An Australian app designed to connect rural people across long distances has launched in New Zealand and attracted thousands of downloads in its first week.

Mia Ryan, founder and CEO of Howdy, says rural dating has challenges mainstream platforms don’t address.

“I think everyone’s struggling with dating,” she says.

“We’ve all heard the terrible online dating stories, and I just think when you start to look at people living in remote areas, that just gets that little bit harder because distance is a genuine issue.

“I know over here, sometimes your own property goes for 100km, so how are you supposed to meet someone within that radius?”

The app launched in Australia in 2023 before expanding to New Zealand.

“Normal apps, you’ve got about 100, 150 kilometres radius that you can choose from.

“I have made it so that if you wanna meet someone Australia-wide, now New Zealand-wide as well, you absolutely can.”

Ryan says about three-quarters of users are rural, with a smaller share drawn to the lifestyle also on the platform.

“It’s all been in the marketing; I’ve just made sure to keep that message really strong so that everyone realises that this is an app for rural people.

She says more than three-quarters of the users choose to be in long-distance relationships.

“People are at the point now where they realise that for the right person, the distance really doesn’t matter.”

Howdy reached 30,000 downloads in Australia before the New Zealand launch, with thousands of Kiwi downloads in the first week.

“I’ve been in situations where I’m crying with farmers and talking about droughts, and then talking about how that then goes into isolation and loneliness, and how Howdy has just connected them to people that understand all of that.”

CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.