Frequently Asked Questions

Fortuito is a location-based dating app that helps you meet people who are nearby right now. Unlike traditional dating apps where you swipe and message for weeks, we connect you with compatible matches when you're in the same vicinity in real life.

Here's the simple process:

• Download the app: Get Fortuito from the App Store or Google Play.
• Create your profile: Verify your phone number, then answer questions about yourself and what you're looking for.
• Set up Privacy Zones: Optionally designate areas (like home or work) where you don't want to be matched.
• Enable location sharing: Turn on location sharing from the home screen. The app runs in the background to detect when compatible matches are nearby.
• Get notified: You'll receive a push notification if someone compatible is nearby (within approximately 100 meters).
• Chat and meet: If you both say accept the match, you can message in the app and arrange to meet face-to-face. We even give you a personalized opening question!

Fortuito costs $19.99 every 6 months after your free trial. All new users get a 6-month free trial with full access to all features. After the trial, it's $19.99 every 6 months (billed semi-annually). Subscriptions are managed through the App Store or Google Play and can be cancelled anytime.

Yes. Other users never see your profile details directly. When you match with someone, they only see your age, gender, level of education, and a brief AI-generated description of why you may be compatible—no names, photos, or other identifying information until you choose to share it on your own. We never sell your data, and we only use it for safety, product improvement, and developing new features as described in our Privacy Policy.

Safety is our top priority. Fortuito offers the following safety features:

• Anonymous matching and messaging: Other users never see information that could help them find you through other sources. Once matched, you message through our in-app messaging system without revealing your phone number.
• Automatic content filtering: Fortuito blocks messages that contain harassment, threats, hate speech, sexually explicit messages, and other objectionable content.
• Privacy Zones: Set up areas like your home or workplace where the app won't track your location or notify you of matches.
• Public meetings only: We remind you to always meet in public places with plenty of other people around.
• Reporting system: Easily report inappropriate behavior through the app or our web reporting page. We investigate all reports and will restrict or terminate offending accounts.
• Data protection: Your location data is automatically deleted after 2 hours. We only track location when you have location sharing enabled in the app.

We collect only what's necessary to make good matches:

• Phone number (for account verification via SMS)
• Basic demographics (age, gender, education)
• Your self-description (e.g., personality, values, life goals) and what you're looking for in a partner
• Your location only when you have location sharing enabled (automatically deleted after 2 hours)

We never sell your data. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Yes. If someone behaves inappropriately, you can block or report them through the app's reporting feature on the Matches screen. We take all reports seriously and will investigate within 24 hours, with consequences for offending users including restriction or termination of access to Fortuito.

Fortuito uses background location services to detect when you're near compatible matches. The app only tracks your location when you have location sharing enabled on the home screen. Your location data is automatically deleted after 2 hours, and we never track you continuously or build a historical profile of your movements.

You can also set up Privacy Zones (like your home or workplace) where the app will never track your location or notify you of matches, even when location sharing is enabled.

Once you and another user accept a match, you can message each other in the app. Your phone numbers and personal information stay private. Use this time to decide where to meet face-to-face.

When you match, we also provide each of you with a personalized opening question based on the other person's profile to help start the conversation!

The match stays active until one of you deletes, blocks, or reports it.

If the other user deletes the match, you can still see the past messages but can no longer contact the other user.

Currently, we don't rematch pairs of users. We may revisit this policy based on user feedback and actual usage patterns.

Yes! You can edit your profile information anytime. Your changes will be saved and used for future matches. The only exception is your birthdate, which is locked as part of our age verification process. If you need to correct your birthdate, please contact support@fortuito.app.

Yes. Simply turn off location sharing on the app's home screen. When location sharing is off, you won't receive match notifications, but your profile remains active for when you're ready to use Fortuito again. You can also disable push notifications in your device settings.

We use a multi-layered matching system:

• Basic filters: Preferences for gender, age range, education level, race and ethnicity, and physical build.
• Long-term compatibility: We compare your personality, values, life goals, and other factors that influence long-term compatibility.
• Location: You must both be nearby (within approximately 100 meters) at the same time.

Every match you receive has met the compatibility threshold you set in the match preferences, as well as theirs.

When you get a match notification, we tell you why! You'll see the other person's age, gender, education level, and a compatibility description explaining what you have in common and why we think you'd be a good match. Your raw profile text is never shown to other users.

Matches depend on three things: compatible profiles, the compatibility thresholds set by users, both people having location sharing enabled, and both people being nearby. If you're not getting matches, try:

• Spending time in busier areas where more people congregate
• Being out during popular times (evenings and weekends)
• Adjusting your compatibility threshold to widen your pool
• Making sure location sharing is enabled
• Telling your friends about Fortuito! More users means better matches for everyone

Check these common issues:

• Make sure notifications are enabled in your phone's settings for Fortuito.
• Verify that the app has permission to send push notifications.
• Check that you haven't disabled notifications within the app settings.
• Ensure your phone isn't in Do Not Disturb mode.
• Try closing and reopening the app.

You can delete your account through the app settings or by visiting our Delete Account page. Please note there's a 90-day cooldown before you can create a new account with the same phone number. For safety purposes, we retain some limited information even after account deletion as described in our Privacy Policy.

We'd love to hear from you! Please contact us at support@fortuito.app with any issues or feedback. We're a small team working hard to improve the service.

Fortuito isn't really a dating app in the traditional sense. It's a connection app. It's not an app you're supposed to spend time on, desperately swiping profiles of people who live on the other side of town. It's an app that lets you go about your life, and notifies you when there's a compatible person nearby—someone spending their time in the same places as you. This real-time, location-based approach to matching is what really makes Fortuito different:

• No screen time required: You don't swipe, browse, or scroll. Fortuito works in the background while you live your life, and alerts you when someone compatible is nearby right now.
• Authentic profiles: Because no one will see your answers to the profile questions, you can be honest and authentic rather than witty and performative.
• Real-time serendipity: Every match is someone who's actually in your vicinity at this moment—not someone across town you'll text for weeks and never meet. This also makes the app useless for remote scammers and bots.
• No photos: Fortuito doesn't use photos at all. Matches are based primarily on long-term compatibility rather than physical appearance. This also increases safety—there's no way for predators to browse for potential victims.
• Connections, not conversations: We encourage you to meet face-to-face rather than becoming pen pals. The whole point is that you're already in the same place. Why not say hello?
• Privacy first: Privacy Zones let you control where you can be matched, and your personal details are never shared with other users.

We all know there's something special about meeting someone in real life. As dating has moved online, and as social norms around approaching someone in person have changed, we've lost that. Fortuito brings that spark of romance back to everyday life where it belongs. If you match with someone, you know that they are available, open to meeting someone, and somewhat compatible with you in terms of their preferences, values, goals, and personality. So say hello, see if there's any chemistry, and if you both want to, you can take it from there.