Getting started · unplan.me

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.

The first time you open unplan in a browser, you may see Before you start:

Inside another app (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and others open links in their own browser): tap Copy the link, paste it into Safari or Chrome, and sign in there. That browser forgets you when you go back to your inbox for the code. On Android you can tap Open in Chrome.
On iPhone in Safari: the screen shows how to add unplan to your Home Screen. Do that, then open unplan from the Home Screen and sign in there. Or tap Continue in Safari for now.
On Android in Chrome: tap Install app, or carry on.

You see it once in each browser.

unplan uses no password. We email you a 6-digit code and a Sign in to unplan button: use either one.

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. Or tap Sign in to unplan in the email, then Continue as your address on the page it opens.

Opened unplan from your Home Screen? Type the code there: the button opens your browser, not the Home Screen app.

Went to your inbox and came back? If it is the same browser, unplan remembers the address for 10 minutes and opens straight on the code.

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.

Next comes About you:

Your name: a first name is perfect. It is the name on your plans, and the one your partner sees.
Your city: pick it from the list. Cities that are open come first. If yours is not there, tap Other city and type it: we put you on its waitlist and email you the day it opens.
Home address (optional): a street and number, or just a neighbourhood. Type your home, not where you are right now: unplan never reads your phone’s location. Tap Why we ask to read why: every plan starts from your door. Only the two of you see it, and you can change it later.

Joining through your partner’s link? You only give your name: your partner already chose the city, and you share one home base.

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. Joining takes them straight on to your shared guardrails (step 4).
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 only email your partner if you ask us to (Send to). Otherwise you send the link yourself. This week says Link sent only once we have emailed it.
If your link has stopped working, Pair up shows This link no longer works. with New link. While a link works, it shows the date it works until.
Your partner who already joined and opens the link again sees You’re in with you, and a button to This week.

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: the address from About you. Tap it to pick another city or type another address. From Us → Shared guardrails you can also tap Find the exact place instead and search for it. 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 for the others we check on menus: Vegan, Gluten-free, Halal, Kosher, No pork, No nuts and Dairy-free. You can also type one in your own words, like No peanuts (that is No nuts). 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.
We only promise food rules we can check on a place’s menu, so a rule outside that list can’t be added. If few places in your city are checked for a rule yet, the screen says so: some weeks may skip dinner. A rule saved before (like No peanuts) shows a note with Remove so you can swap it for No nuts.
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.