Asked & answered.

Howl is for whatever you're showing up for — whether that's a relationship, a casual date, or just talking to someone new tonight. We don't force you to pick a 'looking for' category. The people in the room tonight are showing up with whatever intent they're showing up with, the same way they would at a bar.

Because dating in the real world has hours. Bars close. Clubs close. Coffee shops close. Apps that are always-on quietly become an obligation. Howl runs in a window so it can be a real moment, not a background app.

The window is a few hours nightly, opening early evening and closing late. Exact local hours are shown on the home page and in the app. We tuned the window so it overlaps with when you'd actually be looking to meet someone.

Right. No bio, no prompts, no five-photo gallery, no 'about me.' Your only profile is the live selfie you take when you enter that night. The whole product is built on the idea that what people read about each other on dating apps is mostly fiction anyway.

When you open Howl, the app asks you to take a live selfie using your front camera. You can't upload an existing photo — it has to be taken right then. That selfie is what other users see, and it ages out of our system within a few days.

Yes. Howl is inclusive — straight, gay, bi, queer, and everything else. You set who you want to see and who can see you when you first sign up. We don't ask anything else about your identity.

We're launching market-by-market to keep each city's room full. Check the app for current cities. If we're not in yours, drop your zip in our contact form and we'll keep you posted when we open.

Yes. No paid tier hiding the good matches behind a paywall. No premium subscription. No swipe limits we'll lift if you pay. The whole 'freemium pay-to-be-seen' model is one of the things we're trying to undo.

Right now: we don't, at this scale. Long-term plan is non-creepy revenue — sponsorships from venues, special-event nights, things that don't require us to sell user data or charge for visibility. If we ever can't make it work without violating our privacy promises, we'd rather shut Howl down than become another Tinder.

Live selfie verification removes catfish and bots — every user is a real person, taking a real photo, tonight. Reports are handled fast. Bad actors get banned and re-entry is blocked. There's also an in-app emergency button if something feels off mid-conversation.

Take it offline. Once you have someone's number or socials, you don't need Howl anymore. The 24-hour message expiry is on purpose — it pushes you to either make a real plan or move on.

Technically yes on most phones, but it's against community guidelines to share someone's chat or selfie without consent. Users who do it get banned. Privacy is reciprocal — you have it because everyone has it.

Yes — in one tap from inside the app, or by emailing hello@howldating.com. We delete everything, not just the visible profile. Our internal retention is short anyway (selfies age out in a few days, chats in 24 hours), so most deletes are formalities.

No. Howl is mobile-only by design. Dating on your laptop while you're at your desk is not what we're trying to enable.

No couple accounts. Howl is one human per account, verified by selfie. We're trying to reintroduce honesty into dating apps — and 'we're a couple looking for a third' should be a conversation two real people have on a date, not a profile.

A small team of people who genuinely hated dating apps. See our about page for the longer version. Email hello@howldating.com if you want to write about us or work with us.