Onboarding
The eight post-signup steps: username, age, about you, avatar, an optional profile, boundaries, notifications, and the Premium offer.
Onboarding runs after your account exists. It is about who you are and how you appear to other people. The five personalising questions happen earlier, in the quiz.
Age requirement Bonded is for adults. On the age step you choose an age band, and Under 18 is one of the options. Choosing it closes and deletes the account rather than letting you continue.
Onboarding Steps
The progress badge counts eight steps.
| Step | What you choose | Why Bonded asks |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Username | Your handle | This is how you appear during rituals, on your profile, and how friends find you in search. |
| 2. Age | An age band from 18–24 to 65+, or Under 18 | Bonded is 18+, and the band helps keep cards age-appropriate. |
| 3. About you | Woman, Man, Something else, or Rather not say | Helps Bonded understand who it is for. Never shown to anyone you connect with. |
| 4. Avatar | Character style and visual layers | Gives you a face in the app. There are no photos in Bonded. |
| 5. Profile (optional) | A one-line bio and one prompt answer | Gives friends something to read on your profile. You can skip it. |
| 6. Boundaries | Any topics to leave out | Keeps those topics from coming up at all. |
| 7. Notifications | Allow push notifications | Optional. Denying or skipping never blocks onboarding. |
| 8. Premium offer | Start Premium, restore a purchase, or continue free | A soft paywall. Continue with Starter finishes onboarding on the free tier. |
The badge renders on steps 1-7; the Premium offer is the eighth screen and shows none.
Username Rules
Your username must:
- Be at least 2 characters and no more than the field's limit.
- Use letters, numbers, dots, and underscores only. No spaces.
- Not include unsafe text such as URLs, email addresses, or phone-number-like strings.
- Not already be used by another account.
Spaces and unsupported characters are filtered out as you type.
Once set, a username can be changed roughly once every 14 days. See Your Profile and Prompts.
Boundaries
On the boundaries step you can tap topics you prefer to avoid — exes, money, family, future plans, sex/intimacy, religion, or politics. Choosing nothing is a valid answer, and the step never blocks. Either person can pass any card anyway; boundaries just keep those topics from coming up.
Onboarding Troubleshooting
| Problem | Meaning | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| Username is rejected | Too short, too long, unsafe, or contains spaces. | Use letters, numbers, dots, and underscores. |
| Username is taken | Another account already has it. | Try a variation. |
| Continue is disabled on the age step | No band is selected. | Choose an age band. |
| You chose Under 18 by mistake | The confirmation dialog appears before anything is deleted. | Tap Go back rather than Delete and exit. |
| Avatar does not load | Avatar assets or a network request did not load. | Retry on a stable connection. |
| Avatar does not save | The avatar configuration was incomplete or invalid. | Reopen the avatar builder, choose the required parts, and save again. |
| The optional profile step rejects your text | The bio or answer contains a link or blocked content. | Rewrite it without links. See the community rules. |
| You return to onboarding after sign-in | Onboarding is incomplete. | Continue from the screen Bonded opens. |
ONBOARDING_INCOMPLETE | Bonded cannot mark onboarding complete yet. | Finish the next required step shown by the app. |
Next steps
If this does not resolve the issue, check the related path below or use the support checklist with the exact error or screen name.
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