How do I create a rec'd account?

Setting up your rec'd account takes a few minutes. The onboarding flow is designed to get your map populated with great places from the moment you land, so every step has a purpose. Here's what to expect.

When you first open rec'd, you'll see an animated map of London with a swipeable carousel introducing the key features: discovering places through recommendations, saving venues with your reaction, curating lists, importing from social media, building your taste profile, and following your crew. You can swipe through all six panels or tap "Skip" in the top right to jump straight in.

The final panel shows a "Get Started" button.

rec'd currently uses Sign in with Apple as the only login method. You can choose to share your real email address or use Apple's private relay email. Either works fine.

You'll be asked for your First Name (required) and Last Name (optional). This is the display name that appears on your profile. Tap "Next" to continue.

A pink progress bar at the top tracks how far through setup you are.

This screen asks for two things:

Date of birth: You must be at least 13 years old to use rec'd. Tap the field to open a date picker and scroll to your birthdate.

Gender: Choose from Woman, Man, Non-binary, or Prefer not to say. This is optional.

Your handle is your unique public username on rec'd (e.g. @ben). Type your preferred handle and a pink checkmark will appear if it's available.

You'll also need to tick the checkbox to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You can tap either link to read the full documents before agreeing. The "Next" button stays disabled until you've ticked the box.

You can upload a photo by tapping the camera icon. Choose "Take Photo" to use your camera or "Choose from Library" to pick an existing image. This step is optional: you can tap "Skip for now" at the bottom if you'd rather add one later.

Select the city you're based in. London is currently the only LIVE city (shown with a pink "LIVE" badge). Other UK cities including Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, and Oxford are listed and will be activated as rec'd expands.

If you're not in London, you can still use the app to explore London's venues. You'll be notified when rec'd launches in your city.

This is where rec'd starts learning what you like. You'll see a grid of Flavour cards, and you can pick up to 3 that match your vibe. Each Flavour is a curated collection of venues that will be added to your map, giving you places to start exploring straight away.

The available Flavours are:

Selected cards turn pink. Tap "Next" when you've chosen.

Select any dietary preferences that apply to you: Vegetarian, Vegan, Halal, Kosher, or Gluten-Free. You can select multiple, or skip this step entirely by tapping "Next" with nothing selected.

This is the fun part. rec'd shows you venue cards one at a time and asks you to rate them. This populates your map and helps rec'd learn your taste. See the dedicated article "What is the Speed Round?" for full details.

After the Speed Round, you'll be asked to follow at least 2 people to get started. A list of suggested users appears, showing their name, handle, bio, rec'd count, and follower count. Tap "Follow" on anyone who looks interesting (the button turns pink and says "Following").

You can also search for specific friends using the search bar at the top.

The button at the bottom tracks your progress. It starts as "Follow 2 more" and counts down as you follow people. Once you've hit the minimum, it becomes an active "Continue" button.

Finally, rec'd asks for two system permissions:

Location: So the app can show you nearby venues and give you directions. You'll see a custom screen explaining why, followed by the standard iOS location prompt.

Notifications: So you can get notified when friends share new spots and recommendations. Again, a custom screen followed by the iOS prompt.

You can allow or deny either permission. The app works without them, but it's a better experience with both enabled.

After permissions, you land on the map. You'll see your Speed Round saves already plotted as coloured pins, along with saves from the people you just followed.

If you didn't grant location access during onboarding, a "Discover Nearby" bottom sheet will appear on the map with an "Enable Location" button and a "Maybe Later" option. You can enable it at any time later through your device settings.

You're ready to start exploring.