On Google Play · Android

Within hailing
distance.

Ahoy finds the people who are physically near you — right now — over Bluetooth. Wave at someone you like; when they wave back, it is a match, and you can talk.

  • No GPS
  • No account
  • No server

No Google Play? Download the APK · try the demo in your browser

Elena’s card, with her photo and the Wave and Super Wave buttons.
The “It’s a match!” screen with two faces and a heart.
Ahoy’s radar screen (Greek interface): you in the middle, and around you on rings Nikos and Sofia “very close”, Marios and Elena “nearby”, Dimitris “in range”. Below, the Megaphone, Anonymous, Boost and Super Wave buttons, and “See them, 2”.
How it works

Three steps to “It’s a match!”

  1. Ahoy’s home screen: a big green AHOY button, with the Anonymous and Boost switches below it.
    AHOY

    Be seen, or not

    Press AHOY and the people around you with Ahoy can see you. You stay in the room — even if the app restarts — until you press Exit. Exit is free and instant.

  2. Elena’s card, “nearby”: a photo, a line about her and three interests; below, the Wave and Super Wave buttons.
    Wave

    Both of you, or neither

    A wave does not say who sent it. Wave back, and if it was them, it is a match. Can’t wait? «See who» shows you, for a small price — never someone who is Anonymous.

  3. The “It’s a match!” screen: two faces side by side with a heart between them, and a “Say hi” button.
    Match

    It’s a match!

    A mutual wave is a match — your two faces meet on the screen — and opens an end-to-end encrypted chat, phone to phone.

You are in the middle; everyone else sits on a ring for roughly how close they are. Never metres, never a direction.

A little more

When a wave isn’t enough.

Megaphone

One line to the whole room

Pick one of six ready-made lines and it reaches everyone around you for five minutes, full screen. People who already have you on their radar see who sent it, as they see you there, and can wave, see your card, or simply close it. Never typed text.

A full-screen Megaphone (Greek interface): Nikos asks “Who’s up for a drink?”, with Wave, Super Wave, See the card and Close buttons.
Super Wave

When you want them to know

The one wave that says who sent it, and puts you first in their cards. One free every day.

Anonymous · Boost

Four hours your way

Anonymous: you are “Someone nearby”, and your name and photo go only to a match or to someone you Super Wave. Boost: you come first in the room. They are the two switches on the home screen, and within the four hours you can switch them off and on as often as you like.

The two switches on the home screen (Greek interface): Anonymous, off, “four hours, then it switches itself off”; Boost, on, with a 03:59:53 countdown.
Privacy and safety

Phone to phone. Never through us.

No server, no account

Profiles, photos, matches and messages travel directly between phones and are stored encrypted on yours. We do not receive them and could not hand them over.

What is broadcast

Only between AHOY and Exit: a random identifier that changes about every 15 minutes, whether Anonymous is on, and, for five minutes after you use the Megaphone, the number of its line. Never your name, photo or location. The broadcast is not encrypted, so a scanner can tell that someone nearby runs Ahoy — not who.

What is exchanged

Your profile, waves and, after a match, messages — only after an encrypted handshake between two phones, end to end.

Safety 18+

No distance in metres, no direction, no “last seen”. No message before a mutual wave. Block is silent; Report blocks too and lets you send the report to us. 18+ only.

Making a profile (Greek interface): a “HELLO! my name is Katerina” name tag with a photo, a note that the photo is optional and goes encrypted straight to the phones around you, and a “There is no account” card.
A name and, if you like, a photo. No account.

Free forever

What is never sold

  • Waving, matching and chatting.
  • Exit, Block and Report.
  • One Super Wave and one Megaphone a day.

Nobody pays to get out of a room.

No small print

Whatever you buy, you buy once.

  • One-time
  • Never a subscription
  • Never advertising

In Greek or English, following your phone. In this website’s build, Anonymous and Boost are open to everyone, and everyone gets one free Super Wave and one free Megaphone a day. Purchases happen in the Google Play version — one-time, never a subscription, never advertising.

Google Play

Get Ahoy on Google Play

Free, for Android 7.0 or newer. Purchases are optional and one-off — never a subscription, never ads. Google Play keeps it up to date by itself.

Already have Ahoy from this website? The two versions are signed differently, so Google Play cannot update one into the other. Back up first (Menu → Settings → “Backup & your data”), uninstall, install from Google Play, and restore the backup.

Ahoy’s welcome screen (Greek interface): a comic card with “Hi!” and “Ahoy!” speech bubbles, the title “Within hailing distance.” and a “Start here” button.
Android APK

No Google Play

For phones without Google Play: the same app as an APK from this website. It has no purchases; what is open in this version is listed above. It updates only from here, not from Google Play.

  1. Installing

    Tap the button and open the downloaded file. If Chrome warns about the file type, download it anyway; the first time, Android asks you to allow installs from your browser. Android 7.0 or newer.

  2. You need someone else

    Ahoy finds other phones with Ahoy on; one phone cannot find itself.

  3. Updating

    Install a newer APK over this one; nothing is lost.

If you have Google Play, prefer it: it updates by itself, and purchases happen there.

Build 0.1.0 (90) · what has changed, including the mistakes

Questions

What people ask us

Does it need the internet?

No. Finding people, waving, matching and chatting all run over Bluetooth between phones. The website’s version uses the internet only to check for a new version; the Google Play version, for purchases through Google Play.

How far does it reach?

As far as Bluetooth: typically a few tens of metres, less through walls and crowds. It is for the place you are standing in.

Do you know where I am?

No. Ahoy uses no GPS and no location service, shows only roughly how close someone is, and has no server to send a location to.

What about iPhone?

Android first: an iPhone app in the background cannot broadcast a Bluetooth signal that Android phones can find.

The people around you are your network.

Ahoy is on Google Play, free. Bring a friend — it needs company.