Swipe Right For A Sidekick: App Helps Women Find New Friends

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Ladies, are you looking for a workout buddy, coffee companion or shopping sidekick?

A new app called Hey! VINA is helping women in large cities, like New York, find new friends with the swipe of a finger.

A quick profile quiz answering questions like, "Coffee or wine? Do you live to work or work to live? Night owl or early bird?" narrows down the search so users find the most compatible companions.

The way it works: Users swipe left to skip or swipe right to say, "hey." If both people say, "hey," it could be the start of a budding friendship.

Olivia Poole created the free, women-only app when she moved to San Francisco.

"I realized I'm meeting all these people, but it was hard to find like MY people. And I think we all know what that feeling is, and that's what really makes a place home," Poole told CBS2's Jessica Moore.

Some women in New York were into the idea.

"Maybe find workout buddies, moms with children of the same age [to set up a] play date," Chrissy Wells said.

"I might see people I want to meet, but it's scary to go up and introduce yourself and put yourself out there. So maybe that's a way to connect without dealing with rejection in person," Jessica Levin said.

But not everyone was cool with the idea of swiping for sidekicks.

"I wouldn't judge anyone who did that, but it's just not for me," Shannon Brodersen said.

Poole said her goal is to help as many people as possible make friends in real life.

"As we go along, we'll be able to make this more customized," she said. "We want to make it as easy as possible for people to get offline."

Hey! VINA gained 100,000 users in the first two weeks of its launch and Poole hopes for many more.