Help and FAQ

Ivy is the best way to share and discover what's going on with friends and people nearby.

Post interesting pics, share deep thoughts, ask pressing questions, report breaking news, or trade funny memes -- really feel the pulse of your surroundings. Ivy is based on your location, so your posts are visible to your followers and to anyone in your immediate area.

How does posting work?

When you post content on Ivy it is shared with the people in your neighborhood and city. It’s like a bulletin board post to the people around you. Your specific location and address are NOT shared when you post.

• Posting Text. Text posts work great for asking questions to people around you or starting general discussions.
  • Tap the Create a Post button.
  • Choose Text.
  • Type whatever you want.
  • Tap the Post button.
• Posting Photos. You can share photos that you take within the Ivy app or you can share from your own photo album. When you take a picture using Ivy the photo is also stored in your iOS photo album.
  • Tap the Create a Post button.
  • Choose Photo or Camera.
  • Select or take a picture.
  • Write a caption and tap Post.

Ivy Feed

• The “Feed” displays two kinds of posts; posts from people nearby and posts from people you are following.
  • Nearby posts. These are posts that are shared by people in your vicinity.
  • Follower posts. You can follow any member of Ivy. If you follow someone, their posts will appear in your feed along with nearby posts.

Posts

• Likes: You can “Like” any post by tapping the heart button next to the post in the feed.
• Commenting: You can also tap on any post and comment. Commenting works just like text messaging. You can also add your own photo responses.
• Alerts: The creator of a post will get a notification that you have liked or commented on their post.
• You will also receive alerts when other users comment on a post you are participating in.
• More Post Options
  • Mute: If you do not want to receive alerts for a post, you can tap the more options button at the top right of the post screen and “Mute this conversation.” That will turn off alerts.
  • Share this Post: You can share any post by email or social media.
  • Flag as Inappropriate: You can flag any post as inappropriate and it will be reviewed by an Ivy team member.
  • Delete this Post: If you created a post, you will have the option to delete it. You will be prompted to confirm this action, but once you delete something it and all of its comments will be gone forever.

Discover

The Discover tab lets you browse what is happening in other places. You can dive into other cities and see what people are talking about.

Messages

• Messaging works like any private messaging service you’re used to but with a bunch of added features.
• Private and secure: Messages are completely private and they are encrypted making them secure.
• Groups: You can create a group within messages by tapping the group button at the top left of the messaging screen.
• Location sharing: See the below section titled “How does location-sharing work” for more details.
• Map: For any message, both individual and groups, you can tap the “Map” option at the top right of the screen. If members of the message are sharing their location with you, you will be able to see where they are on a map in real-time. Location sharing is OFF by default and you have to enable it individually for people you want to share with.

Profile

• The profile is where you manage your connections and settings.
• Profile privacy setting. By default, your Ivy profile is public so anyone can follow you and see your public posts.
  • However, your specific location and direct messages are private by default.
• Private profile. If at anytime you would like to make your profile private, you can do that under settings in your profile. Check the “Make posts private” button.
  • If you make your profile private, other members will be able to request to follow you, but you will have to approve them before they see your posts.
  • All of your posts, both past and future, will be changed to private and only your followers will be able to see them.
• Followers and Following. Your profile lists who you are following and who is following you. When you visit another member’s profile you can see who they are following.
• Blocking users. If at any time you would like to block another user, you can visit their profile. In the top right of the profile screen you can tap the more button and select “Block this User.” Blocked users will not be able to see your information nor will they be able to send you messages.

Find Friends

You can connect with people on Ivy in many ways.

• Contacts. You can use your phone contact list and check to see if any of your address book is also on Ivy. We will not automatically connect you to everyone in your address book. You have the option to select which of these friends to follow.
• Facebook. You can connect your Ivy account to Facebook and pick which Facebook friends you would like to follow.
• Search Ivy users. You can search all Ivy users and follow individual members.
• Public posts. You can tap on an avatar from a public post and follow them from their profile.

Settings

The settings button at the top right of your profile is where you can manage your profile settings.

• Change your profile image.
• Change your email, name or phone number.
• Change your password.
• Manage location sharing.
• Find people to follow.
• Invite friends.
• Connect or disconnect your account from Facebook.
• Access Help, Contact Ivy, Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy.

How does location-sharing work?

• Temporary sharing. You select how long to share your location and with whom. Your location-sharing is set to expire after 2 hours but you can opt to share for shorter or longer periods of time.
• Always share with select people. You can also choose to always share with certain friends.
• Turn off all location sharing. At any time you can see if you're sharing your location. The map on your profile will be blurred out if you are not sharing your location. You can “tap to change your settings” and turn on location sharing. If your profile shows where you are on a map, then you are sharing your location with at least one person. You can tap the button to see who are you are sharing with and manage permissions.
• Why isn't a friend's location showing?
  • They aren’t sharing their location with you!

Battery Usage

• We have developed Ivy so it has minimal impact on your battery usage. The default setting of Ivy only uses your location when you are in the app so we can access posts nearby you.
• If you choose to share your exact location with someone, Ivy will need permission to access your location when you are not in the app. Sharing your precise location via GPS does cause extra battery usage. We do many things to manage this. For example, if you are in an active conversation we share your location a little more frequently. If you are not moving we share a little less.
• If at anytime you want Ivy to stop sharing your location for privacy reasons or to limit your battery usage, you can just tap to disable location sharing within Ivy.

Does Ivy have an Android app?

Not yet, but it's coming soon.