Foreword introduces you to strangers in the real world. That's a serious thing to do, so the rules are short and we mean every one of them.
You must be 18 or older. No exceptions, no "almost." Creating a profile confirms you're an adult; a profile that suggests otherwise is removed and the account is banned.
Be who the card says. Your name, your interests, your answers — real. Misrepresenting yourself to someone about to meet you in person is grounds for removal.
An introduction is an invitation, not an obligation. If someone declines — or simply doesn't show — that's the whole answer. Don't seek them out, don't wait around, don't try again.
No harassment, no hate, no sexual content. Not in your profile, not in person. What would get you asked to leave a dinner party gets you removed from Foreword.
No commerce. Foreword is not a place to sell, recruit, promote, or solicit. Profiles that exist to broadcast anything — including contact information — are removed.
Meet like an adult. Foreword only introduces people in public places. Keep it there until trust is earned. Tell someone where you're going if that feels right; the app will help you do it.
Rules we can be held to — if a future version of Foreword breaks one, quote this page at us:
No number in Foreword ever goes up because you looked at it. No streaks fed by opening the app, no counters that reward checking. The only score we keep is conversations that happened in the real world.
Every notification points outward. A Foreword notification ends with you somewhere real — never with you scrolling. If it can't say "go," it doesn't send.
The app tells the truth against its own interest. When your city is quiet, Foreword says so instead of manufacturing activity. When your book is working, Foreword says you may need it less.
No suggestion can be bought. Where Foreword points you — a venue, an hour, a plan worth joining — is earned by real presence and real plans, never sponsored, never targeted at you by who you are. Aggregate counts, not profiles, decide what the app whispers.
There will never be a feed. Not a discovery tab, not a "community" surface, not stories. The absence is the product.
Conferences, offsites, and gatherings may host Foreword with an event code. Three rules govern every hosted event, and they are not negotiable:
Hosts see numbers, never people. An event's host learns how many conversations happened — never who met whom, and never a word anyone said. Your profile and your encounters are yours, at work events included.
People working an event are labeled. If someone is matchable at an event while working it — staffing a booth, representing a sponsor — their card says so. You always know when you're meeting someone on the clock, and they're matched on genuine shared interests like anyone else.
Moments may be hosted; your attention may not. An organization may underwrite a table or an hour, disclosed as such. There are no ad units in Foreword, no targeting, and no introduction is ever sold, weighted, or routed because someone paid. Presence can be sponsored; people cannot.
Reports go to a human. A report immediately and permanently prevents the two of you from ever being introduced again. Multiple independent reports suspend an account from matching, pending review. We may suspend or ban any account that violates these rules, and bans follow the account — deleting your data does not launder a ban.
Foreword introduces adults to other adults; we cannot vouch for any person. Use your judgment, meet in the open, and use the "Unsafe" option if something goes wrong — a person reads every report. If you are in danger, contact local emergency services first.
Foreword is provided as-is, and we may change or discontinue features. The Hardcover subscription is billed through Apple, auto-renews until cancelled in your device Settings, and is governed by Apple's standard EULA. Your privacy is covered by the privacy policy. To the extent the law allows, Dreamwake Labs is not liable for what people do when they meet — the meeting is yours; we just wrote the introduction.