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Near checks your GPS location about once per minute while the app is running in the background. When another Near user comes within roughly 0.1 miles (about 160 meters) of you, they'll appear on your daily nearby list — and you'll appear on theirs.

To save battery, location is only re-checked when you've actually moved. If you're sitting still, your phone doesn't keep pinging GPS.

No. Never. Other users only know that you crossed paths with them at some point during the day — they don't see where, when, or how close. Your exact GPS coordinates are never shown to anyone on the platform.

Near is built around a simple idea: "we were near each other today" is a great icebreaker. "I know exactly where you are right now" is creepy. We only do the first one.

Your nearby list resets every day at 4:00 AM in your local time zone. At that moment, your daily location records are wiped and you start fresh.

Free users see only today's list. Premium and Premium+ users get up to 3 days of history (72 hours), so you can scroll back if you missed someone.

Near is designed to be battery friendly. We use balanced location accuracy (not the high-power "turn-by-turn navigation" mode), only check your position about once per minute, and skip the check entirely if you haven't moved more than ~50 feet.

For even more control, you can shrink your active window with Custom Hours or pause tracking entirely inside Private Zones — see those questions below.

Yes — that's the whole point. If Near only worked when the app was open, you'd never actually cross paths with anyone. So we use a background location task that keeps running after you close the app.

To be transparent about it: Android shows a small persistent "Near is running" notification in your tray. iOS shows the blue location indicator near the time. You can turn tracking off any time — just toggle invisible mode or revoke location permission in your phone's settings.

Custom Hours let you pick a daily time window when you want to be discoverable on Near — for example, 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Outside that window, you stop appearing on other people's nearby lists.

This is a free feature. To set it up: open Settings → Custom Hours, toggle it on, and choose your start and end times in 15-minute increments. Times use your local time zone.

While you're outside your active window, your dashboard shows a small "Paused" badge so you always know whether you're visible. The default is "All day" — meaning if you don't set Custom Hours, you're discoverable any time you're moving around.

Private Zones are areas you mark as off-limits — like your home, your office, your gym, or your kid's school. The moment your phone detects you're inside one, Near stops uploading your location and immediately wipes the location row from our database. To everyone else, you simply vanish from the map.

This is the strongest privacy tool in the app. It's not "approximate invisibility" — your location is genuinely never sent to our servers while you're inside a zone. The second you leave the zone, normal tracking resumes.

Private Zones are completely free. You can create up to 2 zones, each with a custom radius between 10 meters and 1,000 meters (about 33 feet to 0.6 miles). Set them up in Settings → Private Zones.

All three hide you from other users — but they work differently:

• Invisible Mode — A single on/off switch. When off, you disappear from everyone, everywhere, until you turn it back on. Use this when you want a full break.
• Custom Hours — Time-based. You're visible during the hours you pick (e.g., 9 AM–6 PM) and invisible outside them. Set it once and forget it.
• Private Zones — Place-based. You're invisible whenever you're inside specific places (home, work) and visible everywhere else.

You can use all three together. The strictest setting always wins — if you're inside a Private Zone, you're invisible regardless of your Custom Hours or Invisible Mode setting.

Open the Profile tab and toggle off "Make me discoverable." You'll vanish from everyone's nearby list immediately, but you'll still be able to browse other users.

You can also flip this from the Settings tab. There's no penalty for going in and out of invisible mode as often as you like.

Near uses what we call a "cold DM" system, designed to keep your inbox from filling up with spam.

• Free users: 1 cold DM per day. If the person doesn't reply, you can't message them again.
• Premium / Premium+: 15 cold DMs per day, no ads required.
• Watch an ad: Free users can watch a short ad to send an extra DM beyond the daily limit.
• DM Credit ($1.99): One-time purchase that grants a single DM outside the daily quota.

Once someone replies to your cold DM, the conversation unlocks completely — no more limits between the two of you, ever.

A few possible reasons:

• You've already used your daily cold DM quota (1 for free, 15 for Premium).
• You previously messaged that person and they didn't reply, so the channel is locked until they do.
• The recipient has gone invisible, blocked you, or deactivated their account.

If none of these apply, try closing and reopening the app, or email support@nearapp.io with the recipient's username.

Each profile shows a main photo by default. You can upload up to 2 extra photos for a total of 3.

When other people view your profile, they'll see your main photo right away. To unlock the extra two, free users watch a short ad. Premium and Premium+ users see all photos instantly with no ad.

Manage your photos in Profile → Edit Profile.

Yes. You can add up to 6 social platforms to your profile: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X (Twitter), Threads, and LinkedIn.

Free users can view someone's social links after watching a short ad. Premium and Premium+ users see them instantly.

Add or edit your links from Profile → Edit Profile → Social Links.

A Profile Boost ($3.99 one-time purchase) pushes your profile to the top of nearby users' lists for 24 hours. It's a quick way to get noticed when you're in a busy area, traveling, or just want more visibility for a day.

You can also earn free boosts through the referral program (see below).

Near has two paid tiers:

• Premium — $9.99/month: 15 cold DMs per day, no ads, 3-day nearby history, instant access to other people's photos and social links.
• Premium+ — $14.99/month: Everything in Premium, plus read receipts, "see who viewed your profile" lists, and profile view tracking.

Both tiers also reduce ban times if you receive a moderation strike (3 days for Premium vs. 10 days for free accounts).

Invite friends with your unique referral code. As people join using your code, you unlock free rewards at each tier:

• 2 referrals — 24-hour Profile Boost
• 5 referrals — 1 week of Premium free
• 10 referrals — 1 month of Premium free
• 25 referrals — 3 months of Premium free
• 50 referrals — 6 months of Premium free

Find your referral code under the Refer tab in the app.

Subscriptions are managed through the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play (Android). Open your device's subscription settings, find Near, and tap Cancel. Your subscription stays active until the end of the current billing period — no proration refund, but no further charges either.

Cancelling does not delete your account; you simply revert to the free tier at the end of the period.

Premium status is tied to your Near account, not your device. As long as you sign in with the same account, your subscription benefits follow you. However, the subscription itself is billed by the platform you bought it on (App Store or Google Play), so you can only manage billing on that platform.

On any user's profile, tap the "..." menu in the top right and choose "Report this person." Pick a reason — Spam, Inappropriate content, Harassment, Fake profile, or Other — and add an optional note (up to 300 characters). Hit submit and our moderation team takes it from there.

You can also block any user from the same menu, which removes them from your feed and prevents them from messaging you.

Near uses a 3-strike system. Strike 1 is a warning; strike 2 is a final warning; strike 3 results in a temporary ban — 10 days for free accounts, 3 days for Premium. Severe violations like hate speech in profile content can trigger an instant ban that bypasses the strike count.

If you believe your account was suspended in error, email support@nearapp.io with your username and a description of what happened. We review every appeal within 48 hours.

Open Profile → Settings → Account → Delete Account and confirm. Your profile, messages, photos, and location history are permanently removed within 30 days. This action cannot be undone, so make sure you've cancelled any active subscription beforehand to avoid being billed.

On the sign-in screen, tap "Forgot password?" and enter the email tied to your account. You'll receive a reset link within a few minutes. Check your spam folder if you don't see it.

If you no longer have access to that email, contact support@nearapp.io and we'll help verify your identity manually.

A few things to check:

• Location permission: Make sure Near has "Always" location access in your phone settings (not just "While Using"). Background access is required for Near to work.
• Invisible mode: If you're invisible, you won't appear to others, but you can still see them.
• Custom Hours: If you've set Custom Hours and it's outside your window, your tracking is paused.
• Inside a Private Zone: Tracking pauses automatically inside zones you've created.
• Density: Near only counts people within 0.1 miles. In rural areas you may genuinely have no one nearby — try a busier spot.

Still stuck? Email support@nearapp.io.

Near works anywhere with an App Store or Google Play account and a working GPS signal. The app is most useful in areas with active users, so density varies by city. If you'd like to help grow Near in your region, the referral program is the fastest way to bring friends on board.