How it works

The whole month, in the order you meet it.

SWU has one rule and everything else follows from it: when two people agree to match, they are exclusive for thirty days. What makes that bearable rather than a trap is that you agree to it explicitly, in advance, on a screen that tells you exactly what you are signing up for, and that leaving is always possible.

Read this part.

SWU only works if you know what you’re agreeing to. It takes twenty seconds.

1
A like isn’t a match. They commit to thirty days first. Then you get 48 hours to answer.
2
Once you both say yes, the deck closes. Thirty days, one person, no swiping, for both of you.
3
After 48 hours, either of you can ask out. Both agree and you’re both free, with no penalty.
4
Leaving alone is always allowed. It costs you seven days out of the deck.
♥
Feeling unsafe costs you nothing. Block and report is instant, always, with no penalty.

I’m in

Before you sign up

You read the rules before we ask for anything.

No phone number is requested until after this screen. The thirty-day lock is explained before it can apply to you, and “I’m in” is the closest thing this app has to a signature on it.

That ordering is deliberate. An app that collects your number first and explains the commitment later has got the deal the wrong way round.

Step one

You can like a whole profile, or one answer on it.

Photos and answers alternate down the card. Free accounts see the first two photos of anyone; once you match, you both see everything, paid or not.

Free accounts get eight likes a day. SWU Plus removes the limit.

2 OF 6 PHOTOS Priya, 27

A month is a long time because

I’m slow. I get interesting around week three.

By week three you’ll know that I

reply to everything twice. Once badly, then properly.

Like this answer

Priya committed to you.

She has said yes to thirty days and can’t use SWU until you answer. You have 41 hours left.

1
Thirty days, only each other. Neither of you can swipe, like or match with anyone else.
2
After 48 hours either of you can ask out. Both agree and you’re both free, with no penalty.
3
Leave alone whenever you want. It costs you seven days. Priya walks free immediately.
♥
Safety is never a commitment. Blocking or reporting ends the lock on the spot, free.

Commit to thirty days

Not this time

Step two

A like isn’t a match. Someone has to commit first.

When a like lands, the other person doesn’t get a chat window. They get this: the full terms, and a decision. If they commit, they are frozen out of the rest of the app until you answer.

You then have 48 hours. That deadline exists because a real person is waiting and can’t do anything else in the meantime. Let it lapse and the match dissolves with no penalty to either of you.

Step three

Thirty days, and no deck to escape to.

Once you both say yes the clock starts and the Discover tab is replaced by this. Neither of you can swipe, like, or match with anyone else, and it’s enforced on the server, so a modified app can’t talk its way out of it.

With no swipe feed to fall back on, the month itself has to be the product. Each week brings a nudge worth actually answering.

Priya

23 days left · week 2 of 4

This week

Week two. Trade the story you usually tell on a third date.

ok but you actually went? on your own?

bought one ticket like a maniac. best night of that year

right, week three energy has arrived early

Message Priya

Priya

23 days left · week 2 of 4

i think we gave it a fair go

agreed. no hard feelings at all

Message Priya

Getting out

After 48 hours, either of you can ask to end it.

Ask, and the other person sees this banner at the top of the chat. A request that only they can answer. If they agree, the lock ends immediately and neither of you pays anything. If they don’t, nothing changes, and you can take the request back.

Two days rather than a week, because people know inside 48 hours whether there is anything here. Past that point a floor stops protecting the commitment and starts running out the clock on a conversation both sides have already finished.

Every way a month ends

How	When	What it costs
It runs its course	Day 30	Nothing. You’re both back in the deck.
You both agree to stop	Any time after 48 hours	Nothing, for either of you.
You leave on your own	Any time, from day one	Seven days out of the deck for you. The other person is freed immediately and pays nothing.
One of you goes silent	After seven days of silence	The lock dissolves. Whoever kept showing up owes nothing.
You block or report	Instantly, always	Nothing, ever. See Safety.

You are never trapped. The lock restricts who you can match with; it has never restricted your ability to get away from someone.