Who this is for: couples who want to know exactly what happens from Thursday evening to Friday evening, and what to tap.
Every Thursday at 6 PM (your city’s time) you each get the same sealed plan. You vote in private. Two yeses open it. A veto opens exactly one alternative. That is the whole loop.
The week at a glance
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Thursday, 6 PM | Your sealed plan arrives by notification and by email. |
| Thursday, about 9:40 PM | If your partner has voted and you have not, you get one reminder. |
| About 24 hours before your date | Voting closes (earlier if a venue holding your table needs more notice; always at least 12 hours after the drop). |
| Saturday, 5 PM | If you stayed in, or did not both say yes, a free at-home plan lands. |
| On the night | A “Leave in 20 minutes” notification, then the night itself. See the night. |
| The day after, 11 AM | “How was it?” See Sunday afterglow. |
Your plan is usually for a Saturday. It can be a Friday or a Sunday if those are the nights you marked as free in your guardrails. The sealed plan tells you which night.
Before Thursday, This week shows Next plan in and a countdown, with a ticket marked being sealed.
The sealed plan
On Thursday at 6 PM you get a notification that says Your Saturday is sealed. (or whichever night it is). Tap it to open your plan.
The plan looks like a ticket. It shows:
- A plan number, like No. 041, and the date.
- A short, mysterious line that sets the mood. For example: “Cozy vibes, neon lights & street food style.”
- Four clues: Leave home, Spend, Getting there and Wear.
It never says where. No venue names, no street, no neighbourhood. That is the surprise.
On the free plan, the four clues read When, Spend, Getting there and Bring, and the card has a Free plan label. You will also see a locked row, A Saturday night plan is also sealed, with $2.99 to open. See Keep the Spark.
The Thursday plan always comes by email as well as by notification, so you will not miss it.
Voting in private
Each of you taps one of two buttons:
- Accept the plan
- Veto
You vote without seeing what your partner chose. If your partner votes first, you will see Maya has voted. You’ll find out how once you do. That is all you ever learn: that they voted. Not how.
The same is true for you. Your partner can see that you voted. They cannot see which way.
After you vote
If your partner has not voted yet, This week shows You’re in. and a line saying they have not voted. You will see two small cards: yours, marked Voted, and your partner’s, which says either Seen the teaser · no vote or Hasn’t opened it yet. Neither card ever shows how anyone voted.
You can also tap Nudge and your partner’s name. We send them a short message. It does not say how you voted. You can nudge once a week, and only after you have voted yourself. It then reads Nudge sent · one a week.
Changed your mind? Below the nudge, Take back my yes works until your partner votes. Your yes turns into a veto: you both get the last call for the same night (or, on the last call, the night becomes your at-home plan). You can add a reason, just like a veto. Your partner still only learns that you voted. A veto cannot be taken back.
The deadline
Voting closes 24 hours before your date starts (when you would leave home), your city’s time. For a Saturday evening date that is Friday evening. If a venue needs more notice to keep your table, it closes a little earlier. You always get at least 12 hours to vote after the plan arrives. The screen counts down to the exact time.
If you have not both said yes by then, the weekend turns into a free at-home plan, so you still have something to do. The app says it plainly: No vote by 6 PM? Saturday turns into a free at-home plan.
Two yeses: the reveal
When you have both accepted, you see Both in. It’s a date. and a button, Open your night. The seal on the ticket breaks.
Tap it to see your plan. It shows:
- The plan’s title, the times, about how much you will spend for two, and how you will get around.
- Each stop in order, with its time, its name and a short description.
- Walking time between stops.
- If a table is held, a badge like Table for 2 · booked under a first name. A held table comes with Keep the Spark or a weekend unlock. See Keep the Spark.
- Sometimes a last, optional stop: If you’re not ready to go home.
Calendar invites
Tap Add to calendars. You can Download .ics (works with most calendar apps) or Open in Google Calendar. It is one event for the whole night, with every stop in the notes.
The “Both in” email also carries the invite as a file. Open it to add the night to your calendar. We do not write into your calendar for you, so each of you adds it yourself.
Directions
Tap Directions to open your maps app with the first stop. iPhone opens Apple Maps. Other phones open Google Maps.
Other things you can do from here
- Keep it a surprise tonight turns on breadcrumb mode. See the night.
- Invite another couple for a double date. See Keep the Spark.
A veto: the last call
If either of you vetoes, you both see the last call. It is one alternative, built for the same night. There is no third card.
Here is how a veto goes:
- Tap Veto. The app asks Use your one veto? and reminds you that you will both get one last call. You can tap Keep voting instead.
- If you go ahead, the app asks What was off?. This is optional and you can tap Skip. The choices are Not the mood, Too pricey, Too far and Bad night. Your partner never sees what you pick. It only helps shape next week’s plan.
- Tap See the last call.
There is one veto a week for the two of you. The ticket says so: 1 veto left this week · after that, the plan is final.
On the last call screen, you see Fair enough. Last call. The old card is struck through, and the new one is marked FINAL. You can:
- Accept the last call. You both need to accept it for it to open.
- Stay in instead.
If either of you vetoes the last call, you stay in.
Staying in
Stay in instead gives you a free at-home plan. There are no venues and no bookings, and nothing to buy. It lands on Saturday at 5 PM, and your partner sees the same plan. Your streak keeps going.
The same happens if you do not both say yes by Friday 6 PM. The at-home plan is still a plan: it has a short sealed idea and clues, and it shows on This week as Staying in. Still a date.
Free plans are labelled Free plan in your journal.
When your rules are too tight
Sometimes fewer than five plans fit all your guardrails. Then, instead of a sealed plan, you get a message: Your rules are a little too tight. It explains why in plain words.
You see up to three options under Loosen one thing, just for this week. Each says how many more places it adds.
- Pick one. Your partner gets the same question, and a change only counts if you both pick the same option.
- Tap Ask Maya too (with your partner’s name) to send it to them.
- Or tap Keep our rules, send an at-home plan. Your rules stay exactly as they are.
What happens next:
- If you both pick the same option, we build your plan. It is for this week only. Your rules are back next week.
- If you pick different things, your rules stay and a free at-home plan lands Saturday at 5 PM.
- If nothing fits even with one rule loosened, this week is a night in.
Your guardrails never change by themselves. This only ever loosens one thing for one week.
Plan B
Once your plan is open, we keep checking it. If it rains on an outdoor stop, a place closes, or a table falls through, we may swap one stop. We check up to 30 minutes before. You both get a notification and an email.
The screen says Change of plan. Not of night. You see the old stop crossed out and the new one below it. Then:
- Sounds good accepts the change.
- Keep the original anyway keeps your first stop. This is only possible for a rain swap, before that stop starts. After that, the app says the new stop stays.
In breadcrumb mode, the new stop stays sealed until you get to it. If a whole night cannot go ahead, we tell you. See refunds.
A small idea each week
The day before your plan drops (Wednesday, for a Saturday date night), you may get one small idea for your partner: flowers on the way home, a note where they will find it, their favourite snack. If a special date is coming up, it reminds you of that instead. This week shows the same idea under This week, a small idea, with Just for you. Maya doesn’t see this.
- It is yours alone: your partner gets their own idea, and never sees yours.
- It comes on top of the five weekly notifications, at most once a week, never at night.
- It never names a place, never says how anyone voted, and never buys anything.
- Don’t want it? Us → Notifications → A small idea each week.
Skipping a week
Busy? On This week, tap Skip a week. The app asks Skip next week? and says that you will get no plan that Thursday, your streak stays safe, and your partner sees the week is skipped. Tap Skip next week to confirm, or Keep the plan.
You can also skip from Us → Skip next week.
You can skip until the plan is sealed on Thursday at 6 PM. After that, it is too late.
Undoing a skip
Changed your mind? On This week, tap Undo the skip. You will see Skip undone. Your plan lands as usual. You can undo up to Thursday at 6 PM, when the plan would be sealed.
A skipped week appears in your journal as Skipped. Streak kept.
The journal
The Journal tab keeps a card for every plan, newest first. It shows the photo you added, the plan number and date, the plan’s title, and your own answer, as in You said: Again, soon.
It never shows your partner’s answer. The top of the page tells you how many nights out you have had, as in 6 nights out · since 24 Aug.
When your latest date is a milestone, a small card says so at the top: Your first date with unplan. Here’s to the next one., 10 dates together. (after 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100), or A year of dates together. on the first date past the anniversary of your first.
Before your first plan, it says Your first plan lands here after Sunday.
You add to the journal on Sunday. See Sunday afterglow.