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Help Center

Learn how to get the most out of Thumbly

📚 Quick Navigation

🚀 Getting Started

Downloading & Installing

Thumbly is available for iOS and Android. Download from your device's app store and follow the installation instructions.

Creating Your Account

  1. Open Thumbly and enter your email address
  2. Check your email for a login code (no password needed!)
  3. Enter the code to verify your email
  4. Set up your profile with username, display name, and photo

💡 Pro Tip: Use a real email address - you'll need it to log back in if you switch devices!

📝 Creating Polls

Types of Polls

Thumbly supports both image and text-only polls:

  • Image Polls: Upload a single photo and ask a question about it.
  • Side-by-Side Polls: Upload two photos to create a head-to-head comparison poll.
  • Text Polls: Ask questions without any images.

How to Create a Poll

  1. Tap the "+" button on the home screen
  2. Upload your first image. To create a side-by-side poll, tap the second image slot to add a comparison photo. Or, toggle "Text Only" for a text-based poll.
  3. Write your question (10-150 characters)
  4. Select a category
  5. Choose your vote style (Yes/No, Hot/Not, Buy/Pass, Love/Hate, Left/Right, Good/Bad)
  6. Choose who can see your poll (Public or Friends Only)
  7. Tap "Post Poll" to share it!

Poll Categories

Categories help organize content and help others find your polls. Text-only polls display beautiful gradient backgrounds based on category:

  • 👗 Fashion: Outfit choices, style questions
  • 🍕 Food & Drink: Recipe ideas, restaurant choices
  • 💄 Beauty: Makeup, skincare, beauty tips
  • 💕 Dating & Relationships: Relationship advice
  • 🏠 Lifestyle: Daily decisions, habits, home & DIY
  • 🎬 Entertainment: Movies, music, shows
  • 🏋️ Fitness & Health: Workout choices, health decisions
  • ✈️ Travel: Destination picks, travel plans
  • 🐾 Pets & Animals: Pet-related questions
  • 💰 Money & Finance: Purchase decisions, financial choices
  • 💼 Work & Productivity: Career advice, productivity tips
  • 📱 Tech & Gadgets: Technology, gadgets, apps
  • 🗳️ Politics & Society: Social issues, civic topics
  • 💭 Random: Anything else!

⚠️ Community Guidelines: Be respectful, keep it appropriate, and don't share personal information. Violating content will be removed.

👍 Voting on Polls

How to Vote

Voting is simple and instant:

  • 👍 Thumbs Up: You agree or like it
  • 👎 Thumbs Down: You disagree or don't like it
  • ⏭️ Skip: Don't want to vote? Just swipe to the next poll

Voting Rules

  • You can only vote once per poll
  • Poll creators get notified when you vote and can see your vote
  • Your friends can see how you voted on polls
  • Poll creators cannot vote on their own polls

Viewing Results

After voting, you'll see the current results:

  • Percentage breakdown of thumbs up vs thumbs down
  • Total number of votes
  • Comments from other users

🔍 Discovering Polls

Home Feed

Your main feed shows polls you haven't voted on yet:

  • Public polls from the community
  • Polls from people you follow
  • Filter by category using the tabs

Friends Feed

Switch to the Friends tab to see polls only from people you follow.

Search

Find users by searching for their username or display name in the search tab.

👤 Your Profile

Profile Information

Your profile includes:

  • Username: Unique identifier (@username)
  • Display Name: Your real name or nickname
  • Bio: Short description (max 150 characters)
  • Profile Picture: Photo or avatar

Editing Your Profile

  1. Go to Settings → Edit Profile
  2. Update any information you'd like to change
  3. Tap "Save Changes"

💡 Note: You can change your username only once every 30 days to prevent confusion.

Profile Statistics

Track your activity with:

  • Polls created
  • Total votes received
  • Total comments received
  • Followers and following count

My Activity

View your activity history including:

  • Polls you've voted on
  • Comments you've made

🔥 Streaks

What Are Streaks?

Streaks track your consecutive days of activity on Thumbly. Every day you vote on polls or create content, your streak increases by one day.

How Streaks Work

  • Building a Streak: Vote on at least one poll or create a poll each day to maintain your streak
  • Streak Display: Your current streak appears on your profile with a 🔥 fire emoji
  • Losing a Streak: If you miss a day without any activity, your streak resets to zero
  • Visibility: Your streak is visible to everyone who views your profile

💡 Pro Tip: Set a daily reminder to vote on at least one poll to keep your streak alive!

Why Streaks Matter

Streaks are a fun way to stay engaged with the community. Users with high streaks appear on the Leaderboard, showing their dedication to the Thumbly community.

🏆 Leaderboard

What Is the Leaderboard?

The Leaderboard showcases the most active and engaged members of the Thumbly community. It's a great way to discover active users and see how you rank!

Leaderboard Categories

There are three ways to climb the leaderboard:

  • 🔥 Top Streaks: Users with the longest consecutive day streaks of activity
  • 🏆 Top Creators: Users who have created the most polls this month
  • ⭐ Most Engaged: Users who have received the most votes on their polls this month

How Rankings Work

  • Top 3 users in each category receive gold 🥇, silver 🥈, and bronze 🥉 medals
  • Your own ranking is highlighted with a purple border when you appear on the leaderboard
  • Tap any user to visit their profile
  • Pull down to refresh and see the latest rankings
  • Rankings update regularly throughout the day

Accessing the Leaderboard

Find the Leaderboard in the Discover tab of the app. Switch between the three categories using the tabs at the top.

💡 Pro Tip: Stay active daily to climb the Streaks leaderboard, create quality polls to top the Creators board, and create engaging content to lead the Most Engaged rankings!

🎨 Custom Vote Styles

What Are Vote Styles?

Vote styles let you customize how people respond to your polls. Instead of just "Yes/No", you can choose from multiple voting options that match your poll's context.

Available Vote Styles

  • 👍 Yes / 👎 No: The classic choice - perfect for general questions
  • 🔥 Hot / ❄️ Not: Great for fashion, style, and attractiveness polls
  • ✅ Buy / ❌ Pass: Ideal for shopping decisions and product recommendations
  • 💚 Love / 💔 Hate: Express strong opinions on food, entertainment, and more
  • 👉 Right / 👈 Left: Perfect for "which one" comparison polls
  • 👍 Good / 👎 Bad: Simple quality judgments

How to Choose a Vote Style

  1. When creating a poll, look for the vote style selector
  2. Tap to see all available options
  3. Select the style that best fits your question
  4. The vote buttons will display your chosen style

Best Practices

  • Match the context: Use "Hot/Not" for fashion, "Buy/Pass" for shopping
  • Keep it clear: Make sure your question works with the vote style you choose
  • Be creative: Try different styles to see what gets the best engagement

💡 Pro Tip: Fashion polls get more engagement with "Hot/Not", while shopping questions work best with "Buy/Pass"!

🤝 Find Similar Users

What Is User Similarity?

Thumbly uses AI to analyze your voting patterns and find users who vote like you. This helps you discover people with similar tastes, opinions, and perspectives.

How It Works

  • The system compares your votes with other users' votes on the same polls
  • Users who vote similarly to you are ranked by similarity score
  • The more polls you vote on, the better the recommendations
  • Similarity scores update regularly as you vote on more polls

Finding Similar Users

Similar users appear in several places:

  • Suggested Users: Check the Discover tab for personalized recommendations
  • Friend Suggestions: Users with high similarity scores are suggested as potential friends
  • Profile Insights: See how similar you are to users you're viewing

Why It Matters

  • Better Connections: Follow people who share your tastes
  • Relevant Content: See polls from users with similar interests
  • Community Building: Find your tribe within Thumbly
  • Discover New Perspectives: Connect with like-minded users worldwide

💡 Pro Tip: Vote on at least 20-30 polls to get accurate similarity recommendations. The more you vote, the better the matches!

👥 Social Features

Following Users

Connect with others by:

  • Searching for their username
  • Tapping their profile from polls or comments
  • Browsing suggested users

Following & Follow Requests

  • Public Profiles: Follow instantly - you'll see their polls in your feed
  • Private Profiles: Your follow request must be approved first
  • Mutual Following: When you both follow each other, you're connected as friends

Messaging

Chat with other users:

  • Tap the "Message" button on any user's profile
  • Messages from people you don't follow appear in "Requests"
  • Accept message requests to continue the conversation

Blocking Users

If someone bothers you:

  1. Go to their profile
  2. Tap the menu (⋯)
  3. Select "Block User"

Blocked users can't see your polls or contact you.

🔒 Privacy Settings

Profile Visibility

  • Public: Anyone can find and follow you
  • Private: Only approved followers see your polls

Poll Visibility

Control who sees each poll when you create it:

  • Public: Everyone can see and vote
  • Friends: Only people who follow you can see and vote

Comment Settings

Choose who can comment on your polls:

  • Everyone: All users can comment
  • People I Follow: Only people you follow can comment
  • No One: Comments disabled entirely

💡 Note: When you switch to a private profile, new followers will need your approval before they can see your content.

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Can't log in

  • Check your email for the login code (check spam folder)
  • Links expire after 1 hour - request a new one
  • Make sure you're using the correct email address

Polls not loading

  • Check your internet connection
  • Pull down to refresh the feed
  • Restart the app

Can't upload images

  • Check camera permissions in settings
  • Make sure images are under 10MB
  • Try using a different photo

Notifications not working

  • Enable notifications in phone settings
  • Check in-app notification preferences
  • Make sure Do Not Disturb is off

Account Issues

Forgot email

If you can't remember which email you used:

  • Try all your email addresses
  • Check if you have any Thumbly notifications
  • Contact support if you're still stuck

Want to delete your account?

You can delete your account in Settings → Delete Account. This permanently removes:

  • Your profile and all data
  • All polls you created
  • Your votes and comments
  • Messages and conversations

⚠️ Warning: Account deletion is permanent and cannot be undone!

Need More Help?

If you're still having trouble:

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Is Thumbly really free?

Yes! Thumbly is completely free to use. We may offer premium features in the future, but the core experience will always be free.

Can I change my vote?

No, votes are final once cast. This ensures poll results remain accurate and trustworthy.

Who can see my votes?

Your votes are visible to the poll creator (they get notified) and to your friends. You can also see how your friends voted on polls you've both interacted with.

Can I delete a poll after creating it?

Yes, you can delete your own polls at any time. This removes the poll and all associated votes and comments permanently.

What's not allowed on Thumbly?

We don't allow hate speech, harassment, explicit content, spam, or anything that violates our Community Guidelines.

How do I report inappropriate content?

Tap the menu (⋯) on any poll or comment and select "Report." We review all reports within 24 hours.