IF SOMETHING
GOES WRONG

Report objectionable content

Every drop carries a REPORT control. Open the drop — in SCAN when you collect it, or later in FOUND — and the actions sit along the bottom edge of the card: REPLY, BLOCK, REPORT. Tap REPORT. That is the whole gesture; there is no form to fill in.

What happens next:

1. The drop and its author go straight to our moderation queue.
2. Every report is reviewed. We aim to act on reports of objectionable content within 24 hours. Less urgent reports are handled as soon as we reasonably can — deadletter is run by a very small team.
3. Content that breaks the use policy is removed. Accounts may be terminated without warning. We have zero tolerance for objectionable content and for abusive users.
4. If you signed in with an email, we may write back to ask for context, such as a screenshot.

By email instead: write to contact@dead-letter.com with the subject REPORT. Tell us what you saw, the author’s username, and roughly when. The coordinates printed at the bottom of the card help us find the drop.

If someone is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first. We are not an emergency service.

Block a user

Open any drop by that person and tap BLOCK, next to REPORT. Confirm, and you will not see anything from that author again — not in SCAN, not in FOUND, not as a marker on the map. Everywhere.

Blocking is yours alone: it hides that person from your view and tells them nothing. It is separate from reporting, so if a drop broke the rules, report it as well — blocking hides it from you, reporting is what gets it removed for everyone.

Blocks cannot be undone from inside the app today. If you blocked someone by mistake, email contact@dead-letter.com.

Delete your account and data

Email contact@dead-letter.com with the subject DELETE MY ACCOUNT, from the address on the account or with your username. We complete deletion within 30 days.

Anything in your collection you no longer want can be removed yourself, any time, from the FOUND tab — swipe the card left and tap DELETE, or use select mode to clear several at once. That takes it out of your collection. You do not need us for that.

A drop you leave for other people is not yours to take back. It stays where you left it until the lifespan you chose runs out. That is deliberate — it is what makes leaving one mean something. Write accordingly.

If you want everything you have ever left erased, close your account and it all goes with it.

What is stored, how long it is kept, and what is erased when an account goes: the privacy policy has the full list.

Troubleshooting

I can’t find any drops nearby

You have to be within 15 meters of a drop to read it. The map tells you a drop exists — never what it says. Walk to the marker, then open SCAN. If the area is genuinely empty, nobody has left anything there yet. Leave the first one.

The scanner won’t place messages

Hold the phone about an arm’s length from a flat surface and tilt it so the camera sees the surface at an angle rather than straight on. Smooth, unbroken surfaces read best — a table, a counter, a bench, a stretch of floor. More light helps; the camera needs to see texture. If the cards land somewhere awkward, tap an open patch of floor to place them again.

Location isn’t working

deadletter needs location permission to place and find drops. On your phone, open Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services, make sure Location Services is on, then find deadletter in the list and set it to While Using the App. Precise Location should be on as well — 15 meters is a tight radius. If you have just changed it, close the app fully and reopen.

I didn’t get my sign-in email

Check spam and junk first; the link often lands there. Sign-in links also expire, so an old one will not work — request a fresh one and open it on the same phone you asked from. Still nothing after a few minutes: email contact@dead-letter.com.

Can I use it on Android?

Not yet. deadletter is iOS only right now.

How do I get the app?

deadletter is in private TestFlight beta — invitation only, not on the App Store. If you are testing with us you already have the invite.

Do I need an account?

Not to explore. Tap TUNE IN and you can find and read drops anonymously. To leave any drop — open, direct, or circle — you sign in and claim a username. That is what keeps spam out.

Something else is broken

Email contact@dead-letter.com. What you were doing, what happened, and your iPhone model help most. A screenshot is worth a paragraph.

Safety in the physical world

deadletter sends you outdoors, to real places, sometimes near other people. That carries real risk, and it is yours to manage.

• Stay aware of your surroundings. Look up from the screen.
• Never use deadletter while driving or operating anything.
• Don’t trespass. No message is worth a fence.
• A pin on the map is not a promise that a place is safe, public, or open.
• If you arrange to meet another user, meet in public.

The long version is Section 13A of the use policy — assumption of risk, physical world activity. Read it before you go anywhere unfamiliar.