What’s the least awkward way to online date during a pandemic? The String app is betting on voice notes. Less invasive than video chatting and more intimate than texting, sending audio snippets gives singletons the control they crave while letting them express their personality in a natural way.

Hinge has introduced a feature to make virtual dates less awkward as the COVID-19 pandemic puts strict restrictions on IRL social interaction. With dating gone virtual amid social distancing, people may need a nudge to dip their toes into the unchartered waters of digital dating.

The Coronavirus Diaries is a series of dispatches from Slate highlighting first-hand experiences of how life is changing as a result of the outbreak. In a media climate of fake news and pandemic scaremongering, real experiences are a source of truth that most people can, on some level, relate to.

For many couples, lockdown has put a strain on their relationship – almost half of Americans say it’s been tricky to keep the spark alive. Canvas8 spoke to Ximena Garcia-Rada, doctoral candidate at Harvard Business School, to learn how relationship rituals can act as powerful commitment tools.