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A dating app for iPhone · In beta in Canada

Five people.
Held.

Every morning at nine, Arch introduces you to five people whose answers line up with yours, and you’re in their five as they’re in yours. There’s nothing to swipe and nothing to like. If you want to talk to someone, you write to them.

Join the beta How it works

Free to use. iPhone only, everywhere in Canada except Quebec for now.

Arch has no feed, no like button and no list of who’s been looking at you. It has five people, chosen with care, and room to actually talk to them.

How it works

A day on Arch

  1. Your five arrive

    Everyone’s arrive at once. Arch picks them from sixteen questions you answered when you joined, and the same five see you in theirs.

  2. You write to someone

    There’s no match step and no waiting to be liked back. Your first message arrives as a request, and they choose whether to answer.

  3. You make a plan

    The Date planner suggests a first date halfway between you, built around what you both said you’d enjoy.

  4. You go

    Which is the point of all of it. Five people is enough to meet someone, and few enough to give each of them a proper look.

Everything about how Arch works

The questionnaire

Sixteen questions decide who you meet

Thirteen are about how you are: what a good Saturday looks like, how you get your energy back, what you need after an argument. Every option is a fair way to be, so there’s no right answer to give.

Three decide things outright. If these don’t line up, Arch won’t introduce you, however well the rest fits.

  1. Do you want children?
  2. Do you see yourself with one person at a time?
  3. Do you want to be living in this city in five years?

Your answers are never on your profile and never become a score. They only decide who arrives in your five.

Profiles

Written, not swiped

Four to six photos, a few details and three prompts, answered in your own words. Profiles show your neighbourhood, never how far away you are, and your exact location is never stored.

Where I go when I need to think

The Leslie Street Spit at seven, when it’s only cyclists and cormorants.

Maya, 27 · Leslieville, Toronto

Something I am slower at than everyone else

Ordering. I read the whole menu twice and then get whatever you got.

Sam, 31 · Centretown, Ottawa

A thing I have changed my mind about

That I’d hate cycling through the winter. I now own two kinds of mitts and opinions about salt.

Jordan, 26 · Mount Pleasant, Vancouver

Example profiles. On Arch, every word on a profile is written by the person it describes.

The Date planner

A first date, planned around both of you

Once you’re talking, Arch can put a first date together: somewhere to eat or drink, then something to do, halfway between the two of you.

  • Built from both of you. Your interests, and five quick answers about what a first date should be like. If one of you doesn’t drink, it won’t send you to a bar.
  • Real places. Every stop comes from Apple Maps, close enough that neither of you has the long trip.
  • Yours to change. Send it in your conversation, swap a stop if you like, and add it to your calendar once you’ve both agreed.
Quiet by design

Some things are better left out

Swiping

You see five people, not an endless stack of them.

Likes

Nobody can like you, so there’s nothing to count and nothing to pay to see.

Read receipts

Nobody knows when you’ve read their message, so nobody is waiting on a tick.

Online status

No green dot and no “active now”. Answer when it suits you.

Distance

Profiles show a neighbourhood, not how many kilometres away you are.

Awkward exits

Leaving, blocking and deleting your account look exactly the same from the other side.

Safety

A person reads every report

Report anyone from your conversation and a real person reads it within a day, with the conversation attached. They’re never told who reported them.

Blocking is silent and immediate. Every account is tied to a phone, so someone who has been removed can’t simply sign up again.

Safety on Arch

Arch Premium

More room, if you want it

Everything that matters works without it. Premium is billed through Apple, and you can cancel any time from your iPhone’s Settings.

  • Eight every morningThree more people a day, chosen with the same care.
  • Fifteen conversationsKeep more going before Arch asks you to choose.
  • Choose your locationSomewhere you’re moving to, or somewhere you visit often.
  • Answer anytimeChange your questionnaire answers whenever you like, not once a month.

Questions

More in Help, or write to support@archdating.com.

Is Arch free?

Yes. Your five, messaging and the Date planner are all free. Premium adds room: eight people a day instead of five, and more conversations at once.

Who can join?

Anyone 18 or over in Canada with an iPhone, except in Quebec for now. You sign in with Apple, so there’s no password to remember.

Why only five?

Five is enough that someone in it is probably worth writing to, and few enough that you can give each person a proper look. They stay until you dismiss them, so nobody disappears overnight.

What happens when I dismiss someone?

They leave your five at nine the next morning, when someone new takes the spot. Until then you can change your mind. They’re never told.

I joined in the afternoon. Do I wait until tomorrow?

Not necessarily. Arch looks for people whose five aren’t full yet that day, so your first introductions can arrive within minutes of finishing your profile.

Arch is in beta in Canada

Email us and we’ll send you an invitation to try it through TestFlight, Apple’s app for testing new apps. Then tell us what you think. A person reads every message.

Join the beta