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Orthodate is now on Google Play: how to install the Android app, what it asks for and how to set it up safely

The Orthodate Android app is live on Google Play. How to install the real app, what each permission is for, how to manage notifications, billing and your data.

By Orthodate Editorial20 minute read

On 8 October 2026, the Orthodate Android app left early access and became available to everybody on Google Play. The listing is called Orthodate: Orthodox Dating, it sits in the Dating category, it is free to install, and it signs in to the same account as the website, so photographs, preferences, matches and conversations are already there. Until now Orthodate has been a website, and a website is an awkward place to keep something you check after Liturgy or on the way home. This page covers the news and then the practical questions that follow when any dating app lands on your phone: how to be sure you have installed the real one, what the camera and location permissions are for, how to keep notifications from taking over your day, how billing works if you subscribe on Android, where your data goes, and how to delete the account if you ever want to. It is written for people who have not used the app yet and for people who have used it for weeks.

At a glance

Key takeaways

  • The Orthodate Android app is now publicly available on Google Play as Orthodate: Orthodox Dating, under the package name co.orthodate.app, and installs with the same account as the website.
  • Install it only from the Google Play listing linked on the official site, and be wary of any file, link or message that offers the app, a premium version or a verification badge from anywhere else.
  • The camera, location and notification permissions each have a stated purpose and can be changed in Android settings at any time, so grant what you are comfortable with and review it afterwards.

1. What has happened, and what it means for you

The Android app opened in early access on Google Play on 2 October and came out of testing on 8 October, so the listing is now open to everybody. That is the whole of the news, and it is mostly a matter of convenience. The app is the same service as the website, with the same daily batch of profiles, the same photo verification, the same parish directory and the same chat. It is not a cut-down companion that sends you back to a browser for the real work.

What a native app adds is the things a browser cannot do well. It can send a notification when somebody likes you, matches with you or writes to you. It can use the camera directly for profile photos and for the selfie check that earns the verified mark. It can use your phone’s location to show people nearby, without asking you to type a city. And it lives where you already spend your attention, as an icon on the home screen, which for some people is a convenience and for others a reason to be careful, as the last sections discuss.

It is free to install. The Google Play listing declares in-app purchases, which means that Orthodate’s paid plans can be bought inside the app, and nothing obliges you to do so. The free experience in the app is the same free experience you have in a browser.

There is no iPhone app yet. It is being built, and Android came first because it was ready first. In the meantime, Orthodate runs properly in Safari on an iPhone, and you can add it to your home screen from the share menu for an icon that behaves very much like an app.

2. How to install it, and how to be sure it is the real app

Fake and cloned apps are a recurring problem on every platform, and a dating app is an attractive thing to imitate, because people are trusting and are about to hand over photographs and personal details. A few habits take a minute and remove almost all of the risk.

  • Go to the listing from the official site. The page at orthodate.co/android links to the Google Play listing, and starting there means you are not relying on a search result.
  • Check the name and the developer. The app is called Orthodate: Orthodox Dating and the developer name on the listing is Orthodate. A near-match with a different developer name, a misspelling or extra words such as “Pro”, “Premium” or “Verified” is a warning sign.
  • Check the package name. Google Play web addresses end in the app’s package name, and the real app’s is co.orthodate.app. If the address says anything else, it is not this app.
  • Install only from Google Play. Do not install an APK file that somebody sends you, that you find on a forum or that arrives by message, and do not turn off Play Protect to make an install work. A legitimate release does not need you to.
  • Leave Play Protect on. Google Play Protect scans apps on your device for harmful behaviour, and it is on by default. It is one of the reasons that a Google Play install is safer than a file downloaded from the web.
  • Treat any “unlock” offer as a scam. Nobody can give you free premium access, a verified badge or extra likes through a file, a link or a chat. Only the app and the website do that, and only through the ordinary purchase screens.

3. Signing in, and what you are asked to do first

If you already have an account, sign in with the same email address, using the code the app sends, or with the Google account that you used on the website. Everything on the account will be there: your photographs, your answers, your preferences, your matches and your messages. There is nothing to move and no second account to create.

If you are new, you can sign up in the app. A new account asks you to confirm an email address and a phone number, and then takes you through a profile: photographs, a short description of yourself, the faith questions, and what you are looking for. The profile is the part that takes time, and it is worth taking time over, since a specific profile gets better replies than a hurried one. The guide to writing a profile covers it.

After that comes the daily batch. Orthodate shows a limited number of profiles each day, chosen for you, and not an endless feed. You can like or pass, and a like becomes a match only if the other person likes you back. Because the batch is limited, the app is easier to close, which is a design choice and a good one, as the section on healthy use explains.

4. The permissions, one by one

Android asks you for permission at the moment the app first needs something, and you can say no. Understanding what each request is for makes the decision easier. The app’s own explanations are short, and they are reproduced here with some context.

Camera. The app says it uses the camera “so you can take profile photos and verify that they are really you.” You can use it to take a photograph for your profile instead of choosing one from your gallery, and you need it for the selfie check, which asks you to take a short sequence of pictures to show that the person in your photographs is the person using the account. If you would rather not use the camera at all, you can still choose photographs from your gallery, but you will not be able to earn the verified mark until you allow it.

Location. The app says it uses your location “to show you Orthodox singles near you,” and adds that your exact position is never shown to anyone. Orthodate shows people within a distance you set, and the app reads your location when you ask it to set your city, which gives it the point that distance is measured from. Android offers two levels, precise and approximate, and an approximate location is enough for finding people in your area. Choose approximate if you would rather not share your precise position, and choose “only while using the app” instead of “all the time”.

Notifications. On Android 13 and later, an app must ask before it can send notifications, and you will see a prompt the first time. Orthodate sends notifications for likes, matches and messages, and nothing else. The next section explains how to choose which of those you receive.

Photos. To add pictures to your profile, you choose them from your gallery. You can allow access to selected photos only, and not your whole library, where Android offers that choice.

You can change any of these at any time. Android’s settings list each app’s permissions, and Google’s help page on app permissions explains how to review them. If you change your mind after saying no, it takes a few taps to say yes.

5. Notifications that help, and keeping them from running your day

A notification is the single most powerful feature of a phone app and the one most likely to be abused. On a dating app in particular, a stream of alerts can make you check the app twenty times a day, and that is where fatigue and anxiety come from. The app’s notification screen is built around the opposite idea, which is stated on it: “We stay quiet while you are already in the app.”

Inside Orthodate, open Settings and then Notifications. You can turn push notifications on or off separately for likes, for matches and for messages, and you can do the same for the emails. Many people find that the best arrangement is matches and messages on, and likes off, because a message needs an answer and a like can wait for the next time you open the app.

Android has controls of its own, which are worth setting alongside the app’s. In your phone’s settings, under notifications, you can usually hide the content of messages on the lock screen, which is a sensible precaution if your phone is visible at work or at the dinner table. You can also set a schedule for Do Not Disturb, for example during the Liturgy, during a fast-day meal or overnight, and you can choose which apps are allowed to break through. The exact menu names vary between phone makers, so search the settings for “notifications” and “Do Not Disturb”.

If notifications stop arriving, the usual cause is a battery setting. Some phones aggressively stop background apps, and the fix is to allow the app to run in the background, or to remove it from any battery-saving list. The other common cause is a permission that was refused the first time, which can be restored in the app’s settings.

6. The selfie check on a phone

Photo verification is the feature that most often needs the camera, and it is also the one that most improves how much people trust a profile. A verified mark tells another member that the person in the photographs is the person who took the check. It does not say anything about their character, their honesty or the state of their faith, and it should be read as one signal among several.

The check works by asking you to take a short sequence of pictures, including a particular pose, in good light with your face clearly visible. A few simple things make it succeed first time. Use daylight or a bright room, take off sunglasses and hats, hold the phone at eye level, keep your face in the frame, and follow the on-screen instruction for the pose. A reviewer looks at the result, so the check can take a short while.

The privacy side is covered in the privacy policy, which says what is kept and for how long. If you have questions about it, the contact form reaches a person, and the guide to online dating privacy explains what to ask any app that asks for your face.

7. If you subscribe on Android: how billing works

Orthodate has two paid plans, and both can be bought inside the Android app. A purchase made in the app is billed by Google Play, in the same way as any other subscription on your phone, and appears in your Google Play payment history. A subscription bought on the website is billed there instead, and is managed on the website.

To review or cancel a subscription bought through Google Play, open the Play Store, tap your profile picture, and go to Payments and subscriptions and then Subscriptions. Google’s help page on managing subscriptions explains each step, including how to pause or change one. Uninstalling the app does not cancel a subscription, which is a common surprise, so cancel in Google Play before you delete anything.

Inside Orthodate, the Subscription section of Settings shows which plan you have and offers to manage it. If the app and Google Play ever disagree about whether you are subscribed, restart the app, and if the difference remains, use the contact form and say which account you bought it on.

The refund policy on the website describes how refunds work. For purchases made through Google Play, Google’s own refund rules also apply. It is worth reading both before you buy, and it is worth knowing that a free account is perfectly usable.

8. Your data: what the listing says, and how to check it yourself

Every app on Google Play carries a Data safety section, in which the developer declares what the app collects, whether it is shared and what security practices it follows. At the time of writing, the Orthodate listing states that no data is shared with third parties, that data is encrypted in transit and that you can request that your data be deleted. It also lists the types of data the app may collect, including location and personal information.

It is worth reading that section for any app you install, and for this one, because the developer provides the information and may update it. Google makes the point itself, noting that the declarations are made by the developer. The privacy policy on orthodate.co is the fuller account, and the two should agree. If you notice that they do not, tell the team.

Deleting an account is a separate action from deleting the app. Removing the app from your phone does not remove your profile, which remains visible to other members. To delete the account, open Settings, then Account, then Personal details, then Account ownership and control, and choose Delete account. The process asks you to confirm, and it removes your profile and photographs. The path is deliberately not on the front screen, and it is also not hidden.

If you just want a break, the same screen offers to sign you out. A better way to take a break, for most people, is to pause by not opening the app, since the daily batch will be waiting when you return and nothing is lost.

9. App or browser: which should you use?

You can use both, and many people do. The account is the same, so a like you send in the app is a like on the website, and a message you read on your phone has been read on your laptop. The differences are practical.

  • Use the app for notifications, for the camera and for location. It is also the quickest route to the daily batch, since it opens from an icon and remembers you.
  • Use the browser for long writing. Editing a profile or composing a long message is easier on a keyboard, and the website has the fullest set of settings.
  • Use the browser on an iPhone. There is no iOS app yet, and the website works properly in Safari. Add it to your home screen from the share menu for a quick icon.
  • Use either for the parish directory. The map of more than 1,700 Orthodox parishes across the United States and Canada works in both, and on a phone it is useful when you are travelling.
  • Sign out of shared devices. If you ever use the website on a computer that other people use, sign out when you are finished. On your own phone, a screen lock is enough.

10. Using it well: habits for a dating app on your phone

A dating app on your home screen is a habit waiting to form, and the habit you choose matters more than the app. A few simple rules make a large difference.

Set a time for it. Many people find that ten or fifteen minutes in the evening is enough for a daily batch of profiles, and that checking it in the morning or during the day mostly produces anxiety. Because Orthodate gives you a limited batch, you can finish and close it, and that is the intended use.

Keep it out of the services. A phone is not a prayer book, and a notification in the middle of the Liturgy is a distraction for everyone. Put the phone on silent when you enter the church, and leave the app alone until you have left.

Look at people properly. A few profiles read carefully, with a thoughtful reply to something specific, is a better use of time than swiping. Many of the best conversations begin with a reply to one particular line in a profile.

Move on from the screen. A dating app is a way of being introduced, and the aim is to meet. After a week or two of good conversation, suggest a short video call, and then a meeting in public in daylight. The guides on video calls and first meetings cover the safety steps.

Notice how you feel. If the app leaves you anxious, comparing yourself with others or checking it compulsively, take a break. The guide to dating app burnout gives some practical ways to step back, and speaking to a priest or a friend about it is a good idea.

11. Staying safe once you are in

Installing the right app is the first step, and the rest of the safety work is the same on any platform. The Federal Trade Commission describes the pattern of romance scams as a person who builds a relationship quickly, moves the conversation off the platform and then asks for money, and it is worth keeping in mind that the early warning sign is often how fast the person wants to leave the app.

Be cautious of anyone who asks you to move to another messaging service within the first few messages, who will not video call, who has a story that explains why they cannot meet, or who asks for money, gift cards, cryptocurrency or help with a financial emergency. No genuine member, and no person from Orthodate, will ever need that from you. Use the report option in the app, which sends the profile to the team, and block the person.

Do not give your phone number, home address, workplace or financial details early, and do not share explicit images. If someone threatens you with images, do not pay, and the guide on sextortion explains what to do. If anything about a profile troubles you, trust it and report it.

Photo verification helps, but it does not guarantee that the person is honest, and a verified mark is not a substitute for ordinary care. The guides on romance scams and on checking a profile give a longer list of checks.

12. If something does not work

Most problems have simple causes. If the app will not install, check that Google Play is up to date, that you have enough storage, and that the app is offered in your country. Google Play restricts a handful of countries, and Orthodate cannot be offered in a few more, in which case the website remains available. If it installs but will not open, restart the phone and install any pending updates.

If you do not receive the sign-in code, check your spam folder and wait a minute before asking for another, since each request replaces the last. If you sign in with Google, make sure it is the same Google account that you used before. If the camera shows a black screen, check that the permission is granted and that no other app is using the camera. If your location seems wrong, check that location is switched on, and consider switching to a precise location for a moment so that the app can find you.

If none of this helps, use the contact form on the website. It reaches a person, and a message that says what phone you have, what you were doing and what you saw is answered faster than one that says only that it does not work. If you have an idea for the app, the feedback board is the place to suggest it.

A ten-minute setup that keeps the app quiet and safe

Do this once, when you first install the app. It takes about ten minutes, and it is much easier to do on day one than to remember later.

  1. Step 1

    Install from the official link

    Open orthodate.co/android, follow the link to Google Play, check that the developer is Orthodate and that the package name in the address is co.orthodate.app, then tap Install. Leave Play Protect on.

  2. Step 2

    Grant only what you are comfortable with

    Allow the camera if you want to take photographs and earn the verified mark. Choose approximate location and “only while using the app” unless you want more. Allow notifications, and plan to narrow them in the next step.

  3. Step 3

    Set your notifications in the app

    Open Settings, then Notifications. Keep matches and messages on, and consider switching likes off. Then use your phone’s own settings to hide message content on the lock screen and set Do Not Disturb for services and meals.

  4. Step 4

    Choose a time, and keep it

    Decide when you will open the app each day, for example fifteen minutes after supper. Put a reminder in your calendar if it helps. Close it when you have looked at the daily batch.

  5. Step 5

    Know your exits

    Find the subscription controls in Google Play if you ever buy a plan, and the Delete account screen under Settings, Account, Personal details and Account ownership and control. You may never need either, but it is calming to know where they are.

Common questions

Is the Orthodate app on Google Play?

Yes. The Android app is called Orthodate: Orthodox Dating, and has been available to everybody on Google Play since 8 October 2026, after a short early-access period that began on 2 October. Its package name is co.orthodate.app, and the install page at orthodate.co/android links to the listing.

Is the Orthodate app free?

Installing it is free, and the free experience in the app is the same as in a browser. The listing declares in-app purchases, because Orthodate has paid plans that can be bought in the app, but nothing requires you to buy one. A subscription bought in the app is billed through Google Play.

Is there an Orthodate app for iPhone?

Not yet. An iOS app is being built, and Android came first because it was ready first. Until it arrives, Orthodate runs in Safari on an iPhone, and you can add it to your home screen from the share menu to get an icon that behaves much like an app.

Do I need a new account for the app?

No. Sign in with the same email address, or the same Google account, that you used on the website, and your photographs, preferences, matches and messages are all there. If you are new, you can sign up inside the app and the account will also work on the website.

Why does the app ask for my camera and location?

The camera is for taking profile photographs and for the selfie check that earns the verified mark. Location is used to show you people within the distance you set, and the app says your exact position is never shown to anyone. You can choose approximate location, and you can change any permission later in Android settings.

How do I make sure I have the real app and not a fake?

Open the Google Play listing from orthodate.co/android, check that the app is called Orthodate: Orthodox Dating, that the developer is Orthodate, and that the package name in the web address is co.orthodate.app. Never install an APK sent to you or found elsewhere, and leave Google Play Protect switched on.

How do I delete my account if I uninstall the app?

Uninstalling does not delete the account. Open Settings in the app, then Account, then Personal details, then Account ownership and control, and choose Delete account. If you have already uninstalled, sign in on the website and use the same path in Settings. Cancel any Google Play subscription first, since deleting the app does not cancel it.

Sources and further reading

Pastoral practice can vary by diocese and jurisdiction. For questions about your circumstances, speak with the priest responsible for your pastoral care.