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Create your account, set up your profile, and start discovering people nearby.
6 articlesEdit your profile, manage photos, preferences, and personalization options.
6 articlesAge verification, selfie checks, ID documents, and verification status.
6 articlesNearby, Grid and Swipe discovery, likes, matches, visitors, and profile visibility.
8 articlesChat features, reactions, private photo albums, and album sharing.
7 articlesStart a call, who you can call, call limits, and the caller screen.
5 articlesPasskeys, two-factor authentication, App Lock, and screenshot protection.
5 articlesLGBTQ+ venues, creating meetups, map discovery, and safety tips.
7 articlesProfile Boosts, duration options, pricing, and Boost analytics.
5 articlesAppear in other cities, browse remotely, and messaging limits.
5 articlesFree, Plus, and Premium plans, billing, cancellations, and refunds.
6 articlesBlocking, reporting, Stealth Mode, location privacy, and guidelines.
8 articlesLogin problems, notifications, performance, and troubleshooting.
6 articlesSubmit a request for safety concerns, bugs, account help, or payments.
Contact formEverything you need to create your account and start using Flare.
Flare is a social discovery and dating platform designed to help people connect with those nearby, discover LGBTQ+ friendly venues, and create community meetups.
Flare is built with LGBTQ+ communities in mind but is open and inclusive to everyone, including straight users. Our goal is to create a safe, welcoming space for genuine connections.
Flare is available to anyone aged 18 or older. The platform is designed with LGBTQ+ communities in mind, but all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome.
Age verification is required during signup to ensure the safety of all users.
To create a Flare account:
After creating your account, you can set up your profile by adding:
A complete profile gets significantly more engagement than an empty one.
The onboarding flow includes several steps:
All steps must be completed before you can access the main app.
Tips for a great Flare profile:
Manage your profile, photos, preferences, and personalization.
Go to Profile → Edit Profile to update your name, bio, photos, interests, and all other profile details. Changes save automatically.
In Edit Profile, tap the photo grid to add, rearrange, or remove photos. You can upload up to 6 photos. Your first photo is your main profile image visible in the discovery grid.
Your profile includes your name, age, bio, photos, interests, intentions, and optional details like height, ethnicity, and relationship status. Only information you choose to fill in will be visible to others.
Update your interests, intentions, and discovery preferences in Edit Profile. These help other users find you and help Flare show you relevant profiles.
You can link your Instagram, X (Twitter), Snapchat, TikTok, and Spotify accounts to your Flare profile. These appear as buttons on your profile for others to connect with you outside Flare.
Premium Premium users can customize their app theme colour, app icon, and profile accent colour. Go to Premium → Personalise to access these options.
In Edit Profile you can add your gaming handles - PSN, Xbox, Steam, Nintendo, Battle.net, Epic, Discord, Riot ID, Twitch and more - so fellow gamers can find and add you. They're especially surfaced if you have the Gaymer tag, but anyone can add them. Only add your own handles.
To show that you're partners or a couple, open the other person's profile, scroll to the Partners card (pink heart), and choose the relationship type - this sends them a request. They accept from the notification or the Partners card on their own profile. Once accepted, the link shows on both profiles; either of you can remove it any time. The card only appears on your own profile once you have a partner or a pending request.
How Flare verifies your age and identity to keep the community safe.
Flare is an adults-only platform (18+). Age verification helps protect minors and ensures all users meet the minimum age requirement. This is a mandatory step during signup.
Flare uses a specialist provider, Didit, to check your age. You take a quick selfie with a liveness check, and Didit estimates your age on its own secure servers. Flare only ever receives the result - approved, in review, or declined - never your selfie or video.
If the selfie can't confirm you're an adult, Didit asks you to scan a government-issued ID. You'll also need ID verification if you want to host - create a meetup or event, run a venue, or offer a service - anywhere in the world, as a safety measure for attendees. Didit checks the document and Flare receives only the pass/fail result.
Accepted documents: passport, driving licence, or national ID card.
Your selfie and any ID are processed by Didit, not stored by Flare. As soon as your check reaches a final decision, the verification session and its documents are deleted from Didit. Flare keeps only your verification status (e.g. "verified"). See our Privacy Policy for details.
Common issues:
If problems persist, contact support using the form below.
How to find and connect with people on Flare.
The Nearby grid shows people who are currently active around your location. Flare uses your device’s live GPS location to show profiles that are physically close to you right now.
Location permission is required. Without GPS access, your profile will not appear in anyone’s Nearby grid and you will not see nearby profiles. Flare syncs your location every time you open the app.
Profiles may appear or disappear from the Nearby grid depending on activity and location. A profile may disappear when:
Nearby focuses on people who are active and close to you right now. If you want to discover more people outside your immediate area, you can use Swipe or explore other cities using Passport Pass.
Flare is a proximity-based app. Location is essential for showing you who is nearby and for your profile to appear on other people's grids.
Without location access:
Your exact location is never shared with other users. They only see an approximate distance such as "3 m", "47 m", or "1.2 km".
You can enable location when prompted in the app, or through your browser or device settings at any time.
The Grid shows nearby profiles in a 3-column layout, sorted by distance. Tap a profile to view it, or long-press for quick actions like messaging or viewing. You can filter by age, online status, and more.
Free users can view a set number of nearby profiles. Additional profiles are available with Plus or Premium subscriptions which provide unlimited discovery.
Profiles with a small crown icon indicate they are beyond your current discovery limit. Upgrade to Plus or Premium to unlock unlimited profile browsing.
Swipe right to like a profile, or left to pass. If both users swipe right on each other, it's a match and you can start chatting immediately.
When you like someone, they receive a notification. Free users can see 1 like - the rest are hidden. Plus and Premium users can see all likes and visitors.
When two users like each other, it becomes a match and chat is unlocked.
The Visitors section in your Activity tab shows who has viewed your profile. Free users see 1 visitor - upgrade to Plus or Premium to see the full list.
Chat features, reactions, and private photo sharing.
You can message people near you, and messages are delivered in real time. Starting conversations with people far outside your local area is subject to a small daily limit on the Free and Plus plans; Premium removes it. Read receipts are a Premium feature.
Tap any profile and select Message or Send request. You can send text messages, photos, and emojis. Messages appear in your Chat tab.
Premium Premium users can edit messages to fix typos and delete messages for everyone. Long-press a message to access these options.
Premium React to messages with emojis by long-pressing any message. This feature is available to Premium subscribers.
Private albums let you share photos that are only visible to people you choose. You control who can see your album and can revoke access at any time.
Only share your private album with people you trust. Album permissions can be set to Everyone, Matches only, or Only me in Privacy Settings.
You receive a notification when someone views your shared private album. This helps you stay informed about who is accessing your private content.
Talk face to face - safely - before you meet.
Open your chat with the person and tap the call icon in the top bar, then choose Voice call or Video call. They'll get a ringing notification - even on their lock screen - and can answer or decline.
For your safety, calls only work between people who are matched or who already have a two-way conversation (you've both sent at least one message). A stranger who just messaged you can't call you out of the blue - the call button only appears once you're connected.
Call length depends on your plan, and a live countdown shows the time remaining during a call:
The call ends automatically when the limit is reached. Upgrade at Me → Premium for longer calls.
No. Flare never records your voice or video calls. The call is carried securely in real time by our calling provider and isn't stored.
On iOS, the full-screen lock-screen call is the system's own call screen, which shows the caller's name but not a profile photo - that's an Apple limitation. Once you answer and the call opens in Flare, you'll see the other person's photo.
Lock down your account and control who can see your screen.
A passkey lets you sign in with your device's Face ID, Touch ID or biometrics - no password to remember or steal. Go to Settings → Security → Passkeys and follow the prompt to create one. Next time you sign in, choose the passkey option.
2FA adds a one-time code from an authenticator app on top of your password. Go to Settings → Security → Two-factor authentication, tap Add authenticator app, then scan the QR code (or tap to add it) in your authenticator (e.g. Google Authenticator, 1Password). Enter the 6-digit code to finish. You'll be asked for a code when you next sign in.
App Lock requires Face ID / Touch ID / a passcode every time Flare is opened, so nobody with your phone can see your chats. Enable it in Settings → Privacy & Safety → App Lock.
In Privacy & Safety → Screenshot protection you can protect your Photos, your Conversations, or Both. When on, screenshots of your protected content are blocked or come out blank, captures carry a viewer-identifying watermark, and the other person is notified if someone screenshots a protected chat.
Quick Exit instantly hides Flare behind a harmless-looking screen if you need to. Turn it on and learn the gesture in Privacy & Safety → Safety Tools.
Discover venues, create meetups, and stay safe.
The Flare Map shows LGBTQ+ friendly venues, bars, and clubs near you, along with user-created meetups. It's an interactive way to discover what's happening in your area.
Flare uses a multi-phase classification system to identify genuinely LGBTQ+ venues. Venues are verified through name matching, review analysis, and website content. Only confirmed LGBTQ+ venues appear on the map.
Tap the + button on the Map tab to create a meetup. Add a name, description, location, and tags. Free users can create 1 meetup per day; Plus and Premium users get unlimited meetups.
Note: Meetups are user-generated. Flare does not organize or verify events.
As the host, you can edit your meetup details or end it early from the meetup detail screen. Once ended, the meetup is removed from the map.
Meetups automatically expire after a set duration. The host sets the end time when creating the meetup. Expired meetups are removed from the map.
If a meetup seems unsafe or violates community guidelines, tap the Report button on the meetup card. Our moderation team reviews all reports.
Always meet in public places, tell someone where you're going, trust your instincts, and don't share personal information too early. Visit our Safety Center in the app for more tips.
Before heading to a meetup or a date, start a safety check-in: nominate a guardian (a friend you trust) and share your status with them, optionally including a public status link. Flare reminds you to check in, and you stay in control of what's shared and can end it any time. It's a reminder tool to keep someone in the loop - see the Safety Center.
You can list a service on the map from the Services section. Create your listing, set its location (search an address or drop a pin), and choose a plan - listings start with a free trial and can be extended on a paid plan via in-app purchase. Hosting/offering a service requires ID verification first. Manage your listings under My services.
Get seen by more people with profile Boosts.
Boost temporarily increases your profile's visibility in discovery. While active, your profile appears more frequently in the Grid and in the 🔥 Boosted Profiles section.
When your Boost is active, your profile appears higher in the discovery feed and in a special horizontal "Boosted Profiles" section visible to nearby users. Premium users receive a slight ranking advantage over other boosted profiles.
Boosts are bought individually through in-app purchase; current prices are shown at checkout. You can also get a free 15-minute boost once a day by watching a rewarded ad (on the Boost page), and earn free boosts by completing verification.
Boosted profiles appear in a dedicated 🔥 Boosted Profiles horizontal scroll section in the Grid, positioned after several rows of nearby profiles. Each boosted card displays a ⚡ Boosted badge.
When your Boost ends, Flare shows a summary of your Boost performance including:
This helps you understand the impact of your Boost and decide when to boost again.
Connect with people in other cities before you arrive.
Premium Travel Mode lets you set a destination city so your profile appears there before you arrive. Your profile will display a "Traveling" or "Arriving soon" badge so people in that city know you are visiting.
People in the destination city can see your profile and start chatting with you before your trip.
Important: Travel Mode shows your profile in another city, but it does not change your real location in Nearby. You will not appear as a local nearby user in that city - only as a traveler.
To enable Travel Mode:
Your profile will appear in that city with a "Traveling" or "Arriving soon" badge. You can update or disable your destination at any time.
Passport Pass allows you to browse profiles in other cities around the world. You can change your browsing location using the location selector at the top of the Grid.
All users can preview profiles in other cities for free.
Important: Passport Pass does not change your real location or where your profile appears locally. It is a browsing tool only - you remain in your actual location for Nearby and presence purposes.
You can always browse and open profiles in other cities for free. Starting conversations with people far outside your local area is subject to a small daily limit on the Free and Plus plans; Premium removes the limit so you can message anyone, anywhere. If you hit the limit, you'll be prompted to upgrade.
Free & Plus:
Premium:
Plans, pricing, billing, and account management.
Flare offers three plans (available monthly or annually - the annual plan is cheaper per month):
Current prices are shown in the app at checkout and may vary by region. Compare plans at Me → Premium.
See the full comparison table in the app at Profile → Premium → Plans. Key differences:
View your plan and start an upgrade from Me → Premium. Because paid plans are billed through the app stores, the Manage subscription button there takes you to your Apple (App Store) or Google Play subscription settings, where you can change tier, switch monthly/annual, or cancel.
Cancel any time in your App Store (iOS: Settings → your name → Subscriptions) or Google Play (Play Store → Subscriptions) account - or via Me → Premium → Manage subscription, which opens the same place. Your benefits stay active until the end of the current billing period, and no further charges are made after cancellation. If you're on a free trial, cancel before it ends to avoid being charged.
Refund eligibility depends on your platform (App Store, Google Play, or web). Generally, refunds may be available within 14 days if you haven't used premium features. Contact support for assistance.
Premium is the complete Flare experience. It includes everything in Plus, plus Stealth Mode, Incognito browsing, Passport Pass, Travel Mode, read receipts, unsend, message reactions, the longest call limits, ad-free browsing, and profile personalisation. Current pricing is shown in the app at checkout.
Tools and guidelines to keep you safe on Flare.
To block a user, visit their profile and tap Block. Blocked users cannot see your profile, message you, or interact with you in any way. Manage blocked users in Privacy Settings → Blocked Users.
Tap the Report button on any profile or message. Select a reason and submit. Our moderation team reviews all reports and takes action within 24 hours. Reports are confidential.
Flare prohibits harassment, hate speech, explicit content in public profiles, spam, underage users, and any illegal activity. Violations result in warnings, restrictions, or permanent bans including device bans.
Flare never shows your exact location. Other users only see approximate distance (e.g. "350 m away"). You can toggle distance visibility in Privacy Settings.
Go to Profile → Notifications to control which notifications you receive: messages, likes, visitors, albums, meetups, and marketing notifications.
Premium Stealth Mode hides your profile from the Grid, Swipe, Map, and search. You can still browse and chat - but nobody can discover you. Enable it in Privacy Settings → Safety Center.
Premium Incognito browsing lets you view profiles without appearing in their Visitors list. The other person won't know you viewed their profile.
Troubleshooting common problems and contacting support.
If you can't log in, try: resetting your password, clearing your browser cache, checking your internet connection, or signing in with a different method (email, Google, Apple). If the issue persists, contact support.
Ensure your document is in JPEG, PNG, or PDF format and under 10MB. Try refreshing the page or signing out and back in. If you see "Not authenticated", sign out completely and sign in again before uploading.
Check your notification settings in Settings → Notifications, and make sure notifications are allowed for Flare in your device settings (iOS: Settings → Flare → Notifications; Android: App info → Notifications). Push notifications work on the iOS and Android apps for messages, likes, visitors, meetups and more.
If Flare is running slowly, try clearing your browser cache, disabling browser extensions, ensuring you have a stable internet connection, or using the latest version of Chrome, Safari, or Firefox.
Flare is available as native iOS and Android apps and as a web app. Update the mobile apps through the App Store or Google Play (turn on automatic updates to always have the latest version). The web app updates automatically - just refresh the page.
Use the Contact Support form below, or email us directly. We typically respond within 24 hours.