There's a pickup soccer game three blocks from my apartment I never knew existed. I've been five times.
M
Marcus T.
Oakland · since Feb
Oakland · since Feb
Now in Kansas City, Nashville & Kalamazoo
Lose your phone,
find your people.
disconnectd shows you what's actually happening in your neighborhood this week, and helps you show up even when you don't know anyone going.
✓ Free. iOS and Android. ✓ 18+ ✓ Phone number. Nothing else.
Saturday, somewhere nearby IMG_0417
Thu · 7pm Open mic
Sat · 10am Park picnic
0.4 mi away 14 going →
The problem
The bar closed. The rec center became condos. The coffee shop doesn't have chairs anymore. We kept the phones, and somehow ended up more alone than ever.
Feed apps are for watching. Group chats are for people you already know. Neither one gets you out the door on a Tuesday night. So we made the thing that does.
A small protest against the couch
The receipts
We spent fifteen years testing social media on ourselves. The results are in.
The platforms said they'd connect us. Instead they built slot machines, pointed them at our kids, and sold the attention to the highest bidder. None of this is a conspiracy. It's the business model.
No. 01
They turned friendship into a feed.
Relationships used to happen in rooms. Now they happen in a ranked list, sorted by whatever keeps you scrolling. The quiet friend disappears. The loudest stranger wins. You call it "keeping in touch." It isn't.
No. 02
They sold outrage because it paid better than joy.
Anger travels faster than agreement. The feed learned this and optimized for it. A decade later, you can't remember what you were mad about last Tuesday, but you were definitely mad.
No. 03
They taught a generation of teenagers to hate their own faces.
Teen girls reporting serious psychological distress has roughly doubled since the smartphone feed era began. Boys aren't far behind. The companies ran the studies. They kept the products.
No. 04
They replaced your neighbors with strangers paid to perform.
You know more about an influencer in Los Angeles than the person two doors down. You've seen their kitchen. You've never been in your neighbor's. That is not an accident, and it is not symmetrical.
No. 05
They made loneliness a subscription.
The more time you spend on the feed, the less time you spend with people. The less time you spend with people, the lonelier you get. The lonelier you get, the more you open the app. That's not a bug. That's the loop.
No. 06
They called themselves social.
A thing is social if it gets you in a room with other humans. By that standard, the bowling league is social and the feed is not. We've been confused about this for long enough.
We're not here to take down the internet. We're here to get you off of it for a couple hours a week.
Filed · April 2026How it works
Three taps
and a front door.
No profile to curate. No feed to scroll. Just what's happening within walking distance, and a way to say you're coming.
01 / See
What's happening, within a mile.
Open the app. See real events posted by people who live near you, this week, this block, this afternoon.
02 / Tap
Say you're coming. That's the whole commitment.
One tap to RSVP. No messaging, no "let me check my cal." If plans change, untap. No drama.
03 / Show up
Walk out the door.
The hard part's over.
The hard part's over.
You'll get a quiet reminder an hour before. No group chat. No pressure. Just a place to be.
Why it's different
You already have five apps.
None of them do this.
iMessage, Signal, WhatsApp
Great for coordinating Saturday brunch with the same five people.
People you already know
Instagram, TikTok
A window into strangers' lives. You watch. You don't go.
Watching, not going
Hinge, Tinder, Bumble
Those are for dating. This isn't that.
Dating
Calendar, Partiful
For planning parties. Not for finding a pickup game at 6pm.
Invitations, not discovery
disconnectd
The only one built for walking out your door and meeting people at something real.
That
What you'll find on it
Normal stuff with the people who live here.
No influencers. No activations. No brand pop-ups. Just the things your neighbors are already doing, and would like a couple more people to show up to.
run clubs
Run clubs
bookstore readings
Bookstore readings
pickup basketball
Pickup basketball
pottery night
Pottery night
open mics
Open mics
board game night
Board game night
beach cleanups
Beach cleanups
supper clubs
Supper clubs
Trust & privacy
Meeting strangers should feel like 2005, not 2025.
We built disconnectd for people who want their phone to do less, not more. Here's what that means in practice.
18+
Adults only. ID isn't required, but we enforce age rules and remove minors on sight.
1×
One phone number to sign up. No email, no social login, no password to forget.
0
Zero contacts uploaded. Your phonebook stays on your phone, always.
US
United States only for v1. We'll expand carefully, city by city.
Early users · 9 cities
I moved here in August and hadn't spoken to a stranger in six weeks. On a Wednesday I went to a run club and now I have people.
— Nora M., Queens · disconnectd user since beta
I made two actual friends. Not internet friends. Friends who help you move.
P
Priya R.
Austin · since Dec
Austin · since Dec
My screen time dropped 4 hours a week. I'm not kidding.
D
Dev K.
Nashville · since Jan
Nashville · since Jan
I'm 62. I found a walking group. We're now also a book club. Somehow.
E
Eleanor W.
Kalamazoo · since Nov
Kalamazoo · since Nov
It felt weird for about six minutes and then I was eating pierogis with strangers.
A
Alex J.
Kansas City · since Mar
Kansas City · since Mar
Finally, an app that wants me to close it.
S
Sam L.
Brooklyn · beta
Brooklyn · beta
Showed up alone to an open mic. Left with six phone numbers and a ride home.
J
Jade M.
Queens · since Oct
Queens · since Oct
I live above a coffee shop. I'd never been inside until disconnectd told me about a board game night there.
T
Tom B.
Austin · since Feb
Austin · since Feb
My partner and I moved for her job. This is how we found our people.
R
Rhea S.
Oakland · since Jan
Oakland · since Jan
41%
of users went to 2+ events in their first month
3.2x
more likely to meet a neighbor vs. a feed app
87%
said they felt less lonely after 30 days
4.6★
App Store rating across 1,200+ reviews
From the team
Things we're thinking about.
The nostalgia of the late 90s and early 00s.
A Saturday morning with no alarm, no algorithm, and nowhere to be. What we lost, and what's worth finding again.
Read the letterThe most connected generation in history is also the loneliest.
We have more ways to reach each other than ever before. So why does it feel like nobody is really there?
Read the letterBefore the phones: a Saturday in 1999.
Cartoons. Cinnamon rolls. Bike rides with no plan. Blockbuster on a Friday. Nobody was performing. That feeling didn't disappear — it's just waiting.
Read the letter
There's something on
tonight.
Download disconnectd, put in your zip, and see. If nothing's in your city yet, leave your number and you'll be the first one in.