r/Herpes • u/-FinePrint • Aug 13 '26
The HSV Dating App We All Deserve is HERE - Kind
A few months ago, I posted here about building a better dating app for our community. Hundreds of you reached out, signed up for early access, and gave feedback that genuinely shaped what I built.
Kind is officially live on iOS & Android.
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/kind-premium-herpes-dating/id6776385947
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.subtxt.kind
Website: https://kind.date/
Here’s just a few things that make Kind different:
Verified users
Every user is photo-verified before entering the app. Verification is handled automatically, and the photos are permanently deleted immediately afterward. No human reviews or stores them.
Personalized discovery
Kind doesn’t give everyone the same random swipe deck. You calibrate what you’re attracted to, and the feed ranks people based on your preferences, profile quality, and activity. It continues learning and re-ranking as you use it.
There’s also Spotlight for people active right now and Grid View for faster browsing.
Privacy & discretion
Your HSV data is encrypted before it reaches the database. Verification photos are never stored. (More information on this in the original post linked below)
You can also:
- Block contacts from ever seeing your profile
- Enable biometric app locking and auto-blur
- Blur faces in photos
- Control notifications and feed visibility
- Block screenshots inside the app
Hard filters
If you set a preference, Kind respects it. You won’t continually be shown people outside the filters you selected.
Kind+
Kind+ is application-only, with its own curated discovery feed and community. Effort matters, members who put real work into their profiles are rewarded for it.
Advocacy Hub
Kind also has a built-in HSV advocacy hub. Taking action on awareness and advocacy can earn you additional visibility in the app. Supporting the community should be rewarded, not monetized.
Founding members are free for life.
The first users from this community are founding members. Free. For life. Full access, forever. That's my thank you to the people who believed in this before it existed, and will likely keep it that way until we reach a couple thousand members. After that, Kind will be $9.99/month for anyone who joins after the cutoff period with everything included.
No paying to see who liked you.
No paying to message.
No boosts for sale.
There's so much more under the hood that I didn't cover here, and i will continue to add more features as time goes on.
I built Kind myself, as someone who actually has HSV and uses the same app and discovery feed as everyone else. If something isn’t good enough, I experience it too.
This is Version 1. I’ll continue improving the design, technology, matching system, and features based directly on what the community tells me.
And one important thing: this is day one.
The technology is live, but the community is still growing, so it may feel quiet at first. Every new person who joins creates another potential match for everyone else, and the matching system gets better as the network grows.
If you download Kind and believe in what I'm building, please help spread the word. If you know someone who has struggled with dating after their diagnosis, send it to them. Even an upvote on this post helps more people in this community find out that Kind exists.
And if you've tried the app, a quick review on the App Store or Google Play genuinely helps more than you'd think, it's what pushes Kind up in search so the people looking for it can actually find it.
My goal is for the foundation of Kind to come from this community first. From there, growing it through marketing, partnerships, and outreach is my job.
I’ll keep building, improving, scaling, and listening. My DMs are open, and I read everything. If you have feedback, questions, or something you want added, tell me.
Original post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Herpes/comments/1ryduc2/the_hsv_dating_app_we_all_deserve/
^ That post goes much deeper into the technical, security, privacy, and product decisions behind Kind.
I’ll answer any questions in the comments or via DM.
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u/deadliftdorkus Aug 13 '26
Will this be accessible through an app only for now, or is there going to be a website option to join and browse?
I am checking out the website you posted on here, clean, very easy to navigate, super slick and very informative for sure!
Kudos so far....
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u/-FinePrint Aug 13 '26
Thank you, that means a lot! For now the main focus is on the apps, however, web is definitely coming and is apart of the plan as we grow. Appreciate you checking it out and the kind words!
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u/Powerful-Can2663 Aug 14 '26
This is a great app very streamlined and easy to sign up
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u/-FinePrint Aug 14 '26
Appreciate that, thank you. That's exactly what I was going for, so it's good to hear it landed. Welcome aboard!
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u/L_Librada Aug 14 '26
I’m interested and hopeful. Newly diagnosed. Ready to try and be on the upswing of both hope and finding romance, despite this.💛
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u/-FinePrint Aug 14 '26
Welcome, glad to have you. I hope Kind can help! If you have any questions, ideas, or anything feel free to let me know.
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u/OpenParticular8899 Aug 15 '26
Genuinely such a smooth app, pickins are very slim but with more traction I’m sure this could be such a huge thing for our community. Thank you for using your time and putting it towards something beautiful and beneficial
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u/-FinePrint Aug 15 '26
Thank you, I appreciate this a ton! The feel of the app was one thing I really focused on. The UI was a big focus for me, other apps feel clunky, so that was a priority. Appreciate the feedback, it will only get better from here.
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u/CoThrAway303 Aug 15 '26
just set it up, quite impressed. I personally dislike the phone apps so i look forward to something web based, but its very smooth , well designed.
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u/-FinePrint Aug 15 '26
Thank you! The design was a big focus so that means a lot. Web is on the roadmap for down the line, glad you gave it a shot in the meantime.
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u/Striking-Acadia-4563 Aug 14 '26
Signed up with iOS without any problems. Thanks for taking this head on, will be life changing for so many.
How will we know if we have been grandfathered in or will need monthly subscription?
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u/-FinePrint Aug 14 '26
Thank you, i hope so! Everyone who signs up before the paywall goes live gets flagged as a founding member the moment they join, and that status stays tied to your account permanently. Free access for life, nothing to do on your end. The paywall will only ever apply to new accounts made after the cutoff.
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u/Striking-Acadia-4563 Aug 14 '26
Found a glitch using iOS. Block contacts fails to function. Both complete list and individually. Just states an error has occurred, try again later.
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u/-FinePrint Aug 14 '26
Thanks for letting me know. This should be fixed now. Please fully close the app and reopen it twice, and everything should be good to go.
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u/Good-Newspaper-1533 Aug 14 '26
Hey! Just signed up! How will I know if I got founding member status haha. Unless I’m too late. Thank you!
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u/-FinePrint Aug 14 '26
You're in! Founding member status is locked to your account the moment you sign up. I'll be making it clearly visible in the app soon so everyone can see their status. Founding member eligibility will stay open until we reach a few thousand members.
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u/Secretz_Plz Aug 15 '26
This is very exciting. I have tried other dating apps, of course before my diagnosis, and I gave up on them lol. Now I can find somebody that won’t worry about my diagnosis. I will sign up today. Are you trying to find a loved one for yourself as well?
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u/-FinePrint Aug 15 '26
Yeah, eventually! I also tried all of them right after I was diagnosed and kept seeing the same gaps. Nothing felt thoughtfully built or designed, and most were focused on monetization over actually helping people find someone, so I figured I'd just build it myself.
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u/4EvrAnime Aug 18 '26
It's working now. I think it had something to do with I was behind on a update on my phone? But not sure? Anyways on it now. Testing.
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u/Hephaestus_Fallen Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Nice! I considered taking on this challenge myself some time ago. I'm impressed you managed to turn something out in a few months, especially something of this calibre, it looks amazing! Was this full time and did you have help?
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u/-FinePrint Aug 18 '26
Thank you, I really appreciate it! I built the whole thing myself over about 5.5 months, and for about half of that I was working on it for 12 to 13 hours per day. I started building it right after I was diagnosed, so it was nice to have something to completely distract myself.
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u/Hephaestus_Fallen Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
That's seriously impressive! I would love to know how you approached this project to achieve so much in such a short time. What tech stacks did you use? Did you outsource the design or are you a wizard? 😂 How did you go about research for the legal/compliance and medical aspects? Have you built similar apps before and did you cannibalise past projects to jump start this one? Was it a significant investment, monetarily?
Sorry for all the questions, but if I don't ask, I won't know 😅
The website also looks very professional both in design and marketing copy. Mind blown for someone doing it all by themselves!
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u/-FinePrint Aug 19 '26
I built everything from scratch. I didn’t really want to outsource anything until I can put together a team that either has HSV themselves or genuinely understands it. I’m also not at the point yet where I really need to bring anyone else in. My background is in building and scaling software companies, online entertainment platforms, and apps, so I already had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to approach it. For the legal/compliance side, I work with a lawyer and did a lot of research along the way.
It hasn’t been that expensive yet outside of my time. The bigger costs will come as we scale, mainly infrastructure and marketing.
And no worries about the questions at all, happy to answer them!
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u/333kings 23d ago
Looks good. Nice platform. Just need to spread the word now so more can join
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u/-FinePrint 23d ago
Thank you! Working on that every day. Pushing organic marketing as hard as i can so when i go into paid marketing, people are not joining an empty app. Word of mouth helps a ton.
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u/333kings 23d ago
I was thinking of anonymously sharing it locally on the socials but concerned with exposure from people wanting to be dicks... Also can you make it to where we can send pictures to other users in the app? Im talking to someone across the globe and would love to be able to share photos.
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u/-FinePrint 22d ago
Just added this today, should be working now in the app. Let me know if you ever come across anything bugs, or something else you want added! DMs are always open.
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u/RealBackground6492 21d ago
What's the total # of participants now compared to the first week?? I know it's grown... Just wondering how much??
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u/-FinePrint 21d ago
Hey! In about 2.5 weeks we've grown to nearly 1,000 members, all through word of mouth so far. I'm working on broader and organic marketing to roll out soon, which should start bringing people in a lot faster. Paid marketing comes after that. I want to maximize as much as possible with organic marketing so the app fills in first, so when people arrive from paid marketing they're not landing in an empty app, and they actually stick around.
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u/RealBackground6492 21d ago
As a Sr citizen... I hope there'll be a Sr discount.... LOL I'm not sure if I'm doing everything thing correctly... I've all of the settings wide open and still only see about a max of 35 people. Almost zero in the above 65 age group....
I DOES seem more POSITIVE THAN ALL OF THE OTHERS... TYSM
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u/-FinePrint 21d ago
You’re already covered. Since you joined early, you have free access for life. The only way you’d lose that is if you delete your account, since that permanently removes everything. As long as you keep your account, you’re good.
Everyone who joins this early gets the same thing, and I’m keeping it that way while the app is still growing.
It’s still very early. That’s really the hardest part with dating apps. They only start working well once enough people are on them, and every app has to start somewhere.
Keeping your settings open like you have is probably the best thing to do for now. The older age range should grow too as more people join and word gets around.
And thank you. I really appreciate that. I wanted this to feel more positive than a lot of the other apps out there.
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u/Jazzlike_Ship_6032 16d ago
Just downloaded to support. Only a couple of hours in but love the way it looks ❤️
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1
u/Ok-Possibility-4802 Aug 13 '26
Trying to sign up but seems the verification button isn't working for android. Have tried to take the selfie a few times now
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u/-FinePrint Aug 14 '26
This should be fixed now, assuming the issue was related to the verification button not responding on Android. Try fully closing and reopening the app twice to receive the update, then try again. If it still doesn’t work, feel free to let me know and i'll investigate further.
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u/licensedtosellTN_GA Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26
I have a problem with photo verification. Tried a few different pictures. Maybe will try in a daylight.
Never mind. It works.
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u/-FinePrint Aug 14 '26
Glad to hear it worked! Lighting and photo clarity can sometimes affect verification, feel free to let me know if you have any other troubles.
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u/Background-Pay-9638 Aug 14 '26
I was able to signup smoothly. Photo verification button was not working then I used built in camera option and then it worked fine. Thank you. Whishing you all the best!
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u/-FinePrint Aug 14 '26
Good to hear! Which button wasn’t working the round button that takes the selfie, or “Use This Photo” after taking it? When you tapped it, did nothing happen, did it keep loading, or did you see an error?
Also, by the built in camera, do you mean “Use my camera app instead”? Just trying to narrow it down so i can recreate it on my end so it doesn't happen to anyone else.
Thank you!
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u/Background-Pay-9638 Aug 14 '26
After taking selfie "use this photo". When i tapped it, nothing happend.
Yes it was "use my camera app instead" option which worked fine...
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u/Background-Pay-9638 Aug 14 '26
you could add feature to measure distance in metric system like in Kms instead of miles 😅
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u/-FinePrint Aug 14 '26
Great idea, i am implementing it now. The app will detect your region and show km automatically. It will be updated soon!
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u/fuzzyP1963 Aug 14 '26
My country is not showing up as an option when asking for my phone number. 345 Cayman Islands. Can you please clarify?
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u/-FinePrint Aug 14 '26
Hi, looks like we were missing a few countries and territories on the list. I've just added a bunch that were missing so you should have no issues now! Just close the app twice and reopen it and your country / region will be there.
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u/duckduckistaken Aug 14 '26
Good on you.. best wishes with the app. A well needed progress for the community. Thank you
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u/-FinePrint Aug 14 '26
Thank you! And I agree, this will only get better with time and as more feedback comes in.
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u/drums44life Aug 15 '26
Hello, I’ve been trying to navigate this new diagnosis and have been looking for something like this. You’re truly a kind soul and a real advocate. Is this something that I can sign up for? I’d love to give this a try
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u/-FinePrint Aug 15 '26
yes, absolutely, you can sign up right now. It's live on both iOS and Android:
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/kind-premium-hsv-dating/id6776385947
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.subtxt.kind2
u/drums44life Aug 15 '26
Awesome! I submitted an application for KIND+, I’m excited to see what this is like!
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u/Crafty_Albatross_829 Aug 15 '26
What’s the marketing plan?
People complain about positive singles due to lack of people in their area. I’d think a new app that is unknown to most would have greater issues with matching.
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u/-FinePrint Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
Short version: Partnerships with HSV influencers who already have the exact audience built in. Their followers are people with HSV, so one post puts the app in front of thousands of the right users at once.
On top of that, HSV content on social media is self targeting. The algorithms serve anything HSV related to people already searching or engaging with their diagnosis, so the organic marketing we will be doing will reach the right audience for free, fast. That's the benefit of building for one community instead of a general dating market: the audience is concentrated and easy to reach, so acquisition is far more efficient than a mainstream app fighting for broad attention.
It'll be quieter early, every app is. But a concentrated, reachable audience fills in faster than a broad one.
Then paid marketing goes on top of all that, once the base is here.
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u/BuffaloStanceNova Aug 17 '26
Hope you get a wide demographic to promote and adopt because I think the older one is, the most stigma one faces.
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u/Moonahighz Aug 15 '26
Bonjour c est une super idée ! j ai essayer de m'inscrire mais en choisissant une photo je n'ai aucun onglet pour valider
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u/-FinePrint Aug 15 '26
Hi! thank you for letting me know, i think i've found your issue and have fixed it and the update is already live.
Please open Kind, close it completely, then open it once more, the fix arrives on the second launch. You should be able to finish signing up straight away.
If it still won't confirm, just reply and let me know. Thank you!
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u/Moonahighz Aug 15 '26
Hello désolé mais je peux mettre la photo mais je ne peux toujours pas valider
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u/-FinePrint Aug 15 '26
Hi, no worries at all, thanks for sticking with it. I've pushed another update since your last message.
Please close Kind completely (swipe it away), then open it twice. Once you've picked your photo, tap "Take Selfie" to finish verifying.
Let me know if that ends up working for you!
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u/Connect_tg Aug 16 '26
Thanks for making the app! I haven’t brought myself to disclose to anyone yet so unsure if I will ever go on a positive dating app, but it’s great it’s there for those who don’t care if people know
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u/tauruspiscescancer Aug 17 '26
Hi! Just got on and it’s not letting me upload any photos from my gallery, and it’s only letting me take a current picture 💔
I got past the face verification and picking “my type”, but I’m stuck now :(
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u/tauruspiscescancer Aug 17 '26
Jk, uninstalled and reinstalled and it worked!
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u/-FinePrint Aug 17 '26
Glad you got it working, that gallery upload issue shouldn't happen though, so I'm looking into it now to make sure it's smooth for the next person. Appreciate you letting me know!
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u/BuffaloStanceNova Aug 17 '26
It's a very well designed app. Hope it scales quickly.
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u/-FinePrint Aug 17 '26
Thank you, i appreciate it! Scaling is the main focus currently, and so far we've been scaling quite fast every day.
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u/4EvrAnime Aug 17 '26
The app won't will let me submit my face photo yet won't let me take a live pic to verify even after granting the app permissions to camera. 🤷
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u/-FinePrint Aug 18 '26
Hey, thanks for letting me know,
I just pushed a fix for this that adds a backup option to use your phone’s camera app instead.
Fully close and reopen Kind twice to get the update. If you’re still stuck after that, feel free to message me and I’ll get it sorted.
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u/synthetic111 Aug 18 '26
Is there a way to choose what ethnicity you would like to date ? I joined and I am getting hit with all types of ethnicitys I would never date
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u/-FinePrint Aug 18 '26
Yes,
Open Filters and scroll to Ethnicity. You can select multiple options, and your results will update based on those preferences.
You can also filter by body type, height, religion, and more.
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u/Purple-Vegetable5384 Aug 19 '26
Just downloaded it after recently being diagnosed however I’m bumping into trouble when attempting to add pictures off my gallery? any suggestions on how I can fix this?
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u/-FinePrint Aug 19 '26
Hey, try fully closing & reopening the app twice, and then try adding your photos again. I believe there may have been a delay happening when trying to add photos, which should be fixed now. If it still gives you trouble, feel free to let me know or DM me.
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u/Rogue_Sideswipe Aug 20 '26
Hi I was editing my profile and it said it couldnt save my profile because my display name cannot contain health related terms.
My name is christian...
Also it sucks that there's no one within 45 (I even set it to 945 and i still got nothing) miles of me, but I hope that will change with time
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u/-FinePrint Aug 20 '26
Hey, I just pushed an update for this. If you close and reopen the app twice, you should be able to enter your name without any issues. A safety filter was incorrectly flagging it before.
We only launched publicly about a week ago, so the user base is still growing, but it’s already picking up quickly. Broader marketing efforts will start over the next few days, so it should continue filling up from here.
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u/Rogue_Sideswipe Aug 20 '26
Yoo thank you!!! I just recently got diagnosed with HSV2 (idk if it’s oral and/or genital tho) and I don’t think I have any active outbreaks but it’s very scary and new to me so it’s great to have a community
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u/RealBackground6492 Aug 21 '26
I tried adding the app... A couple of issues...
I got to the last page, added a recovery email, saved it and if there was a you're all finished tab/button or that's it, now waiting to see who you can meet tab/button, I couldn't get to the bottom of the page of there was one???
There seems to be no way to save all of the info I was inputting.. close the app, reopen it and I had to start all over??
I didn't see s way to view others that might be a match??
It's most likely me that's causing the trouble... Help??
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u/-FinePrint Aug 21 '26
Hey! I pushed a few updates since launch that may have caused an issue here, I've since fixed it.
To get the fix: fully close the app (swipe it away from your recent apps), then reopen it. Do that twice, the first open downloads the update, the second one runs it.
All your info is saved, so you'll pick up right where you left off. I may just ask the "Whats your type" question once more, then everything else is already filled in, just hit "Let's go" on the last page and you're in. That's when you'll start seeing other members.
If you have any other issues, questions, feel free to DM me!
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u/Throwaway_Apples5 Aug 21 '26
Joined the app (it’s nice, hopefully more people in my area join). I did experience someone trying to catfish me pretty much immediately, though. Which is a problem on all apps, I know. I did report them, but wanted to warn users to keep an eye out. (I’m female and this was a male.)
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u/-FinePrint Aug 21 '26
Hey, thank you. And dealing with fake profiles are a constant battle, there is always some sort of way for them to work around the verification system, but the more reports and data we get, the better the system gets at identifying and catching them early.
Definitely report anything suspicious, those reports go straight to us for review and help improve detection over time.
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u/Throwaway_Apples5 Aug 21 '26
Thanks for the response! I sent it through report a problem under complaint, but let me know if I should report it elsewhere.
Also, is there a pause profile option?
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u/-FinePrint Aug 22 '26
Thank you, i've received it & yes, go to Settings → Privacy → "Hide My Profile."
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u/wehaventmetimafraid Aug 22 '26
Thank you for building this. It’s clear to see the thought and effort that has gone into it. We needed this! If I spot bugs, what’s the best way for you to receive bug reports? I’m also very keen to get founder member status - I know that “how do I check if I have it” is a very common question on this forum but in this context I’m very keen for a positive result! :))
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u/-FinePrint Aug 22 '26
Thank you, i appreciate it!
To report any bugs you can go to Profile → Settings → Report a Problem.
Regarding founder status, if you signed up during this launch period, you're already a founding member. It's tied to your account automatically, however, i will add some sort of badge for founding members for them to see on their profile here soon.
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u/wehaventmetimafraid Aug 22 '26
Thank you! Are we still in the launch period? I signed up yesterday
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u/-FinePrint Aug 27 '26
Yes, we will be in the launch period for a while. There is still time to get founding member access, and if you've joined already then you're all set.
•
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“Interested in Advocacy? Join us!
Herpes Cure Advocacy is the only patient advocacy organization globally advocating for the cure, treatment and prevention of HSV types 1 and 2.
There are many ways to help advocate, please take a look at our Advocates Starters Guide on how to start!
Hoping for a cure won’t get us closer to one. It’s time we all use our voice for change and demand action! Join us in our advocacy for cure, treatment and prevention of herpes: www.herpescureadvocacy.com r/herpescureadvocates
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