Connect with
people around you.
Other social networks connect you with people you already know. PinBubbles connects you with whoever's around you — short messages pinned to real places and moments, then gone.
Why PinBubbles
A new kind of feed — built around where you are
Not chronological. Not algorithmic. Geographic, ephemeral, and human.
Real-time, not scrolled-time
Every bubble is something happening near you right now — not a six-month-old post resurfaced by an algorithm.
Hyper-local by design
3 km default radius for free (up to 10 km on Business). You'll never see noise from another continent — only what matters where you are.
Auto-expires, no manual cleanup
Bubbles last from 30 minutes to one month, then disappear on their own. No graveyard of stale posts.
How it works
From thought to bubble in seconds
Four steps. No account creation needed past your first sign-in.
Step 1
Drop a bubble
Tap the + button, type a short message, pick a duration. Add a photo — up to 8 on Business.
Step 2
Pin to a location
Your current GPS by default. Business tier can drop bubbles within 5 km of their position for verified storefronts.
Step 3
Discover what's near
Open the map, scroll a list, or hold your phone up for AR view to see bubbles floating through your camera within 100 m.
Step 4
It vanishes on its own
When the duration runs out, the bubble is hard-deleted from the server. No graveyard, no algorithm resurfacing it next year.
Features
Built for the way places work
Five signature features that go beyond a simple map pin.
Live messages from where things actually happen
Traffic backups before Google Maps catches up. The café two blocks over with a fresh croissant batch. A car parked across the driveway. A heads-up about flooding on the next soi. A pop-up sale in the building next door. PinBubbles turns every phone into a hyper-local broadcaster — drop a bubble at the spot, and anyone in range sees it instantly. No followers required, no algorithm in the way.
A parking complaint reaches the right car owner in seconds — no honking, no notes on the windshield.
AR nearby view
Hold your phone up — bubbles within 100 m float in real 3D space through your camera. ARKit-powered on iOS, with image support across all tiers. See up to 10 bubbles on Free, 20 on Business.
Live road alerts float as bubbles ahead of you — accidents, debris, slow traffic, police.
Crosshair — browse anywhere
Stuck on the couch? Drop the crosshair on any spot on the map — Tokyo, your friend's neighborhood, the conference venue you're flying to next week — and see live bubbles from that exact area.
Drop the crosshair anywhere on the map to peek inside that exact spot.
Karma keeps it kind
Earn karma for upvotes, valid reports, and first messages. Hit higher tiers (Pathfinder, Signal Keeper, Bubble Guardian) to unlock community moderation privileges. Bad actors lose points and posting privileges — the community polices itself.
Karma is the single score that measures how much you contribute to the community. Climb four tiers — Wanderer → Pathfinder → Signal Keeper → Bubble Guardian — and unlock more moderation power along the way.
Business bubbles + verified badge
Run a café, salon, or event space? Business tier unlocks longer-lasting bubbles, 8-image carousels, a verified badge, and Call / Visit / Map CTAs inside every bubble. Drop pins within 5 km of your registered location.
Unlike regular bubbles, Business bubbles carry your shop's essentials right inside — phone number, website, and map directions — so customers can call, visit, or navigate without ever leaving the message.
Use cases
What people drop bubbles for
Live traffic + safety alerts
Construction. Floods. Accidents on the road ahead. Local-first warnings that expire in hours, not years.
Nudge the EV driver who forgot to move
Their car has been sitting on the fast charger long after the session ended, and the next driver in line is stuck. Drop a bubble at the charger — the right owner gets a polite ping without anyone leaving a note on the windshield.
Silent SOS when shouting isn't safe
Someone's following you home. A child wanders off in a crowded market. You spot something off in the next aisle. Tapping a bubble is quieter than yelling — and still reaches every phone in range instantly.
Lost & found, right where it happened
A dog off its leash. A wallet on a bench. Keys by the gate. Drop a bubble at the exact spot it went missing — everyone passing through becomes your search party.
A hand from whoever's nearby
A running buddy before sunset. Someone to jump a dead battery. A spare pair of hands to move a couch. The neighbor you need is often 200 m away.
Tell the car that's blocking the way
Parked across your gate. Double-parked on a one-lane soi. Sitting in the ambulance bay. Drop a bubble on the spot and the owner gets a polite nudge — no honking, no note under the wiper, no scene.
Ask the locals
Is the post office open today? Which gate has the shortest queue? Did the water come back on your soi? Hyper-local questions, answered by the people actually standing there.
A heads-up for whoever's next
Wet paint on the railing. A step that's crumbling. A gate that locks at six. Pin it where it is, and the next person who passes gets the warning before they find out the hard way.
Community
Karma turns good actors into moderators
Every upvote, valid report, and helpful comment moves you up the karma ladder. Higher tiers unlock community moderation tools — so the platform doesn't depend on a hidden algorithm to stay healthy.
Daily message limit applies to the Free tier only. The Business plan includes unlimited messages regardless of karma tier.
Plans
Free for everyday use. Business for shops & brands.
Regular use is free, forever. Business unlocks commercial tools — cancel anytime in your App Store / Play Store settings.
Free
For curious explorers
Get the app- 3 km discovery radius
- 5–15 messages per day (grows with karma)
- Up to 6-hour bubble duration
- 1 image per bubble (300 KB)
- AR view — up to 10 bubbles
- Comments, reactions, reports
Business
For shops, cafés, salons, event spaces
Get Business- Up to 10 km radius + crosshair anywhere
- Unlimited messages, up to 1 month duration
- Business message type
- Verified badge on every bubble
- 8 images per bubble (4 MB each)
- Drop pins within 5 km of your GPS
- Call / Visit / Map CTAs in AR
- Custom business profile
- Everything in Free
FAQ
Questions, answered
Only if you turn on Bubble Alerts. By default we read your location only while the app is open — to show nearby bubbles and anchor what you post. If you enable Bubble Alerts and grant "Always" permission, we use background location to notify you when a bubble matching your keywords is posted near where you are, even when the app is closed. You can turn Bubble Alerts off or revoke the permission anytime in device settings.
They're hard-deleted from the database, along with any images on S3. Reported messages are archived for 30 days for moderation review, then permanently purged.
Yes — Profile → Settings → Delete Account. Re-authentication required (within 5 minutes), then everything is gone in seconds. See the data deletion page for the full retention table.
Forever. The Free tier covers a 3 km radius, 5–15 messages per day (rises with karma), durations up to 6 hours, and the full AR + community features. Business mainly adds commercial tools, a wider radius, longer durations, and more images.
Yes — Business auto-renews unless you cancel through your App Store or Play Store settings at least 24 hours before the period ends. We can't issue refunds directly; Apple and Google handle their own refund policies.
Three layers: AI moderation at submit (AWS Comprehend + Rekognition), community reporting with 2/3/5-vote thresholds, and a karma system where high-karma users have moderation privileges and low-karma users lose posting rights.
Yes — the app works anywhere with GPS coverage. Backend runs in AWS Singapore for low Asia-Pacific latency, but bubbles work globally.
PinBubbles is available now — download free on the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android).
Crosshair is a Business feature that lets you browse bubbles from any location on the map — not just where you're standing. Tap the crosshair icon, drop a pin anywhere in the world, and instantly see live bubbles from that exact spot. Great for scouting a new neighborhood, checking in on your hometown, or previewing a venue before you travel.
Ready to connect with people around you?
Free to start. No credit card. No algorithm.