More than ever, the road to love goes right through your phone. A survey showed nearly 40% of heterosexual couples in the U.S. say they met online, and young people, of course, are all over this.

Pew Research Center data shows nearly half of people aged 18 to 29 have used dating apps. However, data shows that Gen Z is tiring of the apps that have dominated this past decade, such as the Tinder, Bumble and Hinge. In an interview for "LA Times Today," reporter Jaimie Ding told host Amrit Singh about the new apps that are gaining in popularity.

Gen Z is moving away from apps that focus on swiping left or right on a person's profile, and toward apps that have a creative angle to get to know potential mates.

"I think more and more people are finding that swiping is a lot of pressure," said Ding. "You have your photos, you have your profile, and you have one chance to capture someone's attention. And then you're immediately starting that conversation. I think people are getting tired of that pressure. They're wanting to get to know people more naturally over social media apps and things like that."

One app, Snack, based its model off of TikTok. Ding explained the premise of the video-focused app.

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"Instead of swiping, you're actually scrolling through videos just like you watch videos on TikTok," said Ding. "People make videos of themselves walking down the street, lip-synching, showing off their outfits, talking about themselves. You can like the video if you like that person, just like you would on TikTok. Snack has really bought into using TikTok to promote itself. One of the ways they're doing that is by doing a little miniature dating show. By doing that, they're creating humorous content that people enjoy and also promoting their app at the same time."

Humor is also a big trend within these dating apps. Schmooze embraces the idea that humor is the basis of a good relationship.

"Instead of swiping on people's profiles, users actually swipe through a curated batch of memes. Over time, their machine learning algorithm purportedly learns your humor and tries matching you with someone with similar taste," Ding explained.

The app Iris takes the idea that physical attraction is a key component in a relationship and uses it in a unique way.

"The idea behind Iris is that when we're outside, at a bar, or on the street, it's actually physical appearance that first catches your eye about someone. It kind of goes back to the basics. It has the user swipe through a series of stock photos, and then A.I. try to learn your preferences in terms of physical appearance, and then it recommends people that you might be attracted to," Ding added.

TikTok has inpsired many of these apps, which isn't surprising since so much of Gen Z is on that app and driving its success.

"TikTok was the inspiration for Snack, the CEO told me she was scrolling through TikTok and saw that a lot of people had already been posting videos about themselves with the hashtag 'single' or hashtag 'SingleTok,'" said Ding. "So, she realized people were already connecting with each other through TikTok, and which is why she had the idea for Snack in the first place. The other two apps also heavily relied on TikTok marketing. Iris told me that TikTok was actually their main source of user acquisition for a whole year when they were advertising on Tik Tok. They also utilized creators to spread the word. So definitely this generation is marked by a lot of TikTok advertising."

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, online dating has boomed. In March 2020, Tinder saw over 3 billion swipes in one day for the first time. A lot of people were looking for love and companionship in lockdown. One man that Ding spoke to is on these dating apps.

"Steven Coyle, he's from Las Vegas, and he told me that he had used almost every dating app under the sun," Ding said."And he's just trying to find love, especially during the pandemic. He stumbled upon Snack. And when I spoke to him, he hadn't been using it for long. But he did find that videos are a pretty good way to find out what someone is like beyond photos. He hasn't been successful yet. He told me he's still on the lookout. He's just looking for his wife and he's going to continue using them."

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