Frequently asked questions

Portal is a location-based social video and photo app where real people share real moments and compete for their city on leaderboards. Everything is captured live in the app. No AI-generated content is allowed.

Yes. Portal is free to download and use.

Portal is available on iPhone (iOS 15.0 or later). Android is in the works.

Everywhere in the US. Portal is based in Austin, Texas, started in Austin and San Antonio, and is now open to all users nationwide. There’s no waitlist.

Portal started with Texas campuses including UT Austin, UTSA, Texas A&M and Texas State, and students everywhere can verify with their .edu email.

Location-based feeds that organize content by geography: your City Portal, State Portal, the United States feed, and College Portals for verified students.

Posts are live in feeds and on leaderboards for 48 hours. After that they leave the public feed and save to your profile as memories. You can pin up to three.

Creators rank by likes, views, followers and comments across city, college, state and national leaderboards.

Post at least once a day to build your streak and unlock trophies. Missing a day resets it to zero.

Exclusive feeds for verified college students. You can post everywhere or college-only, and non-students never see college-only posts.

Enter your .edu email in the app and confirm the verification link.

Yes. College leaderboards rank students on campus, and college vs college competitions score schools per verified student so smaller schools can win.

Every post is captured live in the Portal camera. That keeps AI-generated and edited content off the app.

AI-generated content, violence, threats, harassment, nudity, sexual content, hate speech, discrimination, spam, misleading content, dangerous challenges and illegal activity.

Tap the three dots on any post or profile, choose Report, pick a reason and submit. You can also block users from their profile.

No. Portal is currently ad-free.

No. Location is used while you’re using the app to place your posts and show your city’s feed. There’s no background tracking.

No. Portal is a public platform built around local feeds and leaderboards.

Delete your account in Profile → Settings, or email us. Your data is deleted within 30 days, except what we must keep for legal or safety reasons.

Creator monetization is on the roadmap. Creators who build an audience now will be first in line.

Email support@portalapp.org. We typically reply within 24–48 hours.

Email support@portalapp.org with details, your device, and screenshots if you can. Put “Feature Request” in the subject for ideas.