Questions and answers

A small, invitation-only network where every account belongs to a real person, admitted through people who know them. On HelloApe you post updates and longer plans for your friends, chat one-to-one or in groups, and share pictures. The same membership also signs you in to our other sites: Weave, a discussion site with communities on every topic, and 1UP, an arcade of small games.

Yes. We will never pay for HelloApe with advertising or by selling your information. As the network grows, costs will be covered in ways that don't compromise that, such as optional support from members and fees from websites that join the network.

People who are 18 or older, invited by a member who knows them. Each person gets one account. You can't sign up on your own, and that is on purpose: every member arrives through someone who is vouching that they are a real person.

Open Invite, enter their email address and confirm they are 18 or older, then send them the invitation link by email or message. The link works once, for seven days, and whoever opens it joins with their own email address, so only share it with the person you mean. Invite people you actually know: if someone you invite turns out to be a bot, it affects your standing too.

Mostly with people, not guesswork. In broad strokes:

• Invitation only. Every account is invited by an existing member, and invitations are limited.
• Accountability. Members vouch for the people they bring in. If an account turns out to be a bot, the people who vouched for it lose trust and the ability to invite, so nobody can quietly add fake accounts.
• A trust network. Everyone's standing is traced back through real relationships to the network's founders. A cluster of fake accounts can't vouch its way in on its own.
• Reports reviewed by people. Anyone can report an account that seems automated, and staff review it. Decisions are recorded, and mistakes can be reversed.
• Watching for warning signs. We look for patterns typical of automated accounts. We don't publish the details, because that would help bots avoid them.

No system is perfect, but making every account traceable to real people who know it makes bots expensive, risky and easy to remove.

Yes. HelloApe is about who is behind an account, not about banning tools. If a post is substantially AI-generated, tick the AI content note so readers know.

No. There are no ads on HelloApe, Weave or 1UP, no sponsored posts, and no advertising trackers.

No. Your feed shows your friends' posts and plans in time order, newest first. Nothing is boosted, hidden or reordered to keep you scrolling. On Weave you choose what to follow; its Popular page is a plain sort by likes over a period you pick, and the "from other communities" suggestions can be hidden.

• Posts and plans on HelloApe: your friends.
• Chats and group messages: the people in that chat or group.
• Your profile: signed-in members. Your real name is shown only if and to whom you choose.
• Weave: posts and comments there are visible to every member, like a members-only forum.
• Search engines and the public: nothing. Everything members write needs a signed-in member to see it.

No. We don't sell it, rent it, use it for advertising, or use your content to train AI. Our hosting provider stores it for us, and Weave and 1UP receive only what they need to sign you in: never your email address. The Privacy Policy has the details.

No advertising or analytics trackers, on any page. We keep what's needed to run the site, such as when you were last active, and your IP address only briefly and scrambled, to stop repeated sign-in attempts.

Messages are private to the people in the chat, but they are not end-to-end encrypted, so HelloApe staff can technically access them, for example to review a report. We only do so to keep people safe and the service running.

Yes, any time, from Settings: Download my data gives you a copy, and Delete my account removes your profile, pictures, writing and messages from HelloApe, and from Weave and 1UP too.

Not at all. We just want to create a bit of respite: a place you can come to where you know everyone is human.

A human checkmark for the whole internet. Today it's getting hard to tell whether you're reading a person or a bot. Our goal is a checkmark that means "a real person, vouched for by real people", that any website can check, and that you control. Eventually we'd like you to be able to switch, from your own browser, between seeing everything and seeing only content from verified humans, on any site that supports it, and to see at a glance who is human.

Through members inviting people they know, and through affiliates: independent websites that let people in with "Sign in with HelloApe" so they can welcome only verified humans. Weave and 1UP are the first two. Affiliate sites learn that you are a verified member in good standing without getting your email address or your activity elsewhere.

So we measure growth two ways: the people who join, and the websites that honour the human checkmark and show it to their visitors. Every site that does makes it a little easier, everywhere, to tell people from bots.

HelloApe is an early, independent project built together with its members. It's in beta, so things change often, and your feedback shapes what comes next.

Yes, no app store needed. On iPhone, open helloape.net in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. On Android or in Chrome, tap Install when offered. It then opens like an app.

While you write a post, plan, reply or message, paste a picture, drop it in, or tap the picture button. It appears exactly where your cursor was, and you can add several.

You can mute them to hide their posts from your feed, block them to end contact (they aren't told), or report a post, message or profile with the small report icon. Reports are private and reviewed by people.

Use Forgot your password? on the sign-in page, and we'll email you a link to choose a new one.

Through the Contact page. We reply by email.