Everything you can do in Brane, answered in a sentence or two.
Brane is a chat app for meeting people near you who care about the same things you do. You pick your interests, Brane shows you people and Crowds that match, and you start talking. It runs on iPhone, on Android, and in any browser at brane.chat.
About Brane
What is Brane?
Brane is a location and interest based chat app. Instead of following people, you find them: by what they are into, and by how close they are. Conversations happen one to one or in Crowds, which are Brane's group chats.
Who is Brane for?
Anyone who wants to talk to people they have not met yet. People new to a city, people with a niche interest and nobody around them to share it with, and clubs, teams, communities and event organisers who need somewhere for their people to talk.
Is Brane a dating app?
No. Brane is for finding people to talk to, about the things you are into. There is no swiping and no matching on looks. Plenty of people use it to make friends in a new city or to find a local club, and it is built for that.
How is Brane different from WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is for the people you already have. You need someone's phone number before you can say a word to them. Brane is for the people you do not have yet. It finds them by shared interest and by distance, and you never exchange phone numbers to start talking, because Brane never asks for one.
Groups work the other way round too. A WhatsApp group is invite only and invisible to everyone outside it, so it can only ever grow by someone inside adding someone they know. A Crowd is public and discoverable by default: a stranger with the same interest finds it on the map or in search and joins in a tap.
And a Crowd does not have to live inside Brane. You can embed it on a website, so your club, team or event has its chat running on its own homepage. WhatsApp can give a site a link out to a group. Brane gives it the conversation itself.
How is Brane different from Telegram?
Telegram is a messenger. It carries a conversation once you already know who you want to talk to, or already know the name of the group you are hunting for. Brane is built around the question that comes before that one: who near me is into this?
So Brane starts with discovery, not with a contact list. Every person and every Crowd sits on a map, ranked by shared interest and by distance, so you find your people without knowing a single name, link or invite in advance. You join with an email address, and Brane never asks for a phone number.
Then Brane goes somewhere a messenger does not: onto your own website. A Crowd embeds into any page as a live chat panel, and a visitor signs in with an email code inside the panel and is talking in seconds, without leaving your site or installing anything. Linking out to Telegram sends your visitors away, and asks them for an account and a phone number before they can say hello. Brane also embeds one to one chats, so the same tool runs your support desk.
Is Brane free?
Yes. Creating an account, finding people, joining Crowds, sending messages and making your own Crowd are all free. Brane Premium is optional.
How does Brane make money?
Through Brane Premium, an optional subscription. The core app stays free.
Does Brane have ads?
No. There are no ads anywhere in Brane, and no advertising SDK in the app. Your feed is ordered by shared interest and distance, never by who paid to be in it.
Where is Brane based?
Melbourne, Australia.
Is Brane available on Android?
Yes. Get Brane on Google Play.
Is Brane available on iPhone?
Yes. Get Brane on the App Store.
Is Brane safe?
Brane never asks for your phone number or your real name. You sign up with an email address, you are known by a username you pick, and your display name and photo are yours to fill in or leave alone. On top of that, Brane is 18+, every profile and every message carries Block and Report, Crowd owners can delete messages and remove members, and your position on the map is approximate rather than exact and can be switched off completely.
Do I have to use my real name on Brane?
No. You pick a username, and your display name can be anything you like or nothing at all. Brane has no real name policy and nothing checks who you say you are.
Does Brane need my phone number?
No. Brane never asks for one, so nobody can find you by it and there is no number to leak. An email address is all you sign up with.
Getting started
How do I sign up for Brane?
Enter your email address. Brane sends you a six digit code, you type it in, and you are in. There is no password to invent or remember.
Do I need a password?
No. Brane signs you in with a six digit code sent to your email each time.
Can I sign in with Google or Apple?
Yes, in the Brane app on supported devices. Both buttons are on the sign in screen. In a browser the email code is the way in.
My sign in code has not arrived. What do I do?
Check your spam or junk folder first, codes usually land within a minute. If it is still missing, tap "Send a new code". Codes expire, so always use the newest one.
What information does Brane ask for when I sign up?
A username and date of birth, a profile photo, a short bio, up to five interests, and your location. Your photo, bio and interests can all be changed at any time.
Is there a minimum age for Brane?
Yes, Brane is 18+. Accounts are limited to adults and discovery never shows anyone under 18.
Can I use Brane on my computer?
Yes. Go to brane.chat in any browser and sign in with your email. It is the full Brane app, same account and same conversations as your phone, laid out for a wide screen with your chats down the side and the conversation open beside them.
Is there a Brane web app?
Yes, at brane.chat. Nothing to install and no extension to add, just open it and sign in with a six digit email code.
Can I use Brane without downloading anything?
Yes. brane.chat runs the whole app in your browser, so you can find people, join Crowds, send messages and share photos without installing an app.
What can I not do in the browser?
Three things. You cannot send video, push notifications do not reach a browser, and Premium is bought in the mobile app. Everything else works the same, including watching videos other people send.
Will I get notified of new messages on brane.chat?
No. A browser cannot receive Brane notifications, so unread counts only move while the tab is open and a reply can sit there unseen until you come back. That is how a promising new conversation goes cold.
Get the app and you will not miss one. Messages, waves and Crowd activity reach you the moment they are sent, even with Brane closed. It is free, it is the same account, and every conversation you have already started is waiting in it.
Get Brane on the App Store · Get Brane on Google Play
Finding people to talk to
How do I find people near me to talk to?
Open the Explore tab. It is a live map of the people and Crowds around you, and tapping any pin opens that profile so you can message or wave.
How do I find people with shared interests?
Open the People tab. It is your personal feed of people who share your interests, sorted nearest first, and it keeps loading further out as you scroll.
How do I search for someone by interest?
Type an interest into the search bar on People, Crowds or Explore. You can also tap any interest on someone's profile to search for everyone else who listed it.
Can I filter who I see?
Yes. The search filter lets you set a distance, an age range, and whether you want to see people, Crowds, or both.
How do I find someone by username?
Search their username in the People tab. Every profile also has a public link at brane.im/u/username that opens their profile directly.
What is a wave?
A wave is a one tap hello. It tells someone you are interested in talking without having to think of an opening line, and they get a notification.
How do I message someone for the first time?
Open their profile and tap Message. That starts a private one to one chat, no request or approval needed.
Why can I not see anyone nearby?
Usually because location is off. Brane needs device location to place you on the map, so turn it on in your phone settings and the map fills in.
How do I meet people in a new city?
Open Explore as soon as you land. Everyone and every Crowd around you is on the map, the People tab sorts your interest matches nearest first, and the Crowds tab shows the local groups and events. If you are moving somewhere and want to look before you arrive, use Search Globally to set the new city as your search origin.
Who can message me?
Anyone on Brane can send you a message or a wave, the same way you can message them. If you would rather someone did not, block them and they can no longer reach you.
Can I search from a different city?
Yes, with Brane Teleport. On the Explore map, tap Search Globally at the bottom of the screen and type an address. Explore, People and Crowds all recenter on it, and Return Home in the same dialog puts you back. You get two free teleports, then it is part of Premium.
Does teleporting move my pin for everyone else?
No. A teleport only changes what you see. Other people still see you where you actually are.
Chatting and messages
How do I reply to a specific message?
Press and hold the message and tap Reply. The message you are answering is quoted above yours so nobody loses the thread.
How do I react to a message?
Press and hold it and pick a reaction. Reaction counts show under the message.
Can I delete a message I sent?
Yes. Press and hold your message and choose Delete. Deletion cannot be undone.
How do I mute a chat or a Crowd?
Swipe the conversation in your chat list and tap Mute, or use the menu inside the chat. Muting stops push notifications only, so messages and unread counts still arrive and nothing is hidden from you.
How do I archive a conversation?
Swipe it in your chat list and tap Archive. Archived chats live in Settings, under Archived Chats, and can be restored at any time.
How do I leave a Crowd?
Open the Crowd, tap the menu in the top right, and choose Leave. You can rejoin any public Crowd later.
How do I block someone?
Press and hold one of their messages, or use the menu on their profile, and tap Block. They can no longer message you, and anything they sent while blocked stays hidden. Blocked people are listed in Settings so you can unblock them.
How do I report someone?
Use Report from the message menu or the profile menu. It opens Brane's report form with the details filled in.
Why can I still see someone I blocked in a Crowd?
Blocking applies to private chats. In a public Crowd everyone can see the conversation, so blocking does not remove their messages from the group. Leaving or muting the Crowd is the way out.
Photos, videos and attachments
How do I send a photo in a chat?
Tap the attachment button next to the message box and choose the image icon. You can crop it and add a caption before sending.
How do I send a video?
Same attachment button, video icon. Sending video is available in the mobile app only, not in the browser, and there is a size limit, so trim long clips before sending.
Why was my video rejected?
It is over the upload size limit. Trim it or pick a shorter clip and try again.
How many photos can I put on my profile?
Six, plus your profile photo. Tap any photo on a profile to open it full size.
Crowds (group chats)
What is a Crowd?
A Crowd is Brane's group chat. It has its own name, photo, description, location and interests, and anyone can find and join it unless it has a join code.
How do I create a group chat on Brane?
Go to the Crowds tab and tap the add button. You name the Crowd, add a photo and description, drop a pin for where it is based, tag it with interests, and it is live.
How do I create a group chat for my event?
Create a Crowd and turn on "Is this an event?". You then set a start and end time, and the event appears on the map and in search in the run up to it.
How do I add a group chat for my sports club or team?
Create a Crowd, drop the pin at your ground or usual meeting point, and tag it with your sport. Local people searching that interest will find it, and you can add a join code if you want it members only.
How do people join my Crowd?
They find it on the Crowds tab or the map and tap Join Crowd. You can also share its link, brane.im/c/crowd-name, anywhere you like.
How do I invite people to my Crowd?
Share its link. Every Crowd has one at brane.im/c/crowd-name, and Share Crowd in the chat menu hands it to you, ready to paste into a group chat, an email or a post. Anyone who opens it can join in a tap, and people who have never heard of Brane can still find the Crowd themselves on the Crowds tab or the map.
How do I make my Crowd private?
Open the Crowd menu and set a Join Code. Only people you give the code to can join. Remove the code to make it public again.
How do I find Crowds near me?
The Crowds tab shows Groups Near You, Most Popular Crowds, and Events Near You when there is an event within 100km. The Explore map shows Crowds as pins too.
Can I edit my Crowd after creating it?
Yes. The Crowd owner can edit the name, photo, description, location and interests from the chat menu.
How do I moderate my Crowd?
Crowd owners can delete any message, and kick a member with the option to ban them from rejoining. A ban cannot be undone.
How do I share my Crowd?
Use Share Crowd in the chat menu. It gives you a link that opens the Crowd for anyone who taps it.
Events
How do I list an event on Brane?
Create a Crowd with the event toggle on and set the start and end times. It then shows on the map and in search until it finishes.
How do I find events in my city?
Open the Crowds tab. Events Near You lists what is coming up within 100km, and the Explore map shows events as pins alongside everything else. To look at another city, set it as your search origin with Search Globally first.
What happens to an event after it ends?
It drops out of search and off the map, and the chat stays open so everyone who came can keep talking.
Can I sell tickets through Brane?
Not directly, but you can add a ticket link. Members then see a "Buy tickets" button on the event, pointing wherever you sell them.
Can people add my event to their calendar?
Yes. Add to Calendar is in the event's chat menu, and it adds the event with its real start and end times.
How do I change my event's date or time?
Open the event chat menu and choose Edit Event Times.
Putting Brane chat on your website
Can I embed a Brane chat on my website?
Yes. Any member of a Crowd can add one line of script to a site and the Crowd's chat opens in a panel on the page.
How do I get the embed code?
Open the Crowd, tap the chat menu, and choose Embed on Website. Brane emails you the snippet and the instructions. On a wide screen there is also an Embed On Website item in Settings, which opens the setup guide at brane.app/embed.
What does the embed snippet look like?
<script src="https://embed.brane.chat/embed.js"
data-crowd="northside-runners"
data-primary="#ff0066"
defer></script>Can I embed a one to one chat instead of a group?
Yes. Use data-user="username" instead of data-crowd and the panel opens a direct chat with that person, which is what a support widget wants.
Can I match the chat to my brand?
Yes. data-primary and data-secondary set the colours, data-theme picks light or dark, data-welcome sets the sign in message, and data-position moves the launcher to the left or right.
Can I use my own button instead of the floating bubble?
Yes. Set data-launcher="none" and open the panel yourself with window.Brane.open().
Do visitors need the Brane app to use the embed?
No. They sign in with an email code in the panel itself and can chat straight away in the browser.
Can I embed a Crowd that has a join code?
No. Crowds with a join code are not embeddable, because the panel has nowhere to ask for the code. Remove the join code to embed it.
Do I have to own the Crowd to embed it?
No. Any member of a public Crowd can embed it.
Your profile and interests
How do I edit my interests?
Go to the You tab, open your interests, and add or remove them. You can have up to five.
What are interests used for?
They are how Brane decides who to show you, and who sees you. Your People feed, your Crowd suggestions and the "someone nearby likes this too" notification are all built from them, so a good set of five is the difference between a useful feed and a random one.
Can I add my own interests?
Yes. Pick from the popular tags, or tap "add your own" and type any single word. If nobody has used it yet, you are the first, and the next person who adds it finds you.
Why only five interests?
Because they are matching signals, not a list of hobbies. Five keeps your matches sharp rather than diluting them.
Are my interests public?
Only the one you were matched on is ever shown to another person. The rest stay private.
How do I change my username or display name?
Settings, then "Edit Username & Display Name".
What is on my public profile?
Your display name, photo, bio, headline, website and photo gallery. It is also live on the web at brane.im/u/username.
How do I share my profile?
Use Share My Profile in Settings or the menu. It copies your brane.im link, which opens your profile in a browser and lets people message you from there.
How do I change my email address?
Settings, then Email address.
Notifications, privacy and safety
What notifications does Brane send?
New messages, waves, profile views, leaderboard updates, announcements, and a heads up when someone nearby shares one of your interests.
How do I turn notifications off?
Settings, then Preferences. You can switch message notifications and wave notifications separately. If notifications are off at the operating system level, Brane tells you and links you straight to the right settings screen.
What is public on Brane?
Your username, display name, photo, bio and gallery, which together make your profile, and it is also a web page at brane.im/u/username. Your email address and date of birth are not public, and neither are the interests you were not matched on.
How precise is the location Brane shows?
Approximate only. Maps show a fuzzy area rather than your exact position, and you can turn map sharing off entirely in Preferences.
How do I stop appearing on the map?
Settings, then Preferences, then turn off "Share location on map".
Why does Brane need my location?
To show you people, Crowds and events near you. Without it the map cannot open and discovery has nothing to sort by.
Can I use Brane on my phone and computer at the same time?
Yes. Sign in on as many devices as you like, your chats stay in sync across all of them.
How do I log out?
Settings, then Log out. On a phone it is in the menu drawer.
How do I delete my Brane account?
Settings, then Delete Account. Deletion cannot be undone.
What happens when I delete my account?
Your profile stops being reachable, on Brane and at your brane.im link, and you are removed from the Crowds you were in. It cannot be reversed, so signing up again starts a new account rather than restoring the old one.
Brane Premium
What is Brane Premium?
A subscription that adds a verified blue tick, unlimited Brane Teleport, priority in search and discovery, and early access to new features.
What does the verified tick mean?
It marks the account as verified. Premium subscribers get it automatically, and it is also granted manually in some cases.
Can I subscribe to Premium in the browser?
No. Subscriptions go through the App Store and Google Play, so buy Premium in the mobile app. Once it is active your verified tick and unlimited Teleport follow your account everywhere you sign in, brane.chat included.
How do I restore a purchase?
Open Brane Premium from Settings and tap Restore purchases.
Troubleshooting
The map will not open.
Brane needs device location for the map. Turn location on for Brane in your phone settings, and the map opens itself as soon as the permission lands.
I am not getting notifications.
Check Settings, then Preferences. If the operating system is blocking them, Brane shows a banner there with a button that takes you to the right place.
How do I zoom the map on desktop?
Scroll with your mouse wheel, pinch on a trackpad, or use the plus, minus and slider controls at the bottom right of the map.
I need help with something else.
Settings, then Support.