OK Cupid had a lot of potential as an idea but required a lot of investment up front. The traditional profile apps seemed to be full of people gaming and I sensed that a lot of the profiles I was looking at as a straight man of straight women were fake.
When I heard about the swiping apps, I thought "well that keeps it simpler I guess" - the anti-OK Cupid - but also felt it would mean that the things that actually make chemistry work beneath the surface would be completely absent.
In the article, there is mention of somebody finding a click with somebody who was setup as "a friend of a friend". This is how humans have been doing it for hundreds of thousands of years, with a slant towards family involvement for most of that period (and today in some communities), for a reason.
Knowing two people and seeing the "overlap" in humour, personalities and interests means you can suggest they should hang out. That is far more likely to work - even for an interesting hook-up - than two people who find each other physically attractive with zero common ground emotionally or personality overlap.
There's some idea in here for an app where your friends and family help you using their networks. If you socialise a lot, this will happen anyway (particularly if you get on with that one person nearly every social circle has who loves to connect people up), but if you don't, there is room for some help, maybe.
In the meantime, don't read the books, don't "peacock", don't assume the apps will save you. Go do some hobbies that have social clubs (running, reading groups, a local adult education centre), just go meet people. You might not meet "the one" there, but they might have a friend...