Who this is for: two people setting up unplan for the first time. It takes about ten minutes, and you can do most of it while you wait for your partner.
Here is the path: open the app, sign in, pair up, set your rules, then turn on notifications. After that, your first sealed plan arrives on the next Thursday at 6 PM.
What you need
- A phone each (iPhone or Android).
- An email address each.
- A home base in a city where unplan is open. If yours is not open yet, you can join that city’s waitlist. See changing your city.
1. Open the app
Go to app.unplan.me in your phone’s browser. Use Safari on iPhone and Chrome on Android.
You do not need an app store or a download. You will add unplan to your home screen in step 5.
2. Sign in with an email code
unplan uses a 6-digit code, not a password and not a link. A link would open in your browser instead of your home-screen app, so we use a code.
- Tap Continue with email (you may see Continue with email instead if Apple and Google sign-in are also shown).
- Type your email and tap Send code.
- Open the email from unplan. It usually arrives in a few seconds.
- On the Check your inbox. screen, type the 6 digits. You can paste the whole code. Then tap Continue.
If you see Continue with Apple or Continue with Google, you can use those instead. Email always works.
If the code is wrong or old:
- Use the newest email from us. Older codes stop working.
- Tap Send a new code. You can ask for another one when the timer runs out.
- Typed the wrong address? Tap Use a different email.
- Cannot find it? Check your spam folder.
If you have not given a name yet, the app asks What should we call you? Type a first name. It is the name on your plans, and the one your partner sees.
3. Pair up
unplan needs both of you. The first person to sign in sees Dates take two. So does this app. and gets a pairing link that looks like unplan.me/j/ followed by a short code.
- Tap Copy or Send to your partner. Send to lets you type their email address and tap Email the link: we email them your link from unplan’s hello address. Or tap Share another way and send it any way you like.
- While you wait, tap Set guardrails while you wait and carry on with step 4.
- Your partner opens the link on their phone. They see who invited them, then sign in the same way (a code by email, or Apple or Google if shown) and tap the join button, which carries your name, for example Join Theo.
- When they are in, your screen shows that they joined.
Good to know:
- Each link works for one couple and stops working after 14 days. If it expires, ask for a fresh one.
- On This week, while you wait, you can tap Send your partner the link again, Show a QR code to scan (they can scan it with their camera), or Change partner. Change partner makes a new link, and the old one no longer works.
- One person can only be in one couple at a time. If your partner is already paired with someone else, they need to unpair first.
- Your partner sees this before they join: You’ll share guardrails and plans with you. Your votes and ratings stay yours. That is true both ways. See your weekly plan.
- We never message your partner for you. You send the link yourself.
4. Set your guardrails
Guardrails are the rules for every plan. You set them once, together. unplan never breaks them.
The screen says Set the rules once. We never break them. You will set:
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Home base | Where you start from. Tap it and search for your neighbourhood or street. It is only used to find places within your radius. |
| Radius | How far plans can go from home base. In miles: 1, 3 or 6. In kilometres: 2, 5 or 10. |
| Budget per date | Three steps in your city’s money: $50, $100 or $200+ in the US, £40, £80 or £160+ in London, €50, €100 or €200+ in Riga. The whole night, drinks and fares included, stays under it. |
| Getting around | Walk, Transit, Car. Pick any that suit you. |
| Food rules | Pick the ones that apply, for example Vegetarian or No shellfish. Tap + Add to type your own, like No peanuts. No alcohol is here too. |
| Nights you’re usually free | Fri, Sat and Sun on the first row, Mon to Thu below. We only plan on nights you mark as free. Then pick Your date night, One evening or a quick date, and up to 12 things you both like (see date night and interests). |
Some things to know:
- Both of you can edit. Changes show up on both phones as they happen. You will see Maya is editing while your partner is on the screen, and who changed the budget last.
- Each food rule is a hard limit. The more rules you add, the fewer places can fit. If too few places fit, we tell you. See rules too tight.
- Tap Lock it in when you are happy. The screen reminds you: First sealed plan: this Thursday, 6 PM (or 18:00, outside the US or if you chose the 24-hour clock).
- Later, you can change any of this under Us → Shared guardrails. Changes apply from the next sealed plan.
- Distances show in miles in US cities and London, and in kilometres elsewhere. Each of you can change that. See units and clock.
If your home base is outside every city where unplan is open, the app tells you and shows the waitlist instead. See changing your city.
5. Add unplan to your home screen
On Don’t miss Thursday 6 PM. the app walks you through this. You can also do it by hand.
iPhone (needs iOS 16.4 or later):
- Open app.unplan.me in Safari.
- Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow).
- Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen, then Add.
- Open unplan from the new icon on your home screen, not from Safari.
Android:
- Open app.unplan.me in Chrome.
- Tap Install unplan when the app offers it, or open the menu (the three dots) and tap Install app. On some phones it says Add to Home screen.
- Open unplan from the new icon.
Each of you does this on your own phone.
6. Turn on notifications
- Open unplan from your home-screen icon.
- On the install screen, tap Allow notifications, then Allow when your phone asks.
On iPhone, Apple only delivers these notifications to apps you added to your home screen, and only after you allow them with a tap. That is why we ask you to install first.
If you skip this, nothing is lost. Tap Skip for now, or Continue with email only. The Thursday plan always arrives by email too.
You can come back to this any time under Us → Notifications, then Notifications on this phone. If you tapped Block by mistake, the app tells you how to turn them back on: on iPhone, open Settings → Notifications → unplan. On Android, tap the lock in the address bar, then Notifications → Allow.
We send at most five regular notifications a week. See your account.
What happens next
- Until Thursday, This week counts down: Next plan in a few days and hours.
- On Thursday at 6 PM, your city’s time, your first sealed plan arrives. See your weekly plan.