How Friendo works

1. Get an invite

   While we’re testing Friendo, you can only join with an invite link (or QR code) from a friend who’s already a member, or a beta code from us. Each member’s link can bring in a few new people.

2. Sign in with your e-mail

   Type your e-mail address and we send you a 6-digit code. No passwords to remember. You stay signed in on that device for 90 days of use.

3. Say who you are

   Pick a name and a username, and give your date of birth — Friendo is for adults aged 18 and over. Your date of birth isn’t shown to anyone.

4. Add friends

   Share your invite link or QR code, or type a friend’s exact username. They get a request and choose whether to accept. Friendships are always mutual.

5. Snap, poke, post

   Send a photo to the friends you tick — view once if you like — poke a friend, or post a one-line status that lasts a day.

6. Share your location — only if you want to

   The friends map shows friends who share with you. Your own sharing is off until you switch it on; then you choose, friend by friend, whether they see your approximate area (about 1 km) or your precise spot. Ghost mode hides you from everyone.

Being honest about the map

Friendo is a web app — you use it in your phone’s browser, or add it to your home screen. Web apps can only use your location while they’re open on screen. When you close Friendo or lock your phone, your position stops updating, and friends see when it was last updated. We think that’s a feature: there’s no background tracking. (A future phone app could do more — if we ever build one, it will still be off by default.)

What happens to photos

Photos are checked to make sure they really are images, resized, and saved as fresh copies with all hidden data (such as GPS and camera details) removed. They’re stored privately and only sent to the friends you chose. They’re deleted when they expire, when every friend has opened a view-once snap, or when you delete them.

Open Friendo Safety centre