'Truly be yourself:' Milwaukee man creates dating app highlighting users' perfections and imperfections

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – For many, Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate or look for love.

An app that was created in the Milwaukee area takes a different approach on online dating, allowing users to feel more of themselves.

The app called, Settle for Love, not only highlights people’s best qualities, but also their imperfections that make them who they are.

“Settling means accepting something less than perfect and love is this awesome, attainable thing that we all want,” Settle for Love founder and CEO David Wheeler said, “We all want love, so it’s our firm belief at Settle for Love that to attain love, you need to accept someone’s perfections and imperfections and that’s a good thing."

Wheeler says he created Settle for Love because he found himself presenting a perfect and false version of himself when he was on other dating apps because of his insecurities.

On Settle for Love, there’s a ‘shine’ and a ‘shade’ page. On the shine page, users put some of their best pictures and their biggest strengths. On the shade page, they use more imperfect pictures and describe some of the things that make them ‘less-cool’ or imperfect.

"We all know we have perfections and imperfections,” Wheeler said. “Don’t be afraid to talk about them online, because we truly feel like this is the future, this is how you're going to meet, this is the way to get honesty and realism out of people.”

Wheeler said Settle for Love is the only dating app where users highlight both perfections and imperfections. The app now has 15,000 users across the U.S. and Canada. Just recently, Wheeler went to the wedding of a couple that met on Settle for Love.

The app is available for free in the Apple and Android stores.