Frequently Asked Questions

Nocturnal Whispers is an anonymous, location-based social app for adults (18+). Share short text posts and images called "whispers" with people nearby. Every whisper fades away after 24 hours, keeping the feed fresh and ephemeral.

The app transforms at 10 PM with After Dark mode — the theme shifts from purple to pink, and age-gated content becomes available for users who opt in.

Yes, Nocturnal is completely free to use. All core features — posting whispers, browsing the feed, direct messaging, tags, and After Dark mode — are available at no cost.

No email, phone number, or password required. Nocturnal identifies you by your device using a secure UUID stored in your iOS Keychain. Just download, verify your age, and start whispering.

A whisper is a short anonymous post that can include text, an image, or both. You can style your text with different fonts and colors, add tags for discovery, and flag content as NSFW if appropriate.

Other users nearby can see your whispers, love them (our version of "likes"), reply to start a conversation thread, or send you a direct message.

Every whisper automatically expires and disappears from all feeds 24 hours after it was posted. This is by design — Nocturnal is about sharing in the moment, not building a permanent record.

You can still see your own expired whispers in your profile, but no one else can. Replies to a whisper also expire when the parent whisper does.

Nocturnal uses your GPS location to show you whispers from people nearby. Your exact coordinates are never shared with other users — they only see an approximate distance like "2 miles away" and the city name.

Location data is rounded to approximately 110 meters of precision before it's stored, and the app only accesses your location when you actively use it.

Yes! The feed supports adjustable range from 5 to 200 miles, and there's also a Global feed that lets you browse whispers from anywhere in the world.

After Dark is Nocturnal's nighttime experience. When it activates, the entire app transforms — the purple accent shifts to deep pink, a radial pulse animation sweeps across the screen, and age-gated (NSFW) content becomes available for users who have opted in.

It's designed to feel like a special event, not just a color change.

After Dark automatically activates at 10 PM and runs until 6 AM based on the server clock. You don't need to do anything — the transition happens automatically with a visual pulse effect.

During onboarding, you'll be asked if you want to opt in to After Dark mode. You can also toggle it anytime in Settings > After Dark Mode.

Opting in means you'll see age-gated content during After Hours (blurred during the day, auto-revealed at night). If you don't opt in, NSFW content is completely hidden from your feed.

Nocturnal uses a three-tier system for mature content:

• Hidden — If you haven't opted in to After Dark, NSFW whispers are completely filtered out. You'll never see them.
• Blurred — If you've opted in but it's daytime (6 AM – 10 PM), NSFW whispers appear with a blur overlay. Tap to reveal.
• Revealed — During After Hours (10 PM – 6 AM), NSFW content is auto-revealed with a glowing pink border and a moon badge.

Simply don't enable After Dark mode. NSFW whispers will be completely invisible to you — they won't appear in your feed, search results, or tag listings. You can change this anytime in Settings.

Yes. When composing a whisper, you can flag it as NSFW at any time of day. The content will be uploaded and available, but other users will only see it according to the three-tier visibility rules above.

Yes. Nocturnal doesn't require an email, phone number, or any personal information. Your identity is tied to a random device UUID stored in your iOS Keychain — not to your name or Apple ID.

You can set a display name, but it's entirely optional and can be randomized with one tap.

No. Other users only see an approximate distance (e.g., "2 miles away") and the city name. Your coordinates are rounded to ~110 meters of precision before being stored, and exact GPS data is never exposed in the API.

Yes. Go to Account > Settings (gear icon) > Delete All Data. This permanently removes your whispers, messages, likes, and all associated data from our servers. This action cannot be undone.

You can also clear your local cache without deleting server data from the same settings menu.

The minimum needed to make the app work:

• A random device UUID (not linked to your Apple ID)
• Approximate location (rounded to ~110m) when you post or browse
• Your whisper content (encrypted at rest with XChaCha20-Poly1305)
• Age bracket (verified via zero-knowledge proof — we don't know your exact age)

We do not collect your name, email, phone number, contacts, or browsing history. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

The following content is always prohibited, regardless of NSFW status or After Dark mode:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
• Hate speech and discrimination
• Graphic violence or gore
• Harassment, bullying, or threats
• Self-harm or suicide promotion
• Doxxing or sharing personal information
• Spam or commercial solicitation

NSFW content (nudity, adult themes) is allowed only when properly flagged and only visible to users who have opted in.

Nocturnal uses a multi-layer approach:

• AI pre-screening — Every whisper is scanned before publishing using Gemini Pro Vision (images) and OpenAI's Moderation API (text). Prohibited content is blocked automatically.
• Profanity filtering — Offensive language is automatically masked (e.g., "f**k") while still allowing the post.
• Community voting — Users can vote to keep or remove questionable whispers. If enough users vote "remove," the whisper is hidden.
• User reports — Anyone can report content for human review by the moderation team.
• Admin moderation — A dedicated moderation panel for reviewing reports, banning users, and managing content.

Your report is sent to our moderation team for review. The reported whisper is immediately hidden from your feed. Reports are anonymous — the other user won't know who reported them.

Repeated violations can result in the user being banned from the platform.

Yes. Tap the three-dot menu on any whisper and select "Block User." You'll never see their whispers again, and they won't be able to message you. Blocks are permanent unless you contact support.

Community voting lets users help moderate the feed. When you see a whisper you think shouldn't be there, you can vote "Remove." If enough users agree, the whisper is automatically hidden from the feed. You can also vote "Keep" to counterbalance unfair removals.

Loves are Nocturnal's version of "likes." Tap the flame icon on any whisper to show appreciation. The love count is visible to everyone, but who loved a whisper is anonymous.

Tap any whisper to open it, then scroll down to the reply thread. Replies are anonymous and expire when the parent whisper expires (within 24 hours).

Tags are short labels you add to your whispers to help others discover them. Browse trending tags, recent tags, and personalized suggestions on the Tags tab. Tapping a tag shows all whispers using it.

Yes. Tap the message icon on any whisper or reply to start a private conversation. Direct messages are end-to-end encrypted — not even Nocturnal can read them.