if you are going to use the apps, make an effort to be communicative and specific in your profile as much as you can (without subjecting people to impenetrable bricks of text) and try to message people who do the same if you are looking to cut down on unpredictability. I have not used an app in ~3yrs but always liked OKCupid for being more text-forward and giving users basically as much or as little space as desired to explain who they are / what their deal is. remember that people can see you too and need something to go on, and if you’re in a major urban center there’s potentially a lot of you!

as a cishet man most likely you will have to shoot a lot of shots for using the app to be in any way worth your time. IME to do this and not lose your mind I found it helped to 1. limit my app time to specific stretches of the day and 2. immediately mindflush profiles after messaging until or unless one gets a reply, which will be maaaaaybe 5% of the time if you’re lucky and/or have a good hook somewhere in yr profile.

just by sending a message that indicates you actually scrutinized some sort of detail in their profile and made an effort, and by not being immediately gross/aggressive/defensive in chats, you are already improving on many of your fellow cishet male users so consistent effort will likely pay off in terms of getting dates. from there just trust your instincts every step of the way as you assess the situation / the other person, is the only advice I feel comfortable giving.

above all else, beware the overall (potential) mental hazards associated with placing oneself in a “market” so directly, and just the overal shittiness of the execution.