You answer one question before anything else

Short-term or long-term? It comes before your name and photos because it decides which app you're using. The two pools are completely separate graphs on one codebase. Someone looking for a relationship will never be shown to someone looking for tonight.

You can switch later, but only once every 14 days. That's long enough that nobody uses switching to browse both pools, and short enough that a genuine change of circumstances isn't punished. Switching clears pending openers in both directions; conversations you've already matched in stay put.

Your face gets verified before you exist

Nobody sees you and you see nobody until a selfie has been matched to your profile photos. The router has four states: signed out, no profile, pending verification, full app. There is no browsing while you wait.

Photos also get fingerprinted so the same picture can't quietly serve five different accounts, and a camera-only video intro adds a second check that a stolen photo can't pass.

A like costs 80 characters

Liking someone opens a composer. You can't send anything under 80 real characters, and they read your words before deciding whether to match. Spraying right-swipes stops being free, which is exactly why a like carries information here.

The floor lives in the database, not just the app, so padding tricks like repeated characters or words get rejected server-side. It applies to openers and to each person's first reply. After both people have said something real, it lifts, so "7pm works" stays sendable.

Triage replaces the pile

You have to open a message before you can read it, and the sender can see that you opened it. "Left on read" becomes visible, and the mild social pressure that creates is intentional. Replying is the like-back: one action, one meaning, no separate accept screen. Declining is mutual, permanent, and silent. You'll never receive a notification whose entire content is rejection.

The feed blocks once you carry 5 unread openers. A few is fine; an accumulation is not. Openers lapse after 24 hours with the clock running whether or not you opened the app that day.

Presence is required, not implied

The feed applies a recency window: 7 days in both pools during launch. "Available tonight" is meaningless coming from someone last seen Tuesday.

Short-term users can also mark themselves free for the next few hours. That filters the feed on both sides and expires by simple comparison, so there's nothing to remember to switch off.

Then it's just conversation

Realtime chat with typing indicators and read receipts. Unmatch any time. Long-term profiles carry extras like prompts and lifestyle answers that short-term ones don't need. Date plans let you share where you'll be with a friend when you go meet someone.