Dates, not swiping

No chat, no weeks of messaging. You get an invitation with the time and the place already in it — pick the hour that suits you, and the date is set.

Join the beta

The Pilke home screen on a phone: your glimmers along the top, your dates and the invitations you have received below.
You choose who to invite
No endless stack to scroll.
Time and place already set
Your calendar does the arranging.
Nothing to game
No visibility to buy, no boosts.

Why this is different

Other apps taught us that getting to know somebody happens on a screen, and that meeting them is the prize at the end. Here it goes the other way round.

Elsewhere

  1. Profile
  2. Scrolling
  3. Chat
  4. Maybe a date

You polish a profile, scroll for days, chat for weeks. Most of those conversations fade before anybody suggests anything.

On Pilke

  1. Questions
  2. Calendar
  3. A date

Answer a couple of question sets and mark the times that suit you. After that you meet people. You learn more in an hour at a cafe than in two weeks of messages.

The first one is not the one, and it does not have to be

Few first meetings land perfectly. That is a beginning, not a failure. Say briefly how each one went and the next suggestions land closer — and you notice what you are actually looking for.

How it works

  1. 1

    Send a date invitation

    Open a set and choose who to invite. Offer a couple of times that suit you, and a place. The invitation goes.

    The candidates view: one candidate, the times you both have, and the chosen activity.
  2. 2

    Answer the invitations you get

    You see who sent it, what you have in common, and the times they offer. Pick one, and the date is set. It costs you nothing.

    A date invitation received: who sent it, with their photo, the times offered and the place.
  3. 3

    Go on the date

    The date screen carries the time, the place and a map. At the agreed hour you can show each other your locations so you actually find one another.

    An agreed date on a phone: the time, the venue on a map, and the safety button.
  4. 4

    Say how it went

    The app asks briefly how it went and whether the other person matched what you hoped for. Answer in a moment, and the next suggestions fit better.

    Date feedback on a phone: who the date was with, when it was, and the first question with its options.

Then it starts again — and we know more about you than we did last time.

Read more

Invite, and answer invitations

A date happens only if somebody asks and somebody answers. Pilke is built so that both are worth doing.

Invite first

An invitation is the one real action in the app. Opening a set spends glimmers, and glimmers come from using the app. Money does not buy them.

Answer an invitation

Answering costs you nothing. Turn one down freely, and nothing follows for you. An invitation stands for a day and lapses by itself if you leave it.

Going on dates and giving feedback earn glimmers, which is your next invitation. The amounts may change during the beta.

Glimmers and the whole loop in detail

Safety is not an add-on

Meeting a stranger is a different thing from messaging one. Pilke has three tools for it, and they are worth setting up before your first date.

  • A trusted person

    You save one number in the settings. It is the only number the app can text on your behalf.

  • The safety button

    On the date screen. One press texts your trusted person: the message carries your name and a request to get in touch. It names no location, no venue and nothing about the person you are meeting.

  • We choose the places

    Date venues are not user suggestions. Every one of them is a public place we picked ourselves: a cafe, a restaurant, somewhere with other people around.

Coming: strong electronic identification

We want to verify identities using Finnish strong electronic identification. It is not in the app yet, and we are not promising a date for it.

The Safety section of the settings, open, with the field for a trusted person’s number.

Read about safety