How can we help? 👋

To change or remove your profile picture on Howbout:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Tap the camera icon (📸)
4. Choose a picture from your phone library or take a selfie. You can also remove your profile pic here too.

To change your name:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Tap 'Name' and simply change your name in the prompt that appears
4. Hit save to confirm

To change your password:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Tap 'Change password', then enter your current password and your new password in the prompt that appears
4. Tap 'Save'

Can't remember your password? The easiest way to reset your password is to log out and log back in again. When you're logging in, you can choose 'Forgot my password' to reset it. 

To switch between 12-hour and 24-hour time:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Use the toggle next to '24 hour time' to switch between 24-hour time (military time) and 12-hour time (standard time) throughout the app.

To change the week start day on your calendar (e.g. from Mon to Sat / Sun):

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Tap the 'Week start' drop-down to choose your week start day

Don't miss out on invites and chats...

To enable notification permissions:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Tap 'Enable push notifications' at the top of the page. You'll then either be able to grant permissions via a popup or via your phone settings

Still not getting notifications? Check your phone's settings:

iOS

1. Open your phone's settings and scroll down to your installed apps
2. Select Howbout
3. Select 'Notifications'
4. Toggle-on “Allow Notifications'

Android

1. Open your phone’s settings
2. Tap ‘Notifications’, and then ‘App Settings’
3. Select ‘All Apps’ in the drop down menu and select Howbout
4. Turn on notifications for Howbout
   
   

Want to see your existing plans in Howbout? You'll need to sync your other calendars…

To enable calendar permissions:

1. Go to your Howbout calendar by tapping on the calendar icon (🗓️) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the calendar settings icon in the top right of the screen
3. Tap the 'Phone calendars' button. You'll then either be able to grant permissions via a popup or via your phone settings. For iOS 17+ users, ensure you've set calendar permissions to "Full Access".

You can sync your contacts to see which of your friends are already on Howbout 🙌

To enable contact permissions:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen, then tap the 'Add friends' button on the top right corner
2. Tap the 'Find friends from contacts' button. You'll then either be able to grant permissions via a popup or via your phone settings

Friends not on Howbout yet? You can invite them easily with a quick link.

To log out of Howbout:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Look for the 'Account' section, where you'll see your name, email, change password, and a button to ‘Log out’

We’ll be sad to see you go, but if you need to delete your account:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and tap 'Delete account'
4. Enter your password in the pop-up that appears and hit 'Continue' to confirm

If you've uninstalled the app, you can reach out to support@howbout.app to ask us to delete your account for you. 

Howbout syncs with any calendar integrated with your phone's native calendar. As long your calendar is showing in your phone’s native calendar app, you can use it with Howbout 😊

To import calendars into Howbout:

1. Ensure that the calendar you want to import (e.g. Outlook or Google Calendar) is synced to your phone's native calendar (iCal / GCal) through your phone settings.
2. Check that calendar permissions are enabled in Howbout. For iOS 17+ users, ensure you've set calendar permissions to "Full Access".
3. Open Howbout and head to the calendar by tapping on the calendar icon (🗓️) at the bottom of the screen
4. Tap the calendar settings icon in the top right of the screen, then tap the 'Phone calendars' button
5. Choose your visibility setting: ‘Shared’ or ‘Invisible’. 

Shared: The imported calendars will be shared with friends and affect your availability.

Invisible: You'll be able to view the imported calendars on your Howbout calendar, but they will not be shared with anyone else and won't affect your availability.

The availability statuses (busy / maybe busy / free) of events imported from an external calendar are set by the external calendar they originate from. The status cannot be changed within Howbout unless the events are converted to Howbout events first.

If the external calendar doesn't give Howbout a busy / free status, the status will default to 'maybe busy' to avoid incorrectly marking you as busy / free.

Still doesn't seem right? Check that you've correctly imported your calendars into Howbout.

Sometimes it can take a few minutes for Howbout to catch up with your updated calendar. To speed things up, you can refresh it by fully / force closing Howbout to re-sync the calendar.

Still experiencing the problem? Check that your phone's native calendar is up-to-date with the changes to your external calendar (as this is where Howbout finds your calendar info).

To export your Howbout calendar into other apps:

First, make sure exporting is enabled:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Make sure 'Export Howbout calendars' is on

Next, make sure your Howbout calendars are turned on in your phone's calendar settings:

iOS

1. Head to the native Calendar app
2. Tap ‘Calendars’ at the bottom
3. Under the iCloud section, turn on ‘Howbout Social’ and ‘Howbout Personal.'

Calendar export not working properly on iOS? For iOS 17+ users, ensure you've set calendar permissions to "Full Access". 

Want to add Howbout Social or Howbout Personal to other calendar apps?

1. Head to the native Calendar app
2. Tap ‘Calendars’ at the bottom
3. Under the iCloud section, turn on ‘Howbout Social’ and ‘Howbout Personal'.
4. Tap on the (i) button next to the calendar name.
5. Toggle-on 'Public Calendar'
6. Tap 'Share Link...' and copy the link. You can then use that link to export Howbout events to other calendars, like Outlook and Google Calendar.

Android

1. Head to your native calendar app
2. Tap the calendar menu
3. Check that the Howbout calendars are toggled on, or check the settings within the menu. If you're using Google Calendar and you can't find the Howbout calendars in the list, head to Google Calendar settings, tap 'Manage Accounts' and turn on Howbout under 'non-Google accounts'. 

Unfortunately on Android, with most calendars including Google Calendar, your Howbout events will only show up on the mobile app, not other devices, such as PC. If you'd like to see your Howbout calendars on other devices, please email us at features@howbout.app.

To change the colours of your external phone calendars and friends' calendars in Howbout:

1. Go to your Howbout calendar by tapping on the calendar icon (🗓️) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the ‘You’ button in the top left corner of the screen
3. Toggle on the calendars you want to see on your Howbout calendar
4. Tap the colour droplet next to your and your friends' calendars to change the colour 

While viewing a friend's calendar, all of your own calendars and events will temporarily become one colour to avoid you getting mixed up 😌

On Howbout, every user has their own calendar that they can share with specific friends. We don't offer 'group calendars' where you and your friends share a communal calendar. This way you can also put your personal plans, work schedule and appointments on Howbout without having to share them if you don't want to.

To set up a shared calendar, you and your friends will need to (1) share your calendars with each other, and then (2) turn your friends’ calendars on.

Once you've got your shared calendars set up, consider creating a Howbout group to make planning together even easier.

Want to share your calendar with friends but keep certain events secret / hidden? See how here.

Adding friends on Howbout is easy:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the 'Add friends' button in the top right corner of the screen
3. You'll instantly be able to see if you have any friend suggestions to add

Not sure if your friends are on Howbout? Tap the 'Send invite link' button to send them a quick link to join Howbout and add you as a friend.

Friends already on Howbout? The easiest way to add them is to sync your phone contacts.

Howbout groups are the easiest and quickest way to find when your friends are free and see all of your upcoming events together in one place.

To create a group on Howbout:

1. Head to the People page by tapping on the people icon in the bottom right of the screen
2. Tap the + button to the right of Groups
3. Name the group (or let Howbout suggest one for you 🤪), add a pic / emoji and any details, then tap 'Continue'
4. Choose which friends you want to add to the group and then 'Create Group'

Friends or group not on Howbout yet? See how to add more members to group here.

Howbout is an app for making plans and finding time with your existing friends, rather than an app to make new friends through.

You find out how to invite your existing friends onto Howbout here.

To add members to your Howbout group:

1. Head to the People page by tapping on the people icon in the bottom right of the screen
2. Tap on the group you want to add members to 
3. When viewing the group, tap on the member list 
4. Then you can select 'Add friends' to add members who you are already friends with on Howbout, or tap 'Invite link' to invite them via whatever chat app you like!

Adding new group members will automatically invite them to all upcoming group events.

To leave a Howbout group:

1. Head to the People page by tapping on the people icon in the bottom right of the screen 
2. Choose the group you want to leave 
3. Once viewing the group, tap on the group options icon in the top right of the screen 
4. Tap 'Leave group', then hit 'Leave' in the prompt that appears to confirm

Leaving the group will remove you from all group events. If the group creator leaves the group, the first person to have joined the group after its creation will become the group admin.

To change the colour of your group and its events: 

1. Head to the People page by tapping the people icon at the bottom of the screen 
2. Select the group you want to change the colour of 
3. Tap the colour droplet in the top right corner 
4. Select the colour you want to change the group to 
5. The group and all of the group's events will now be set to your new colour. Any specific group events that you've already set an event colour for won't be affected

Please note that while viewing a friend's calendar, all of your own calendars and events will temporarily become one colour to avoid you getting mixed up 😌 

You can have as many friends as you like on Howbout!

Find out how to add them here.

You can have as many groups as you like on Howbout!

Want to know how to create them? Find out here.

To delete / remove friends:

1. Head to the People page by tapping on the people icon in the bottom right of the screen
2. Select the friend you want to remove
3. When viewing their profile, tap on the options icon in the top right of the screen
4. Select 'Delete friend'

You can only delete a group if you created it. To delete a group you created:

1. Head to the People page by tapping on the people icon in the bottom right of the screen 
2. Choose the group you want to delete 
3. Once viewing the group, tap on the group options icon in the top right of the screen 
4. Tap 'Delete group'. Please note that this will delete the group for all members, but will not delete the group's upcoming events.

We're a small team right now, so the app is currently only available in English, but we're going to add new languages in the future 😊

Want your language added first? Let us know at features@howbout.app.

Howbout is a social calendar app where you can plan with friends, find when you’re all free, organise groups, vote on anything, share calendars and keep in touch! 🙌

Here are a few ways to get set up quickly:

• Invite and add friends
• Make a plan
• See when your friends are free
• Add when you are busy

You'll find helpful hints throughout the app, including pink pop-ups as you explore. If you've already dismissed them, you can reset them like this:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Scroll to the ‘Support’ section of the page
4. Tap ‘Show hints’

You'll now see hints appear in pink pop-ups throughout the app!

Absolutely! Howbout is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store 🙌

If there’s a feature you’d love to see in Howbout, shoot us an email at features@howbout.app!

You can also access this email in your Howbout app: 

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Scroll down to the 'Support' section 
4. Tap 'Request feature' to open your email app, with our email address filled in

We take privacy extremely seriously at Howbout 🔒 

We ask you for your phone number when creating an account to ensure your account is completely secure. Your data is safe with Howbout and is never passed on.

Having a phone number linked to your account also makes planning even easier, as you’ll instantly be notified whenever your friends join Howbout 🙌

Having issues with verifying your phone number? Get in touch as support@howbout.app and we'll help get you sorted 😊

You can view our privacy policy here and our terms & conditions here.

You can access these links in the app as well:

1. Head to the Home page by tapping the home icon (🏠) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the cog / settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the screen to access the Settings page
3. Scroll down to the 'Support' section of the page, where you'll find links to both

If you can't find your question anywhere on our FAQs, shoot us an email at support@howbout.app

While we don't have our own widget just yet, we can offer a partial solution by syncing Howbout to your native calendar app, so your plans appear on that widget! Here's how to set this up:

1. Make sure your Howbout calendar is exported to your phone’s native calendar app here. 
2. Set up your phone's native calendar widget on your iPhone or Android device.
3. Check out your Howbout plans in your phone's calendar widget!

Making plans on Howbout is easy, and can be done in a few different ways:

The big plus (➕) button

1. Press the big teal plus (➕) button at the bottom centre of the screen
2. Give your plan a name or choose one of our quick suggestions (e.g. dinner, drinks, etc.)
3. Choose the date & time for your plan. You can make your plan 'All day', multiple days, or recurring here too.
4. Tap 'Select' to confirm the date & time. Not sure about the date / time yet? Tap 'Decide later' to create an 'idea' where you can discuss and vote with friends on the best date / time.
5. Add any additional details to your plan (e.g. location, details, GIFs, etc.) and change any settings (e.g. visibility) before tapping 'Create plan'.

Via the calendar

1. Head to the calendar via the calendar icon (🗓️) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap a date on the calendar, and then tap a timeslot
3. Give your plan a name
4. Add any additional details to your plan (e.g. location, details, GIFs, etc.) and change any settings (e.g. visibility). You can make your plan multiple days, or recurring here too.
5. Tap 'Save' to create your plan.

Want to get planning even faster? You can jump straight into a plan directly from a friend's profile page or a Howbout group!
 

To edit an event:

1. Head to the event you want to edit
2. Tap the edit button (✏️) in the top right corner
3. Select the function you want to change: name, time & date, location, description, GIF, etc.
4. Tap the 'Save' button at the bottom of the page to confirm changes

If you are the creator of a Howbout event, you have the ability to cancel / delete it.

To cancel / delete an event:

1. Head to the existing event you want to cancel / delete
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page
3. Choose 'Cancel' to cancel / delete the event

Not the creator of the event? You can still leave the event to remove it from your calendar and chats list.

If the event is from an external calendar, you'll need to delete it from the calendar it originates from.

To change the colours of your events:

1. Head to an existing event or make a new one
2. Tap the colour droplet in the top right-hand corner of the page
3. Select the colour you want to use
4. This colour will now be reflected in your calendar when you're viewing your own calendar only

While viewing a friend's calendar, all of your own calendars and events will temporarily become one colour to avoid you getting mixed up 😌

If you set a colour for a group, all of that group's events will automatically be set to that colour, making it super easy to find them on the calendar. Tap here to see how to change your group colours.

To see all of your upcoming events in a list:

1. Go to your Howbout calendar by tapping on the calendar icon (🗓️) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the list icon in the top righthand corner of the screen
3. You'll be able to view your upcoming events in a list format. This page will remain as a list view until you tap the calendar icon in the top right corner to go back to the calendar view.

For a shortcut to the list of your upcoming events, just tap the 'View all' button in the 'Up Next' section on the Howbout Home page.

You can add your work schedule to Howbout in different ways:

Want to import an existing work or shift calendar? See how to import external calendars here.

Want to set up your schedule directly in Howbout? See how to use Personal plans in Howbout here.

If your work schedule follows any sort of pattern, we'd recommend using our 'recurring' feature. Just look for the '🔁 recurring' button when setting the time / date (or after you've tapped a timeslot directly on the calendar). You can then set up a recurring work event to create your schedule.

For example, if you work the same schedule Monday-Thursday but end early on Fridays, you'd set up a recurring event that repeats on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Then, you'd create a separate recurring event every Friday with the early end time.

There are a few ways to make an event last multiple days, depending on how you're creating / edit it.

A) Creating your event 

1. When creating your event you'll reach the Date & Time page
2. Tap the ‘multi-day’ button
3. Select the dates you want your event to end on by tapping on the calendar
4. Tap 'Select' at the bottom of the page

B) Changing an existing event to be multi-day

1. Head to the event you want to change, then tap the date, then select ‘Change time’
2. Tap the ‘multi-day’ button under the plan time. 
4. Select the date you want your event to end on by tapping on the calendar
5. Tap 'Select' at the bottom of the page

There are a few ways to make an event recurring:

A) Creating your event

1. When creating your event, you'll see a 'Recurring' or 'Repeat every...' button. You'll see an options menu appear to set up your recurring event rules.
2. Tap 'Done' at the bottom of the page.

B) Changing an existing event to be recurring

1. Head to the event you want to change.
2. Tap the date on the plan page and select 'Change time'. You'll be taken to the time and date selector.
3. Tap the 'Repeat every…' button. You'll see an options menu appear to set up your recurring event rules.
4. Tap 'Done' at the bottom of the page.

For every Howbout event, you can choose how much information can be seen by friends you share your calendar with.

There are three event privacy settings:

1. Not secret: The details of the event can be seen by those you share your calendar with
2. Secret: Only the time can be seen (the title and all other details aren't shown)
3. Invisible: Nothing can be seen in your calendar and the event won't block your availability (it's as if the event doesn't exist). Pro-Howbout users use this setting to create reminders too 💁‍♀️

You can set event visibility before the event has been created, or after.

To create a secret / invisible event:

1. When setting up your event, look for and tap on the 'Visibility' button.
2. Select how you want the event to show to people you share your calendar with. Choose from 'Not secret', 'Secret', or 'Invisible', then tap 'Close'.
3. Tap the 'Create plan' / 'Save' button to confirm

For more info on creating an event, tap here.

To make an existing event secret / invisible:

1. Head to the event you want to change
2. Tap the 'visibility' button within the event. Hint: the button has a padlock indicator (🔓) and by default this will show as 'Not secret'
3. Select how you want the event to show to people you share your calendar with. Choose from 'Not secret', 'Secret', or 'Invisible', then tap 'Close'.
    

Please note that your chats are never visible to anyone other than those directly involved in the chat itself.

Agreed on a time to tick off a Bucket List item? Now you can convert it into a plan:

1. Head to the Bucket List page for the idea you want to turn into a plan. Once you have a date confirmed this is ready to be turned into a plan 
2. Select the 'Set date' button. 
3. Select the chosen date and time for the plan 
4. Click the 'Save' button to confirm the Bucket List item as a plan

Still trying to get a date sorted? Try using a time poll to let everyone vote on when works best.

To create a pinned plan:

1. Head to the plan you want to pin 
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and turn on the Pin to home page toggle 
3. The pinned plan will now appear on your Home page 

Once you have your first pinned plan set up, you can easily add more to the Home page by tapping the pencil icon (✏️) in the 'Countdowns' section

Personal plans are a great way to keep you and your friends up-to-date on when you're busy. You can see how to add personal plans below:

The big plus (➕) button

1. Press the big teal plus (➕) button at the bottom centre of the screen and tap the ‘Personal’ button
2. Give your personal plan name or choose one of our quick suggestions (e.g. Work, Shift, etc.)
3. Choose the date & time. You can make your personal plan 'All day', multiple days, or recurring here too.
4. Tap 'Select' to confirm the date & time
5. Add any additional details to your personal plan (e.g. location, details, GIFs, etc.) and change any settings (e.g. visibility) before tapping ‘Create plan.’

Via the calendar

1. Head to the calendar via the calendar icon (🗓️) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap a date on the calendar, and then tap a timeslot
3. Tap on the 'Personal' button
4. Give your personal plan a name
5. Add any additional details to your personal plan (e.g. location, details, GIFs, etc.) and change any settings (e.g. visibility). You can make your personal plan multiple days, or recurring here too.
6. Tap 'Save' to create your plan.

The quickest way to change the time of any existing event:

1. Head to the existing event you want to change the time / date of 
2. Tap on the date of the event
3. Choose the 'Change time' option 
4. Select the new time & date 
5. Tap 'Save'

You can leave any event you're not interested in or want to remove from your calendar or chats list:

1. Head to the existing event you want to leave 
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select the 'Leave' button 

To see all of your past and declined (and cancelled) events in a list:

1. Go to your Howbout calendar by tapping on the calendar icon (🗓️) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the list icon in the top righthand corner of the screen
3. You'll be able to view your upcoming, past and declined events in a list format. You can also search your events by tapping the magnifying glass in the top righthand corner.

There are a number of different ways to find when your friends are free on Howbout.

1. Check their availability directly. You can do this for groups or specific friends.
2. Create a time poll for your event or group.
3. Make a plan and use Howbout's availability finder.

To see when everyone in your Howbout group is free:

If you haven't created a Howbout group yet, you can find out how here. 

1. Head to the People page by tapping on the people icon in the bottom right of the screen 
2. Select your group, then tap on the 'Availability' button 
3. The time & date page will show you which days your group members are free, busy or maybe busy. You won't be able to see the availability of any group member that you aren't friends with on Howbout 
4. Select your desired date and create a plan 🙌 
    

You can also create a time poll so the group can vote on the best time or dates for them.

You can create general polls or time polls on any event, group or friend. Just look for the 'Poll' button on any event, group or friend's profile.

You'll see the poll options menu appear:

General poll

You can use general polls to vote on anything plan-related, from locations to activities to dinner cuisine.

1. Select ‘General poll'
2. Type out your question
3. Add your options for people to vote on
4. Tap ‘Create poll’.

Time poll

You can use time polls to vote on the best time or date for your upcoming plan.

1. Select ‘Time poll’
2. Choose the first date option by tapping on the calendar
3. Tap the ‘Add time’ button to add another option. Repeat this until you have all your potential date options. If you want to have people vote on times instead of dates, just tap the 'All day' button to set specific times too.
4. You can also change the question at the top, or just hit ‘Create poll’ to send it out

To send images, videos or files to your events, groups, or DMs:

1. Head to the Chats page by tapping the chat icon (💬) at the bottom of the screen
2. Tap the chat you want to jump into
3. Press the '+' button in the bottom left corner (by the messaging box)
4. Select the type of media you would like to send
5. Press the send button on the right of the message box to send

You can use this feature to attach tickets and menus to help with planning, or you can share photos and videos during or after your event 😎

To see when a specific friend is free:

1. Head to the People page by tapping on the people icon in the bottom right of the screen 
2. Select the friend you want to plan with and tap on the ‘Availability’ button 
3. The time & date page will show you which days / times your friend is free, busy or maybe busy 
4. Select your desired date and create a plan 🙌

You can also create a time poll so your friend can vote on the best time or dates for them.

To delete a chat message or any media you've sent:

1. Long press on the message or media you want to delete (hold down your finger on the message for a few seconds)
2. Select the 'Delete' button

You can only delete messages you've sent, not messages other people have sent.