iHookup Review
iHookup is a dating platform established in 1998 to provide people with a communication environment for quick sex. This service focuses on hookups primarily.
Despite a long operating history, iHookup has not gained much popularity on the web, and there is no data on monthly traffic available on the iHookup website. Let us summarize the pros and cons of this service.
iHookup Overviews
- No advantages of using iHookup
- Inconvenient dashboard
- Lots of ads
- Tricky payment policy
- Scammers
- Fantasy profiles
- Unreasonably high subscription costs
- Small audience
iHookup Summary
It would be better if you avoided IHookup. As you see, we have mentioned “This site cannot…,” “This service does not…” info too many times in our iHookup.com review. Indeed, this service cannot ensure a safe and engaging dating experience. Besides, it forces you to buy several subscriptions at a sky-scraping price, and its user database consists of fantasy profiles and fakes.
On top of that, the iHookup website does not feature data encryption, making the entire experience risky.
Still, you can find some real users on the platform. But do you really need to pay $100+ per month for a service that has no advantages over other dating platforms? You can find many hookup websites that provide many more communication options and take care of user security at a much lower price.
How it Works
The service has a kind of awkward design, with a sticky header that distracts you from using the site. Besides, many popping elements appear randomly, which does not seem to contribute to usability.
Still, the site contains the FAQ page, where you can get familiar with the prices and how the website works, which is useful. But to browse the profiles and benefit from hookups, you have to create an account. Registration involves the following steps:
- Visit the iHookup homepage and press the Create My Free Account button.
- After that, fill out the sign-up form. The service will show you recommendations based on your location, so you need to include a city or zip code. When it comes to an email address, it is better to enter a separate email, not the business one, because iHookup does not use a secure connection. We will talk more about safety features later.
- Complete a captcha.
- You will continue to the “secure verification page,” where you will need to enter your card information to purchase the iHookup subscription and accept a special bonus offer (four subscriptions on other dating websites). In total, these purchases will result in $120.82 per month. The tricky part is that you cannot decline the “bonus offer.” But you can return to the previous page and continue to your free account, therefore, avoiding payments.
All in all, iHookup enforces you to buy several subscriptions without providing an obvious way to cancel the payments, which leaves a bad impression. Well, let us proceed to the iHookup control panel and see what features this service offers.
iHookup.com Control Panel
Once you continue to your dashboard, you have to confirm your email to let other users contact you. So check your inbox for the iHookup email and follow the account confirmation link.
The dashboard makes the impression of being cheaply made because of so much space left for advertisements. They will appear all the time, distracting you from chats with website members. You may also experience issues with email confirmation. The letter may not even reach your email address.
Despite the ads, the dashboard has satisfactory navigation. The profile and account management settings are located in the expandable menu on the upper right side. You will find the main dashboard sections in the header.
Dating profiles are placed in the Recent Activity section in the center of the page. Also, you can proceed to iHookup’s partner services in the top bar.
Completing iHookup Profile
To complete the profile questionnaires and add photos, you have to navigate My Profile in the setting menu on the top right side. The profile editing page contains the following sections:
- About you. It includes a mixed survey about your personality and physical features.
- You’re looking for. Here you can fill out the information about your dating expectations.
- Your photos. Unlike other dating services, iHookup does not provide any specific photo requirements except for the image size and format.
Website Search Parameters
Compared to other dating sites, the iHookup website search has few adjustments. They include:
- Location (from five to 500 miles from you)
- Age range
- Photos (yes/no)
- Relationship preferences
- Relationship status
- Ethnicity
- Body type
The good thing is that you can filter people within a certain distance. But in general, the website search is less functional compared to other platforms. For instance, specific ethnicity adjustments seem not to affect search results.
Interaction on iHookup.com
iHookup offers only a single communication option, namely chatting. It is nothing compared to other services. The chat functionality is also far from perfect. It does not contain modern stickers and gifs. Besides, neither convenient messenger nor instant chat is available. Other functions include sending likes and adding users to favorites.
LiveChat
iHookup features webcam shows. Just go to the LiveChat section in the upper bar to watch hot webcam streams. You will proceed to iHookupLiveChat.com. Here you can sort the webcam models by gender, age, location, broadcast features, etc. It is worth noting that this platform is made far better than the original iHookup site. At least, iHookupLiveChat.com has a modern design and secure connection.+
Adult Content
Besides watching webcam broadcasts, you can enjoy adult movies. Proceed to the R-Rated section in the upper bar and open some of the videos you consider the most appealing.
At the same time, no video categories are available, like on adult websites, which is a bit upsetting.
Is there a Mobile Application?
iHookup has a mobile application. It is compatible with Android devices. But you cannot download it from Google Play or the official iHookup website.
You can also access a mobile version of the site compatible with both Android and iOS devices. But your experience will hardly be satisfactory. The advertisements filling like 80% of the screen space will make using the mobile website impossible. All in all, iHookup mobile service works terribly.
Customer Support
Customer service is another disadvantage of iHookup. You can address the support team in case of payment issues only. Although it is available via phone, email, and live chat, you can ask for help from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM six days a week (the Eastern Time Zone), but not 24/7. If you refer to the support team via email, you can expect a response within 24 hours.
All in all, you can resolve only payment issues urgently. When it comes to technical problems, you have to search for the FAQ answers or wait for the email reply.
Audience
There is no official data concerning the iHookup audience. Online SEO services show no statistics about website traffic. Also, the service seems to be poorly represented on the internet. We have found only three iHookup reviews from real customers.
But if you set the broadest search criteria possible, you will see about 25 results pages. It is about 500 profiles. Therefore, you can expect to meet about 500 people on this website. The gender proportion is close to 50/50.
People use this service to find a partner for a one-night stand most of the time. Thus, this platform will suit you if you seek affairs and quick sex. When it comes to long-lasting relationships, you will hardly find someone aiming at marriage.
Quality of Profiles
iHookup audience is something that will upset you in the first place. Lots of users have no profile pictures and descriptions. Also, you will hardly browse high-quality images.
Sweethaarts
iHookup is a service that uses false profiles called Sweethaarts. The fantasy profiles aim at helping and entertaining website users. If you see the corresponding logo on a particular user profile, you should understand that this person is a program.
The Sweethearts feature seems to be a scam, but it is not since iHookup explains it.
Fakes
You have a high chance of meeting fakes on the platform. The service does not check the user’s identity and background. Because of this, the website hosts many scam profiles.
As you see, this person has taken a random photo from the internet, since the same image was published on Reddit and a couple of Russian websites.
Pricing
The pricing policy is quite ambiguous. The FAQ page says you can purchase gold and silver subscription plans for just $8 per month. However, when you proceed to payments, the premium subscription has a fixed price of $39.01 per month. Neither discounts nor different membership plans are available.
Besides that, the iHookup subscription goes together with four offers at a total of $80.91. iHookup gives you trial periods for each bonus subscription, and you can cancel them before expiration. But this statement is written so unclearly that you will hardly notice it. Therefore, you have a chance to be charged $120.82 per month. To cancel the trials, you will have to contact each service directly.
Unlike other services, iHookup does not give you much choice when it comes to payment options. You can purchase the subscription with only Visa and Mastercard.
Safety
iHookup’s website is not secure. Its URL ends with http, which means the site does not have a valid SSL certificate. An SSL encryption allows the data to be stored securely. If the site lacks such protection, you should not enter any sensitive information like payment data, passwords, etc. on it. Fraudsters can easily steal your data.
However, it is worth mentioning that the iHookup payment page is encrypted and features a certificate from RapidSSL. Still, it does not mean that you can browse the main iHookup website safely.
Does the service apply any anti-fraud measures? No, it does not. Therefore, safety will become your sole concern when you enter this website.
FAQ
iHookup is a hookup platform founded in 1998. Although it has operated for 22 years, it has little presence in the niche.
Registration is completely free. A monthly subscription costs $39.93. But beware of the bonus offers that altogether will cost you $80.91.
Although there have not been any official legal cases in the iHookup’s operating history, it uses some shady tricks like obligatory bonus offers and fantasy profiles to steal your money.
This service is dangerous. The website connection is not secure because no SSL certificate is applied.
Media Crush Digital, a dating service provider, registered in Cyprus, owns iHookup.
iHookup only allows you to report and block unwanted or suspicious users.
The service offers a free mobile application compatible with Android devices, but you cannot find it on Google Play. You will have to install it from unofficial sources, which may be risky.
You have to take these steps to delete your account:
1. Call the support team to cancel the subscription. The matter is that removing your profile does not invalidate the recurring payment. You have to unsubscribe from paid iHookup services first.
2. Navigate My Settings in the account management menu.
3. Go to the Delete My Profile section.
4. Press the account cancellation button.
5. Confirm that you want to remove your profile permanently.