in town. Download on iTunes

Picksie – Free

Picksie is another location-based app, like Blendr, but one that will help solve the ever-burning question: “What should we do?” Instead of wasting all night brainstorming, fire Picksie up to narrow things down. Discover new restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs, movies and other events around you that are catered to your personal likes and dislikes! The app even narrows things down based on the weather, time of day, and current location to help plan a new and exciting date. Download on iTunes

Be sure to check out our posts on dating apps for the iPhone and Android!

Email is an amazingly convenient way to communicate, but it can be easy to slip up and embarrass yourself when connecting with your online dating matches. It’s depressing, really. Such a great tool, but with it comes the ability to completely blow your chances with someone! Here are a few tips for success in emailing those matches of yours.

Personal Info

Be extremely cautious about sharing personal info. It seems like an obvious one, but people sometimes get too comfortable with sharing personal info too soon. This goes for your home address, off-site email address, last name, where you work, etc. Stick with emailing your matches through the online dating site you’re using to keep certain information hidden. If you want, you could also create a Gmail or other online email address solely for contacting your dates outside of an online dating site if the site limits communication.

Rants & Confessions

This one’s a DON’T. It’s fine to write a witty, short line about a pet peeve you have, but avoid composing an essay on that one chick you can’t stand in the next cubicle. Not to mention, these emails shouldn’t serve as your makeshift therapy sessions. Keep your confessions — secrets, insecurities, issues — to yourself, your best friend, and shrink. If you must confess something, make it about your interests or hobbies. At least for now.

A Question

This one is a DO. Ask at least one question per email! It can be tough to figure out what to write in these things, so make it a bit easier on yourself by asking at least one question your match can respond to. This should help carry on the conversation, unless your “match” has the personality of a stick. In which case, it’s good to find out now.

Double-Dipping

Be sure to not double-dip. By this I mean you should send one email per email received. Think of it as calling someone more than once before they can call you back — it’s a no-no. You’ll come across as needy, possibly obsessed, or like you have nothing better to do.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?

Be sure to wait a little bit to reply. Answering too quickly could indicate that again, you may not have anything better to do with your time, and it could pressure the other person into keeping up with your hectic pace. It doesn’t need to be a whole day of waiting, but for casual conversation it could be an hour or so. Keep in mind, this isn’t a hard rule because you don’t want to ignore your match, especially if he or she is asking a time-sensitive question!

Welcome to the February 15, 2012 edition of the Carnival of Online Dating! This is the twenty-third edition of the blog carnival, and we really appreciate those who have submitted their links for inclusion. Spread the word: The next Carnival of Online Dating will be March 7, 2012, so make sure to get your submissions in by 8:59pm PST/11:59pm EST Tuesday March 6.

Dating Tips & Advice

• Mary Edwards presents 10 Ways to Win Every Fight with Your Boyfriend posted at Best Dating Sites, saying, “As the saying goes, all’s fair in love and war, which is worth keeping in mind during a spat with your beau. It may not be important that you to win every time; but it pays to know in the heat of battle that you can.”
• Chad presents Creating a Great Dating Profile on SingleParentMeet.com posted at About Single Parents and Dating.
• Mary Edwards presents 10 Tips for Falling Out of Love with Someone posted at Best Dating Sites, saying, “Though there are many people whose primary goal is to fall in love, there are a sizable portion desperately seeking a way to fall out. Relationships end and people go their separate ways, but the emotions often still remain to haunt us.”
• Chad presents Relationship Tips From a Black Mom posted at Black People Meet, saying, “My parents will be celebrating forty-eight years of marriage in December. I began to think about what really makes a relationship work. So I talked to my mother, along with other friends in long-term happy relationships. Here’s what they said…”
• Chad presents How Do Black Singles Find Dates in New York posted at Black People Meet, saying, “If it’s true that you can find everything in New York, why is it so hard to land a good date? In the city of 8 million residents, nearly a quarter of the population is black and approximately 1 out of 3 is single. Yet, quantity doesn’t always guarantee the search for a relationship will be easier. For nearly a decade, New York has failed to make Black Enterprise’s list of “10 Best Cities for African Americans.” High cost of living, long commutes and hectic schedules often combine to make living and dating in the largest American city difficult.”
• Mary Edwards presents 10 Easy Ways to Scare Off Your Girlfriend posted at Best Dating Sites, saying, “Guys, if you really want to lose that girl, there are some sure-fire steps you can take to make sure she hits the road in a big hurry. If you’re just not that into her, but don’t quite know how to tell her so, you need to try a more indirect, yet creative approach.”
• Chad presents The Single Mom Dating Plan posted at About Single Parents and Dating.
• Chad presents Single In The Suburbs and Searching For Love? posted at Our Time.
• Chad presents Post-Divorce Dating Tips For Men posted at Our Time.
• Chad presents How To Score At The Grocery Store posted at Black People Meet.
• Lisa Minner presents Top 10 Things Not To Say on Your Dating Profile posted at A More Successful You, saying, “This is a list (geared toward women but applicable to men also) of things never to say on your online dating profiles. The items on this list are compiled from my online dating experiences, and they provide general guidelines for finding the right man through online dating.”
• Chad presents Inside the Mind of a Single Mom: What Every Man Should Know posted at About Single Parents and Dating.
• Eva Forman presents Taking Back Valentine’s Day posted at Top Dating Sites.
• Chad presents 6 Ways To Meet Someone At A Reunion posted at About Single Parents and Dating.
• Jill Thompson presents Three Guidelines for Examining a Free Dating Website posted at Best Free Dating Sites.
• Chad presents First Bad Encounters: Second TIme Around Fears posted at Our Time.
• Chad presents Single Moms: Expand Your Dating Horizons posted at About Single Parents and Dating.

Date Ideas

• Donna Cullen presents 10 Perfect Dates for Ironman Athletes posted at Top Dating Sites, saying, “Dating an athlete can be intimidating for the indoor set, but an Ironman athlete sets the bar even higher. If the hottie you’ve had your eye on is the Ironman type, here are some date ideas that are sure to get their pulse racing.”
• Chad presents Where to Meet a Mate if You’re Over 48 posted at Our Time.
• Chad presents Fresh And Romantic Day Escape Ideas posted at Our Time.
• Fitz presents Online Dating Tips: Arranging the Date posted at The London School of Attraction.

Personal Anecdotes

• Jonathan Bird presents How to ask a girl to be your girlfriend posted at Singles Warehouse Online Dating Blog, saying, “Hope you like this – was great fun running around the shops asking random people to hold pieces of paper.”
• Caramel Craze presents Cliquish posted at Interracial Swingers Magazine Caramel Craze.

Be sure to tune in every 1st and 3rd Wednesdays for more! The next Carnival of Online Dating will be March 7th, 2012, so make sure to get your submissions in by 8:59pm PST/11:59pm EST Tuesday March 6th!

That concludes this edition. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

For most, it’s much easier getting someone out of your life than it is getting them back in. Putting the pieces back together can be a challenge, especially if trust has been broken. The mantra, “an ex is an ex for a reason” aids in moving on, but sometimes letting an ex back into your life is worth considering.

When you get rid of someone toxic in your life, it can feel mixed — you might get a sick stomach or even an ego boost. But, depending on why you broke up in the first place and your current love life circumstances, your ex may sound convincing. It brings you back to a time when you felt normal, comfortable.

I know, I know, I’ve said before that most times it’s best to just move on, but you should shift your perspective if your ex comes knocking at your door. If the two of you were in a relationship that you just weren’t ready for, it may be worth considering again. Now, don’t get me wrong: If you were with someone emotionally or physically abusive, an adulterer or someone like that, then this is NOT who I’m talking about possibly getting back together with.

If you’re willing and ready to work through the past and fast forward to the present, you may be ready to let an ex back into your life. When one becomes a forgiving person, and lets go of the past, you’re able to shift your relationship with time.

Ask yourself: Would I get back together with my ex because I feel sorry for him or do I want to be with him? Does this feel right? Did we break up due to something we’re willing to work on? Will we be able to change things enough to strengthen our relationship?

Whatever your answers may be, if you decide to get together again, keep your mind in the present, not the past.