Radar, explained: who sees you and how close

Radar is where you find the men near you. Open it from the menu and you get a map with a pin for each man, and a grid of photos underneath, closest first.

It is also the part of the site people ask about most, because it involves your location. So here is the plain version of how it works, who can see you, and how much they can tell.

The map and the grid

On a phone, the map sits on top and the grid is a drawer you pull up or down. On a computer they sit side by side. Move the map and the grid follows, showing who is in that part of town. Tap Near me to come back to the men around you, and tap any photo for a quick look at his profile.

The top of the grid tells you how many men are nearby and how many are online. Men who are boosting come first, with a gold ring round their photo. Everyone else follows, nearest first, or you can switch the order to Online first.

How far Radar looks depends on your plan. If very few men are inside your reach, it looks a little further so the grid isn't empty. The details are in how Radar works.

Nobody sees your exact spot

This is the part worth remembering. Radar never shows your exact location, to other members or to us. It saves where you are as a small square of the map, and everyone else measures their distance to your pin.

Distances are rounded before they leave the server, for everyone. There is no exact-distance option, and sorting by Nearest uses the same rounded numbers, so the order never gives away more than the distance does.

Radar also doesn't follow you around. It uses the location you last saved. To move it, tap your place at the top of Radar and choose Use where I am now, or pick a city. Picking a city is also how you look around somewhere you are about to travel to.

Choose how you show on the map

The first time you open Radar, it asks where you are, then asks How do you want to show up? before anyone sees you. You can change your answer any time under Where you show on the map, in Radar privacy (tap your place at the top of Radar, then Privacy) or in Settings › Privacy & safety.

• Near me: your pin within your square, and a rounded distance.
• Wider area: your pin somewhere in a larger square that isn't centered on you. Your distance never reads closer than the size of that area.
• Just my city: your pin somewhere in your city, with the city's name instead of a distance.
• A spot I pick: a pin you drop yourself, near where you are. If you travel far from it, it pauses and you show as Wider area until you're back.
• Not on the map: no pin at all. You still appear in the grid.

Separately, Distance others see can be Approximate (rounded) or Hidden, which takes the number off your tile entirely.

Who shows up, and who doesn't

A man appears on Radar once he has finished his profile, saved a location and left Show me on Radar on. You won't see men you've blocked or who have blocked you, men who have gone dark, suspended or deactivated accounts, or men who haven't been on for a long time unless you turn on Show inactive men in Filters.

The same rules apply to you. If you want a break, switch Show me on Radar off and you disappear from the grid and the map, while still being able to look around. Your own tile says you're hidden, with a Show me button for when you want back in.

For a few hours off, Go dark in your account menu takes you off Radar and shows you as offline, then brings everything back by itself.

Getting more out of it

Tap Filters to narrow the grid by online now, photo, position, age, how far, circles, last active and more. Then tap Show results. If the grid ever looks empty, a forgotten filter is the usual reason, and Reset fixes it. Filters, sorting and saved searches covers every option.

A boost pins you to the top of Radar for the men near you for 60 minutes, with that gold ring. Find your own tile, marked You, and tap Boost. When it ends, you get a notification saying how many men saw you. A boost doesn't change who can see you. Men who can't see you on Radar won't see you boosted either. More in boosting yourself.

Before you meet

Radar gets you to "he's nearby." What happens next is up to the two of you. Before you go further, run the safety checkup from Settings › Privacy & safety. It takes about two minutes and walks through where you show on Radar, who sees you and who can reach you.

When it's time to meet, Meeting a man from the site goes through the rest. And if something isn't working, Radar isn't working for me covers the usual fixes. Then open Radar and see who's around.