Building HeyU 3.0: a progress report

HeyU 3.0 is not an update. It's a rebuild: new app, new backend, new everything, carrying the same idea it always had.

The honest version of the story: somewhere around a thousand users, HeyU 2.0 started running into the limits of its own foundation. Rather than patch around them, we started over. Here's where that work stands.

Done: the feed

The feed is the heart of HeyU, so it was rebuilt first. Your feed is now generated server-side and tuned to your interests, languages and area, and it's built to stay fast as the community grows.

The pace is still yours. Like, Save or Pass when you're sure. Scroll past when you're not, and that profile simply comes around again later. Rewind brings back the one you didn't mean to pass.

Done: Connections and chat

A mutual Like makes a Connection, and every Connection opens a private one-to-one chat. Chats in 3.0 carry photos, locations, songs and links, with read receipts and typing indicators.

Done: safety and privacy

Every profile photo is reviewed before anyone else can see it.

The safety work is the least visible part of the rebuild and the most important. Every photo passes a review before it appears anywhere in the app. Reporting someone also blocks them instantly. Your exact location never leaves your device, only a coarse area does, and analytics stay off unless you opt in.

What's left

Three things stand between here and launch:

• Moving HeyU 2.0 accounts over to the new foundation
• A round of testing with real people (more on that very soon)
• App Store review

We're close. More soon.