Help

On iPhone or iPad, tap “Continue with Apple” on the app’s welcome screen (accounts are created on iPhone or iPad, then also sign you in on Mac). You can hide your email address. To keep the community safe, every new account is reviewed by our team before it can access the map; you get an email as soon as it’s done. You can then create a passkey in Profile › Settings › Account (on Mac: Settings, ⌘,) to sign in on your other devices.

• A place: on its page, tap “More”, then “Report Place…”.
• A report: tap its “…” button, then “Report this Report…”.
• A photo or a video: open it full screen, tap “…”, then “Report Photo…” or “Report Video…”.
• A member: on their profile, tap “…”, then “Report Member…”.

Reports are reviewed within 24 hours. Content that breaks the terms of use is removed, in whole or in part, and its author may be banned. A reported photo or video is hidden from other members until the team decides, if you are reliable enough and haven’t already had several hidden that day; otherwise your report still reaches the team. The number of reports per day is limited; past it, write to us at [email protected], especially about illegal content.

In a place’s “More” menu, choose “Block Author…”; in a report’s “…” menu, “Block Member…”; on a member’s profile, “…”, then “Block…” (the menu shows their name when they have one). Their places and reports are hidden for you. You can unblock them in Profile › Settings › Privacy › Blocked Members (on Mac: Settings, ⌘,).

On a place’s page, tap “New Report”: a short form, one question at a time (access, condition, risks, rating, photos and videos). Your report is published the next day, with the day only, never the time, under your name or without it, as you choose at the end of the form. An urgent safety warning (collapsed floor, flooding, bad air…) is published at once, always without your name. Each place’s condition is worked out from the community’s reports.

You start with about ten spots near you, and unlock more as you explore. Of a locked spot, you know that it exists and what tier it is, not where it is. Every report made on site earns you a lead: it unlocks a spot of its tier, chosen from three around you, and an unlocked spot stays unlocked. Vestige leads can be used from the Explorer member tier, Relic ones from Pathfinder. Your friends’ places (while you are friends), the ones you added or reported on, and the ones shared with you are unlocked from the start. The app’s “How it works” guide explains it all.

Save a place from its page to find it again in your Saved Places. Nearby alerts, off until you turn them on, send you a quiet notification when you pass within 2 km of an unlocked place, or near a place one of your leads can unlock: three a day at most, once a month per place, none in explore mode. Your device watches those areas itself; you can turn them off in Profile › Settings › Privacy.

In the Explore tab, choose a place, a return time and a safety contact (a friend or an email address). If you haven’t ended the exploration by the expected time, plus the margin you chose, your contact gets an alert with your last known position. The “Emergency” button shows the emergency numbers for the country you’re in and your coordinates. On Apple Watch, you can follow the countdown, extend or end the exploration, or call for help. It is an aid, not an emergency service: in an emergency, call 112.

An expedition plans an outing of several places over several days, with your friends: up to 8 places over 14 days, chosen from your unlocked places. Invited friends who join see the stops and who is at each. Every stop is launched in explore mode, with its own safety contact. A one-stop expedition is free; several stops and the return deadline are part of Premium. With a deadline, someone close is alerted if nobody is back on time, travel between stops included.

It shows you on the map and gives the distance to places, on your device. Outside an exploration, it is only sent for your leads, your first spots and the number of spots around you, and reduced at once to a square of about 5 km; nearby alerts only send the large square of about 28 km you are in. During an exploration, it is sent so that your contact can be alerted, and erased at the end: only a summary of your route, worked out on your device, is kept. The details are in the privacy policy.

Premium is bought in the app, on the App Store. To change plans or cancel, tap “Manage Subscription” in Profile › Settings › Account (on Mac: Settings, ⌘,), or open your Apple Account’s subscriptions in your device’s settings; cancelling takes effect at the end of the period paid for. After changing devices, tap “Restore Purchases” in the same place. Refunds are handled by Apple. The rules are in the terms of use.

Scrap is bought in packs in the app and is only for shop items, which you try on and buy in Customize. It never expires, stays with your account on all your devices, can’t be traded and has no cash value. A scrap purchase Apple refunds after it was spent is taken back: the balance goes negative, and the shop opens again once it covers a price.

On your member card, tap “Add to Apple Wallet”: it joins Wallet and updates itself when your card changes. If you delete your account, it is voided.

In the app, open Profile › Settings › Account (on Mac: Settings, ⌘,), then “Delete My Account”. Your account, profile, friends, private and friends-only places, unpublished reports, scrap and the items bought in the shop are erased; your published reports and their photos stay, anonymized (“Deleted member”, no longer linked to you), as do shared places. The details are in the privacy policy. If you signed in with Apple, the app’s access to your Apple identifier is revoked too.

Urban Secrets does not allow you to enter anywhere. Respect the law, other people’s property and the places themselves, and explore at your own risk: fragile buildings, unstable floors, asbestos. The app is for ages 18 and over.