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Valentine’s Day: four great apps for stay-at-home romance

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Happy over-commercialized prove-your-affection day! If you’re short of romantic ideas today, or stuck at home broke, don’t worry – these apps can help you ditch tradition and enjoy a more modern Valentine’s. You’re welcome.

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Impress your date: Kitchen Stories

Do you know what’s more romantic than splashing out on a trip to a fancy restaurant? Putting in the effort to knock up a delicious three-courser with your own bare hands.

Kitchen Stories can help every step of the way: its in-depth “stories” will provide plenty of inspiration for planning the perfect date night dinner, while its gorgeous photo-heavy recipes will ensure nothing goes wrong in the execution – and helpful difficulty guides ensure you don’t bite off more than you can chew.

There are thousands of cookery apps on iOS, but this one stands above the rest for its elegant and thoughtful presentation. (And the amazing video tutorials that showed us the right way to sugar-rim a cocktail glass.)

Kitchen Stories

Avoid the cinema: JustWatch

Valentine’s Day is perhaps the worst night of the year to go to the movies. You’ll queue for days, get terrible seats, and end up distracted by shameless couples making out in every row. No thanks.

So why not stay home instead? Grab the popcorn, get cosy, and settle in for the toughest part of the home cinema experience: deciding what to watch. If you’re signed up to more than one streaming service, it can be a pain to figure out what’s on across every app. Apple’s TV app acts as a hub for your viewing habits, but some services aren’t compatible – and it doesn’t always work with those that are.

JustWatch – despite using websites as a go-between to open streaming apps – casts a wider net, consolidating nearly everything from Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and many more services. It can also track local showtimes, useful if you decide to ignore our advice and hit up a local movie theater this V-day.

JustWatch

Make a video montage: CapCut

Forget the wasteful greetings card industry that fuels most of the Valentine’s hype – you can save the planet (and your wallet) with a more personal approach. Chances are you have countless clips of happy times with your partner clogging up your photo library, so why not put them to good use and make a bespoke video montage of your memories?

Video editing can be tricky, though – unless you have an app like CapCut. Pick a template from the hundreds on offer – including plenty of V-Day specials – and fill up the timeline with your best pics and vids. The app automatically stitches everything together, often applying effects you’d never be able to achieve with iMovie or Clips. If the result irks your inner director, that’s no problem – everything can be manually tweaked to perfection before sharing.

The free version is pretty generous and should offer plenty for most users. But those tempted by the ‘pro’ upgrade will be pleased to know there’s currently a half-price offer for Valentine’s.

CapCut

Bonus: Bumble

No date this Valentine’s Day? There’s no shame in that! If you’re happily single, you can use the above apps to cook yourself an amazing dinner, curl up with a great film, and look back on the past with a slick video montage.

But if you’re in the market for some new romance, you can always give Bumble a try. It’s a wholesome take on online dating that puts more emphasis on respectful behavior than some competing apps. And if you want to avoid the dating game entirely, you can even use the app to find new friends or career opportunities!

Bumble