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Could love be just around the corner?

A new era of GPS-enabled smartphone apps says that next great romance might be even closer, even sitting in the same coffee shop where you just ordered your favorite mocha.

Until recently, the online search for a mate was defined by exhaustive profile searches, e-mail exchanges and compatibility sorting on established dating services such as eHarmony and Match.com. Now "proximity technology" has taken courtship to a new level, one that's more immediate — given some apps that can pinpoint the location of a potential date less than 1,000 feet away.

The phone apps, from such established datemakers as Match.com as well as newcomers such as howaboutwe.com, pack in the features, from instant messaging and video profiles to location-based information such as "check-ins" at hot nightlife spots. Many apps are free, but others have a subscription cost.

Here's how it typically works: Say a 25-year-old guy is alone at a concert at the local venue. If he has downloaded a mobile app, such as Skout, and uploaded his own profile and pictures, he can scroll through a list of prospective hookups at the same public place. If someone piques his interest, he can use the app to break the ice by sending a text or instant message before deciding to meet face to face.

"I looked up some dates last night because I'm off work today and wanted to see if anyone was available to have breakfast or lunch," says Allison Silva, a 29-year-old from a Denver suburb who uses howaboutwe.com.

As a dating device, she says, the traditional online versions of Facebook and Match.com skew older than her interests. But she acknowledges it takes a bit of courage to meet someone through an app — without the lead-up of e-mails and phone calls.

The app she uses is more "convenient if you are looking for casual dating that could potentially turn into something permanent."

That's what the app's developer was hoping for.

"It's all about getting people off-line and on real dates they want to go on, layered with location-based features and real-time access," says Aaron Schildkrout, touting howaboutwe.com, the app he co-created. The app version was released in June and featured in Apple's recommendations for social-networking essentials.

Schildkrout says the howaboutwe app focuses on activities and interests in fostering connections — not just looks and proximity. Users post specific date ideas such as attending a baseball game or having drinks on a rooftop bar.

And users can control whether to reveal their exact location for safety and privacy, Schildkrout says.

Mike Ross is a howaboutwe user who likes that aspect of the technology.

"I don't mind suggesting we meet up at a specific place," says Ross, 20, of Denver. "But if I don't know the person, they have no business knowing where I am or vice versa."

Members can post date suggestions for free but must pay a monthly subscription fee starting at $8 to message someone. In the service's first month live, there were more than 60,000 downloads; the user base was about 60 percent female, ages 22 to 40.

Andrea Martinez, 24, who lives in a Denver suburb, downloaded the howaboutwe app, as well as mobile versions of myyearbook.com and tagged.com, to meet new people and stop recycling old boyfriends. The dating experiences haven't all been pleasant. Once, when she blocked a pushy dater, he created a new account to continue hounding her.

But she found her new boyfriend, John Wynne, 25, on plentyoffish.com's mobile app version. She preferred the app over the computer version because uploading photos from her phone was easier and she could avoid the advertisements and pop-ups.

"I have my Internet access on my phone, and I don't have access to a desktop very much, so the apps were super convenient and made dating work around my schedule," Martinez says.

That trend gels with what Match.com has seen with its app, says Robinne Burrell, director of mobile products and distribution. Of Match's active subscribers, 32 percent are mobile, with 56 percent of singles ages 25-54 going mobile. The company now sees more than twice as much activity on mobile as on the Web.

"You get that excitement and instant gratification of winks and viewed profiles without having to wait until you get back to your desktop," Burrell said.

Match.com's app does let members know who is in their vicinity based on distance criteria users can set up. But the site distances itself from being used for quick hookups.

"If you want something more casual, there are apps for that, and it's not to say maybe one day we won't explore that option," Burrell says. "But right now we want to find strategic matches who fit someone's criteria for a relationship and not get too distracted by 'Look who just passed you.' "

Grindr, a free app for "gay, bi and curious men," has found widespread popularity using location-based technology. To protect users' privacy, the apps require only a name. And filters allow people to control what information is available, including gender, age, interests and sexual orientation.

The app delivers its users profiles and photos listed in order of distance — a feature some say results in more hookups than long-term relationships.

But Grindr founder and chief executive Joel Simkhai says company surveys show that 85 percent of members used the app for making new friends, especially when they were new to town.

That's why Simkhai believes the next evolution of apps won't be about dating but will focus on friendships. His newly launched Blendr app for a general audience uses the same technology but is billed as a social-networking app for building connections based on similar interests.

"If you are a German student who needs to find other German speakers in your area to practice the language with, you'd use Blendr," Simkhai says.

New York Times