Frequently Asked Questions

What is Unsolicited Advice?

Unsolicited Advice is a cross-platform app (iOS, Android, Web) where posting unsolicited advice is the norm — not a social violation. It connects people who want to share hard-earned wisdom with people eager to receive it. Content is organized by life topic (Career, Finance, Relationships, Health, Parenting, and more). Personal stories attached to advice are what make the platform unique: they show why advice matters through real-world experience.

Why does the app ask me to self-select at first launch?

The self-selection screen ("This is a community for people who believe unsolicited advice has value") filters for the right audience upfront. The platform only works when everyone present actually wants to exchange unsolicited advice. This keeps the community quality high and avoids the conflict that happens when givers, seekers, and people who find unsolicited advice rude all share the same space.

Do I need an account to browse advice?

No. You can browse all advice, read stories, and vote without an account. An account is required to post advice, add stories, and have your bookmarks and votes synced across devices. Creating an account via Google Sign-In, Apple Sign-In, or email magic link takes under a minute, and your anonymous session data is preserved during the upgrade.

How do I find advice on a topic I care about?

Use the Topics tab to see all categories with advice counts. Tap a topic to open its feed. Sort by most-voted (surfaces the best-rated advice), newest (see what's been posted recently), or most stories (find advice with the richest community context). You can also use the search bar on Home or Topics to find advice by keyword.

How do I post advice?

Tap the Post tab. If you're anonymous, you'll be prompted to create an account first. Write a clear, direct title — this is the core advice itself, up to 200 characters. Add optional body text for context, explanation, or nuance (up to 2,000 characters). Select 1–3 topic tags and tap Submit. A preview mode is available before posting.

What makes a good advice title?

The title should be the advice itself — direct and specific. "Never cosign a loan for anyone" is a strong title. "Thoughts on loans" is not. The body text is where you explain the context, the caveats, and the reasoning.

What's the difference between advice and a story?

Advice is the wisdom being shared — the lesson, recommendation, or warning. Stories illustrate why the advice matters. Any authenticated user can add a story to any advice post (including their own). Stories are personal narratives: how you learned the lesson, what happened when someone ignored the advice, or any experience that makes the advice concrete and memorable. Stories appear below the advice text on the detail screen, sorted by most-voted.

How does voting work?

Every advice post and story has upvote and downvote buttons. The net vote count (upvotes minus downvotes) is displayed on all cards. Vote on whether advice is valuable, not whether you personally agree with it. You can change your vote at any time. Anonymous users can vote — votes are stored locally and sync to your account when you create one.

How do I organize my bookmarked advice?

Tap the bookmark icon on any advice card or detail screen to save it. All bookmarks appear in the Saved tab. Basic Subscription users can organize bookmarks into named collections (e.g., "US Career Notes," "Finance Basics"). Tap and hold a bookmark or use the collection menu to add it to a collection.

Can I edit advice after posting?

Editing is not available in the current version. Choose your title carefully — it's the core advice and is difficult to walk back once others have voted on it. Body text editing will be added in a future release.

What are the subscription tiers?

• Free (ad-supported) — full access to browse, post, add stories, vote, and bookmark. Banner ads appear on the Home, Topics, and Saved tabs
• Ad-Free (one-time purchase) — removes ads permanently. Requires creating an account
• Basic Subscription (monthly or annual) — removes ads, adds cloud sync across devices, per-post advice analytics (view counts, vote breakdowns, save trends), and saved filter presets

What is advice analytics?

Basic Subscription users see a per-post analytics dashboard showing how each piece of advice has performed: total views, save count, upvote/downvote breakdown, and trends over time. This is particularly useful for advice givers who want to understand which of their posts resonates most with the community.

Does the app work offline?

Yes. All your bookmarks, votes, and cached advice are stored locally in Drift (SQLite). You can read saved advice and see your bookmarks without an internet connection. Votes and bookmarks made offline are queued and sync automatically when you reconnect. An offline indicator banner appears when the device has no connection.