Frequently asked questions

Connect The Dots (CTD) is a hyperlocal social discovery app. It shows you real people nearby — within as little as 100 metres — matched to your interests and vibe. No algorithms, no endless swiping. Just the dots that were always around you.

Wave at people, chat, attend local events, and connect with those you genuinely click with — all while your exact location is never shared with anyone.

After signing in you'll be taken to the profile setup screen. Fill in:

1. Display name — up to 30 characters. This is what others see.
2. Age — must be 18 or older.
3. Gender — Male, Female, Non-binary, or Other. Required for gender-filtered events.
4. Bio — optional, up to 150 characters.
5. Looking for — pick everything that applies across Romantic, Social, and Events & Lifestyle. At least one selection required.

CTD is for adults only (18+). The age gate appears once before the login screen. Enter your date of birth — if you are under 18 you will see a block screen and cannot proceed. Your date of birth is only used for this check and is never stored or shown to anyone.

You can add a photo any time after setup:

1. Go to Settings → Edit Profile or tap your avatar on the home screen.
2. Tap the avatar at the top of the screen.
3. Pick an image from your gallery.

Photos are automatically resized to 512×512 and compressed before upload. When you update your photo, the old one is permanently deleted from storage.

• Google — one-tap sign in.
• Phone number — 6-digit OTP via SMS. Supports 60+ countries with auto-detected country code.
• Email & password — standard email account with verification email on signup.

The Nearby tab shows people physically close to you right now. CTD uses your device's GPS and queries users within your chosen radius — without ever revealing your exact coordinates. Your location is fuzzed by ±250 metres before being stored, so no one can pinpoint you precisely.

Choose from five radii using the dropdown at the top of the Nearby tab:

• Hyperlocal (100m) — default
• 200 metres
• 2 km
• 20 km
• 200 km — maximum

All radii are free for all users.

The match score shows how much your "Looking for" interests overlap with another person's. It's the percentage of your interests that appear in their list.

• High match (50%+) — strong overlap
• Match (10–49%) — some overlap
• Low match (1–9%) — minimal overlap

People with no overlap are filtered from your Nearby view.

The list auto-refreshes every 5 minutes and also refreshes when you move more than 50 metres. This keeps it current without draining your battery.

• Location permission not granted — check Settings → App permissions on your device.
• Invisible mode is on — toggle it off in Settings to reappear.
• Profile incomplete — your profile must be fully set up before you appear to others.
• No interest overlap — if your "Looking for" selections don't match anyone nearby, you may appear to fewer people.

Vibe Check lets you signal how approachable you are right now — without changing your profile or going invisible. Go to Settings → Vibe Check and pick one of three options:

• 🟢 Open to meeting someone — you're out there and open to connecting.
• 🟡 Just browsing for now — you're on the app but not actively looking.
• 🔴 Not looking right now — visible on the app but not interested in meeting anyone today.

Your chosen status appears as a small coloured badge on your profile card in the Nearby list, so people can read the room before reaching out. You can change it anytime with one tap. If you never set it, no badge appears.

A wave is a low-pressure way to say "hey, I noticed you" — no message required, no awkward opener. To send one:

1. Tap on someone in the Nearby tab to open their profile.
2. Tap the Wave 👋 button.

The other person receives a push notification and can see your wave in the Waves sub-tab inside the Chat section.

No. You can only wave at any given person once. The button updates to confirm it was sent. If you want to connect further, send a message or a Connect request instead.

Yes. Up to 5 waves per day. Resets at midnight.

1. Go to the Chat tab (bottom navigation).
2. Switch to the Waves sub-tab at the top.
3. All incoming waves appear here sorted by time. Tap a wave to view their profile and wave back or send a message.

• From a profile — tap someone in Nearby and tap Message.
• From Events — RSVP to an event, then tap Chat on any attendee card.
• From Connects — once mutually connected, tap their card to open a chat.

Yes. Messages show a read indicator once the other person has opened the conversation. The unread badge on the Chat tab updates in real time.

Yes. Long-press any message you sent:

• Edit — change the text. An "edited" label appears on the message.
• Delete for me — removes it from your view only.
• Delete for everyone — removes it from both sides permanently.

Yes. When the other person is actively typing you'll see a typing indicator in the chat. It disappears when they stop or send.

Yes. From any Event detail page tap the Share icon in the top bar and choose Send to a CTD user. Pick a person from your chats — the event appears as a rich card they can tap to open directly.

The chat loads your most recent 50 messages on open. Scroll to the top and tap Load older messages to fetch the previous 50, and so on.

Yes. Long-press any conversation in the Chat list to select it (multiple selection supported), then tap Delete and choose:

• Delete for me — hides it from your list only.
• Delete for everyone — removes all messages for both parties permanently.

A wave is a casual one-way gesture. A Connect is a mutual friendship request — both people must accept. Connected users appear in each other's Connects tab regardless of distance, so you can always find and chat with them even when they're no longer nearby.

1. Open someone's profile from Nearby or Events.
2. Tap the Connect button (shows 🫂 or 🤝 depending on shared interests).
3. The other person receives a notification with Accept / Dismiss options.
4. Once they accept you're mutually connected.

Yes. Up to 5 Connect requests per day. Resets at midnight.

You'll receive an in-app notification banner. You can also find all pending requests in the Connects tab under the Pending section. Tap Accept to connect or Decline to ignore.

1. Go to the Connects tab.
2. Long-press the connection you want to remove.
3. Tap Disconnect and confirm.

The other person is not notified. You can reconnect at any time.

Tap the Events tab in the bottom navigation. Events are listed by date — upcoming first. Filter by:

• Category — Music & Concerts, Food & Drink, Sports, Nightlife, Community, Arts & Culture, Gaming & Tech, and more.
• Distance — 50 km to 2500 km from you.
• Location search — type any city name to search events near that location instead.

1. Tap any event card to open the event detail page.
2. Tap I'm going!
3. Your name appears in the attendees list and you can chat with other attendees directly from the event page.

Tap the button again to cancel your attendance.

Yes. Tap + Add Event at the top of the Events tab. Fill in:

1. Event name
2. Category (required)
3. Who can attend — Everyone, Women only, or Men only
4. Date & time — multi-day events are also supported
5. Location — paste a Google Maps link for auto-fill, or type a venue with autocomplete
6. Description (optional)

Your event goes live immediately. Some events show a ✓ Verified badge — these are reviewed and confirmed by our team.

Yes. Open your event, tap the ⋮ menu in the top right, and choose Edit Event or Delete Event. Only the event creator can edit or delete their own event.

1. Open the event detail page.
2. Tap the ⋮ menu in the top right corner.
3. Tap Report Incorrect Info.
4. Select a reason: Wrong date, Wrong venue, Event cancelled, Duplicate event, Spam, or Other.
5. Tap Submit Report.

Our team is notified instantly and will review the event. If the event is deleted after your report, your screen automatically returns to the events list.

Past events are hidden from the events list immediately after they end. They are permanently deleted 7 days after their end date, keeping the app lean and the events list relevant.

Yes. In the Events tab tap My Events to see two lists — Going (events you've RSVP'd to) and Hosted (events you've added).

Referrals let you introduce two people you think would get along. You pick a person from Nearby (the "subject"), then pick a friend from your existing chats (the "recipient"). The subject receives a request to approve the introduction — if they say yes, the recipient gets to see their profile. Think of it as being a matchmaker for your social circle.

1. Open someone's profile from the Nearby tab.
2. Tap Introduce on their profile.
3. Pick the friend from your chat list you want to introduce them to.
4. The subject receives a notification asking if they want to be introduced.
5. If they approve, the recipient is notified and can view the subject's profile.

When someone wants to introduce you, you'll receive an in-app notification. Find pending requests in Chat → Referrals sub-tab. Tap the card and choose Approve or Decline. Approving shares your profile with the recipient. Declining removes the request silently.

Your exact GPS coordinates are never shared with other users. Before your location is stored, CTD applies a random ±250 metre fuzz. Distances shown to others are approximate. Even with raw database access, no one can pin you to better than a 500 metre radius.

1. Go to Settings (top right of the home screen).
2. Find Privacy Mode and toggle it on.

While invisible you won't appear in anyone else's Nearby list. All other features remain fully available. Toggle off at any time to reappear.

On any user's profile tap the ⋮ menu and choose Block [name]. They disappear from your Nearby, Events, and messages. They are not notified. You can also long-press any user card for a quick block shortcut. Manage your blocked list in Settings → Blocked Users.

1. Open their profile and tap the ⋮ menu.
2. Tap Report [name].
3. Choose a reason: Spam, Inappropriate content, Harassment, Fake profile, or Other.
4. Tap Submit Report.

Our safety team receives an email immediately and will review your report.

1. Go to Settings → Blocked Users.
2. Tap Unblock next to the person's name.

No. CTD does not show ads and does not sell or share your data with advertisers or third parties. Your data is used solely to power the features you use.

After chatting with someone, CTD may prompt you to rate them 1–5 stars. A user's average rating is shown publicly on their profile once they have 3 or more ratings. You can update your rating at any time. You cannot rate yourself.

1. Tap your avatar on the home screen, or go to Settings → Edit Profile.
2. Update your display name, age, bio, interests, or photo.
3. Tap Save.

Changes are reflected across the app immediately — no restart needed.

1. Go to Settings (top right icon on the home screen).
2. Scroll down and tap Sign Out.
3. Confirm the dialog.

Go to Settings → Delete Account. This permanently deletes:

• Your profile and all personal data
• All your chat messages
• Your profile photo
• All waves sent and received
• All referrals involving you
• Your connections and ratings
• Any events you added

Type DELETE to confirm. This cannot be undone.

The "Member since [Month Year]" label shows when that user joined CTD, giving you a sense of how long they've been part of the community.

Some profiles display a small badge indicating a verified or trusted role within the CTD community.