Support & Instructions

🚀 Getting Started

PawPals is free to use and takes less than two minutes to set up. Here's how to get going.

Creating your account

🐕 Adding Your Dog

Adding your dog lets other owners know who's coming on walks. You can add multiple dogs.

🔍 Exploring Walks

The Explore tab shows all upcoming walks in your area, sorted by date.

Searching

Use the search bar at the top to search by walk title or location. Results update as you type.

Filtering

Tap the filter icon (top right of the search bar) to open the filter panel. You can filter by:

Tap Apply Filters to see filtered results. The filter button shows a badge with the number of active filters. Tap Reset all to clear them.

Notifications

Tap the bell icon in the top right to see new walks that have been posted near you.

✅ RSVPing to a Walk

🗺️ Creating a Walk

Anyone can organise a walk. Tap the Create tab at the bottom of the screen.

Required fields

• Walk Title — give your walk a descriptive name, e.g. "Morning Park Stroll"
• Location — enter the park name or address where you'll meet
• Date — tap the date field to pick from the calendar
• Time — tap the time field to set the start time

Optional fields

• Cover Photo — add a photo of the location to attract attendees
• Duration — choose 30 min, 45 min, 1 hr, 1.5 hr, or 2 hr
• Dog Size — specify if the walk is suited to all sizes, or small / medium / large dogs only
• Description — add details about the route, what to bring, etc.
• Vibe — tag your walk: Leisurely 🌿, Off Lead 🐕, Wine 🍷, or Coffee ☕
• Max Attendees — cap the number of RSVPs, or leave as Unlimited
• Recurring Weekly — toggle on to repeat the walk every week

Tap Create Walk to publish. You'll be automatically added as an attendee and the walk will appear in your My Walks tab.

💬 Messages

The Messages tab contains all your conversations, split into two tabs:

• Direct — one-to-one conversations with walk organisers
• Walk Chats — group chats for walks you've joined

Starting a conversation

Open any walk's detail page and tap Message Organiser. This opens a direct conversation with the person who created the walk. You cannot message the organiser of your own walk.

Sending a message

Type in the message box at the bottom of the conversation and tap the send button (or press Return on your keyboard). Messages appear instantly.

📅 My Walks

The My Walks tab shows every walk you're involved in, across two tabs:

• Upcoming — future walks you're hosting or attending, sorted by date
• Past — completed walks, most recent first

Each walk shows whether you're Hosting or Attending, along with the date, time, location, and attendee count. Tap any walk card to open the full walk detail.

To navigate to My Walks from the Explore tab or a Walk Detail page, tap the My Walks icon in the bottom tab bar.

👤 Your Profile

Editing your profile

Tap Profile → Edit Profile to update your name, location, bio, and profile photo.

Changing your profile photo

Tap your avatar on the Profile screen (or inside Edit Profile) to pick a new photo from your library. Photos are cropped to a square and capped at 5 MB.

Dark Mode

Scroll to the Account section on the Profile tab and tap the Dark Mode row to toggle between light and dark themes.

Notifications & Privacy settings

Tap Notifications or Privacy Settings in the Account section to adjust your preferences.

Signing out

Scroll to the bottom of the Account section and tap Log Out. Confirm in the prompt that appears.

🗑️ Delete My Account & Data

You can request permanent deletion of your PawPals account and all associated data — your profile, dogs, walks you've hosted, RSVPs, and messages.

Request deletion

Enter the email address on your PawPals account and tap the button below — it opens your email app with a pre-filled deletion request addressed to us.

Or email us directly at pawpals444@gmail.com.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

📬 Contact Us