How Ojalá works.

Ojalá is a dating app for everyone. You get a deck of the people who are genuinely near you, one at a time. Wave at the ones you like, send a Flare when someone really stands out, and when the interest goes both ways you match and the chat opens.

No. Ojalá lives in the iPhone and Android apps. This website is here for information, help and the legal pages only, so there is nothing to sign in to. Download the app to make a profile.

Yes. Making a profile, swiping, matching and messaging your matches are all free, and free members see ads. Pro is an optional subscription that removes the ads and adds a few extras. Boosts and Flare packs are one-off purchases you never have to make.

Use the name you want to be called. It does not have to be your legal name, and we never ask for one. You sign up with an email address: there is no phone number and no SMS anywhere in Ojalá.

You must be 18 or older. Everyone confirms their age when they join, and Ojalá is strictly adults only.

Your deck is built from distance. You see one person at a time, starting with the people closest to you, and you decide whether to wave or move on. Nobody is boosted into your deck by a ranking you cannot see.

A Wave is how you say you are interested. If they wave back, you match and the conversation opens. If they don’t, nothing happens and they are simply not shown to you again.

A Flare is a bigger version of a Wave, for the profile you really do not want to scroll past. It tells the other person you meant it, and it puts you in front of them rather than somewhere in the pile.

You say who you are, and you say who you would like to meet. Man, woman, nonbinary, trans man, trans woman, genderfluid, agender, or your own words. The filter runs in both directions: you and another person only appear in each other’s decks when you have both said yes to the other’s gender.

No. There is no way to reach someone who has not waved back. That is the point of matching first, and it is why an Ojalá inbox stays quiet until you have chosen to open it.

A name, at least one photo, your age, your gender, and a short bio in your own words. Everything after that is optional. A photo and a name are required, because a profile with neither is not much use to anyone.

Photo verification is a quick selfie that we match against your main profile photo. When it matches, a check appears on your profile so other people know your photos are really you. It is a trust signal only, not an identity or ID check.

Photos on your profile are checked automatically when you upload them and have to follow our display rules: no nudity, no sexual content, and nothing that isn’t actually you. If something is borderline, a human looks at it before anything happens to your account. The full rules are in our Community Guidelines.

Active status is the small dot that shows others you have been in the app recently. If you would rather not broadcast when you were last around, you can turn it off in your profile and keep using the app normally.

As soon as you match. Once you have both waved, the thread opens and either of you can write first. Messaging your matches is unlimited and free.

Yes. You can send photos alongside text in any thread you have matched into. The same community rules apply to anything you send.

No. Conversations stay until you delete them or delete your account. Nothing expires on a timer and nothing is held back behind a subscription.

Pro takes the ads away and adds a handful of extras on top, including a free Boost and free Flares every week and a Pro badge on your profile. It does not lock anything: everything Pro members can do, free members can do too.

A Boost puts your profile near the top of the deck for people nearby for a set time, so more of them see you while it is running. You can buy one on its own, and Pro members get one free each week.

Flare packs are simply extra Flares, sold in small bundles. Flares themselves are free to everyone. A pack only means you have more of them on hand.

Billing happens inside the app through the App Store or Google Play. There is no card payment on this website. To cancel, manage your subscription in the account settings for the store you used, and you keep your Pro perks until the period ends.

Ads are what keep Ojalá free for everyone. Free members see a small number of them in a few reserved places. Going Pro removes them.

Nobody sees your location. All anyone sees is roughly how far away you are, and even that is fuzzed before it leaves our servers. Your true coordinates are never sent to another person’s phone.

Open their profile or your message thread, tap the “…” menu, and choose Block or Report. Blocking ends the conversation and hides you from each other. Our moderators review every report. See the Safety Center for step-by-step help and crisis resources.

Deleting your account is one tap, in Menu, then Account. You have 48 hours to change your mind using the link we email you. After that your profile and photos come off the app for good. Our Privacy Policy sets out exactly what is erased, when, and the small amount we are legally required to keep.

No. Ads are matched only by where they appear in the app, never by handing your personal information to an advertiser. The full details are in our Privacy Policy.