Then there are men on there who like don't get the point

and they're like, "Oh, I'm looking for a quarantine bae

to come over," like that's not what this is for,

this is not the time for that.

(upbeat music)

- Hi, I'm Francesca.

- I'm Mike.

- It's Destiny.

- I am in quarantine and I am single.

- And I am single.

- Currently quarantined and I'm also single.

There's my dog in the back, he's my current boyfriend.

So today, I'm gonna be trying

this new app called Quarantine Together.

- It's not an app like Hinge or Tinder,

it sent texts to you directly.

- Kind of just go to this website

and you fill out your information.

- They like pair you with someone,

you don't get to see pictures of them,

you don't know their name.

- Kind of felt like, "Love is Blind,"

which I loved, so. (sympathetic awing)

And just to get a little more information

about how this whole app works,

we reached out to one of the creators of the app,

just to hear from him

how this whole thing is supposed to go.

(whooshing) - I'm Daniel Ahmadizadeh

and I'm one of the founders of Quarantine Together.

Quarantine Together is an app

that texts you every single day

to see if you've washed your hands

or if you're staying indoors

and if you reply back, "Yes,"

then you get rewarded with a match.

And you have 20 minutes

to exchange in a text conversation with them,

it's completely anonymous so you don't know their number,

they don't know your number and if all goes well,

if you wanna continue learning more about this person,

we send you a link to a private video call.

The underlying problem that we're solving,

through the loneliness problem,

is a lack of human connection problem.

Even if you have a handful of people

and you create your own little quarantine together,

you just catch up with one another everyday at six o'clock,

it just will help us all get through this.

- I like that they are trying to raise awareness

to stay inside, which is like what we should be doing

to like help flatten the curve.

- The idea of just having

that conversation with somebody without necessarily worrying

about what they look like

and them not worrying about what I look like,

sounds kinda nice.

- If we don't make it romantically,

maybe we can be friends on LinkedIn,

like, I don't know, we can be professional buddies.

- How do I say this without sounding terrible?

I don't really need more friends,

like I have a good amount of friends.

Let's see how this goes.

(upbeat music)

- Okay so, I just got a text that says,

"Hi, Destiny, this is Quarantine Together.

Did you wash your hands or stay indoors today?

Are you available to chat with your match

in the next few minutes?

Reply yes, if so."

(upbeat music)

I wonder how they're matching me,

like how is this my match?

Like based off what criteria?

Area code?

Like, I don't know (laughs).

- As I'm sitting here minding my own business,

eating my quarantine ice cream,

I get a text message from an unknown number.

"Reply yes to connect, we'll match you in five minutes,

smiley face."

Guess I should reply yes.

In the meantime, I'll just keep enjoying my ice cream.

- So, it was around six when I got the text saying

that I was matched with this guy named (bleep).

- Guys, I have my first connection.

It says, "Michael meet (bleep),

reply to this message to connect, introduce yourselves."

- I just got matched.

It says, "Destiny meet (bleep)."

So I said, "Hello."

I hope this isn't someone I know (laughs),

I'll put it there.

(whooshing) - This is both of our first

times ever using Quarantine Together.

He has not shaved his face, normally he's clean-shaven.

I wrote, "I mean, I don't think anyone is shaving their face

these days, I've certainly let it slide."

(whooshing) - I'm talking to this guy,

(bleep), from New York.

Conversation's a little dry, he's like,

"What do you watch on Netflix?"

and I was like, "Well, I've been watching all these shows,

Tiger King for example."

and he was like, "Oh, I can't really get into that."

and I was like, "Oh, okay."

So I don't think we have much in common.

(whooshing) - So he asked me

where I was from and I said, "I was born here in L.A."

When I said that, he replied, "Oh, I'm from New York."

and I was like, "Oh, okay, this is weird."

So I asked him how his quarantine was going

and he actually said that he is an essential worker

and I was just like immediately just like concerned for him

and his like well-being during this time

but he seemed to be like taking it in stride.

- I haven't really learned

that much about him in the 30 minutes we've been chatting.

They just sent the link for an audio call

and I asked him like, "Hey, did you wanna do that?", like,

and no response so I'm just (laughs) like, "Okay."

(playful music) - Okay, wow,

I guess we're gonna audio call, I think.

(playful music)

- I don't know if camera's the situation

that we want right now but audio sounds good

so I'm just gonna click allow.

(phone chiming)

- Oh, hello.

Yes, I do see you now.

- Hello?

I'm glad this worked, this is,

I really didn't know if this technology was gonna

do what it needed to do.

- So, yeah, how's your quarantine been?

Have you just been inside?

(upbeat music)

- Can you see me?

You're super handsome.

- I think this quarantine is scary,

I'm like extra paranoid now.

- Hey, you're my first time

and maybe my only time on this (laughs).

- So it's been like 10 minutes since I asked (bleep)

if he wanted to use the chat thing,

he has not responded so I'm gonna take that as a no.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt,

he may be jaded by a dating app.

Sometimes, when you're on dating apps so long,

you can just be like tired of the small talk and the mundane

but I'm brand-new to this, so I'm like,

"Hi, what are you doing?

Where are you from?

What's your name?"

(whooshing) - That was a lot

more fun than I expected.

I was definitely worried that there were no gay men on it,

I found one.

- He is not my like typical type

but he was like very nice and just very chill

and I think that's just all anyone can really ask for.

- I think it's really cool

that you can be matched with someone anywhere

and, specifically, that you could be matched with someone

without ever seeing what they look like.

I don't know if I could say I enjoyed talking to (bleep),

it was nice meeting someone new.

So once he found out I was in L.A.,

the conversation kinda like really dried out.

So I feel like if the app matched people that were closer

then maybe people would be more interested

'cause it seems more realistic

that you'll actually meet them.

- I have been lonely

and this was a really helpful distraction.

- I think this app definitely helps alleviate

some loneliness that people might be having.

I just feel a lot more energized

just like talking to someone else.

- Will I ever find my man?

Is he out there?

Are you out there?

If you're out there, man, call me,

you know where to find me, please.

Stay safe, wash your hands.

(upbeat music)