How it works

The statuses

Free

Up for something today. Add Day or Night if you're only free for part of it, or leave it as all day.

Come join

You're already doing something, out or at home, and friends are welcome to join. It ends by itself after 3 hours.

Maybe

Could be convinced. Worth a message.

Recharging

Having a night in to recharge. Not avoiding anyone, just not up for doing anything today.

Busy

Got stuff on.

Away

Out of town, on holiday or on a work trip. It stays on until you pick another status, so set it once and forget about it.

Everyone's status clears at 5am, their time, so each day starts fresh. Away is the exception: it lasts until you change it.

Crews and friends

What's the difference?

A crew is a group, the people you'd text "anyone keen?". You can be in up to 5, like your housemates, your sports team and your school friends. Friends are anyone else you've added one by one. You see everyone's status either way.

How do I join a crew?

Tap the invite link someone in it sends you, and the app asks if you want to join. You can also enter the crew's code instead. Already in a crew? Tap the crew's name at the top, then + Join or start a crew.

How do I invite people?

On the Crew tab, tap + Invite to send a link to your crew. To add someone as a friend, tap My code on the Friends tab to send a link, or swap codes with them.

How do I switch between crews?

Tap the crew's name at the top of the list to see all your crews, and how many are free in each. Renaming the crew and choosing whether it sees your status are in the same list.

How do I leave a crew?

Open the crew, then tap Leave at the bottom. You stay in your other crews. If you were the last one in it, the crew is deleted.

How do I remove a friend?

Press and hold their name, then choose remove. They won't be told. If you don't want them adding you back, tap Block instead.

How do I unblock someone?

Add them again with their friend code. To unblock everyone at once, open your profile and tap Unblock. Blocking only covers friends: if you share a crew with someone, leave that crew to stop seeing each other.

Someone has my code who shouldn't

Open your profile and tap New next to your code. The old one stops working straight away, and everyone already on your friends list stays.

Can I choose who sees my status?

Yes. In your profile, under Show my status to, pick which crews see your real status, and whether your friends do. You can also tap a crew's name, then Hide my status here. Anyone you've hidden from sees you as Busy.

There's one status per person, so someone who's also in a crew you show your status to will see your real one. Hiding from a crew covers its members on the Friends tab too. Nobody can see which crews you've hidden from.

Invite rewards

What do I get for inviting friends?

• 1 friend: the secret Infinity avatar.
• 3 friends: a gold border around your avatar.
• 5 friends: colour for your avatar, in green, aqua, red, pink or yellow.

To see how close you are, tap your name, then Invites. Once you've unlocked them, the gold border and colours are at the bottom of the avatar list, and you can switch them on and off whenever you like.

What counts as an invite?

Someone new to WhoFree who comes from your crew invite link or your friend link, or adds you with your friend code, in their first week. They count once they've set a status on 3 different days, so it's real friends that count. Until then, they show as "on the way".

My friend joined but it didn't count

If they typed the crew code instead of tapping your link, there's no way to tell who invited them. If they downloaded WhoFree after tapping your link, ask them to tap it again once they've picked a name. Each person only counts once, for whoever's link they used first. And give it a few days: they need to use the app on 3 different days.

Alerts

When do I get notified?

• Friends free: as soon as 2 people in one of your crews are free, you'll hear who ("Liz and Amy are free tonight"). As more join, you get an update, at most once an hour for each crew. These only come between 8am and 11pm.
• Come join: when someone in your crew is already doing something, at the beach, at home or at a friend's place, and wants company. These come any time, but only once per person a day in each crew, and at most 3 a day per crew.
• Anyone keen: when you go Free and nobody else in your crew is, the app offers to ask them ("Harry: anyone keen tonight?"). Each person can ask a crew once a day, and a crew gets at most 2 a day. It isn't sent if someone else goes free first, since the Friends free alert already covers it.
• Daily reminder: a nudge some time in the morning if you haven't set your status yet. While you're Away, it becomes a "Still away?" check-in once a week instead.

You'll only get Friends free, Come join and Anyone keen alerts while you're Free or Maybe. Choose which crews you hear from with Crew alerts in your profile, or tap a crew's name, then Mute this crew. Nobody can tell you've muted them. Turn off the daily reminder with Daily reminder in your profile, which stops the weekly "Still away?" check-in too. If you've hidden your status from a crew, it won't count you or hear about your Come join, but you'll still get its alerts. Tapping an alert opens the crew it's about.

I tapped Come join by accident

No worries. Alerts wait 10 seconds before sending, so switch back straight away and nobody will be told.

I'm not getting any

Check they're on in your profile, then in your phone's Settings → Notifications → WhoFree. If you said no when the app first asked, that's where to turn them back on.

Your account

How do I change my name?

Tap your name at the top of the list, change it, and save.

How do I pick an avatar?

Tap your name, then Avatar, and choose one of the pixel avatars. It shows next to your name for your crews and friends straight away. To go back to your initial, pick the first square. Invite rewards, like the gold border and colours, are at the bottom of the same list.

How do I delete my account?

Tap your name, then Delete account at the bottom. Everything is deleted straight away and can't be undone. Removing the app on its own doesn't delete your account, so if you've already done that, email me and I'll delete it for you.

I got a new phone

WhoFree signs you up with just a name, with no email or password, so there's nothing to log back in with on a new phone. You'll start fresh: pick your name again, then ask for invite links to rejoin your crews and add your friends again.