frequently asked questions

Portal is a location-based social video app where you compete for your city. Post short videos, climb the leaderboards, and become the top creator in your area. Unlike other platforms, Portal is built around real people sharing real moments in real places — no AI content allowed.

Yes! Portal is completely free to download and use. There are no ads cluttering your feed. We're focused on building the best experience first.

Portal is currently available on iOS (iPhone) and requires iOS 15.0 or later. Android is coming soon — join the waitlist in the app to get notified when it launches.

Portal is currently live in San Antonio, TX and Austin, TX. We're rapidly expanding to more cities and college campuses. Download the app and join your city's waitlist to help unlock it faster!

We're currently live at UT Austin and UTSA, with more Texas schools launching soon. If your college isn't live yet, join the waitlist in the app. The more students who sign up from your campus, the faster we unlock it!

When you sign up, you'll see if your city or college is live. If it's not, you can join the waitlist. The more people who join, the faster we unlock it. Help spread the word to get your area activated!

Portals are location-based feeds that organize content by where it's happening. Your City Portal shows content from creators in your city. Your State Portal shows content from your entire state. The United States feed lets you see content from everyone, everywhere across the country.

College Portals (for verified students only) show exclusive content from campuses nationwide.

We're also adding special Portals for trends, topics, events, and business types soon — imagine finding the best restaurant in your city, seeing what's happening at a concert, or discovering trending moments near you.

All videos on Portal expire 48 hours after posting. This keeps content fresh and in-the-moment. But don't worry — your expired videos automatically become "memories" that are still viewable by anyone. The difference? Once they're no longer active, they stop counting towards the leaderboards.

You can download your own videos anytime to share on other platforms. You can also create collections in "My Vault" for your videos or other users' videos you like, so you'll always be able to look back on any memory.

This is a new way to become an influencer, find cool people, or just have fun with friends. Now your likes, followers, views, and comment karma all matter.

Portal ranks creators based on engagement velocity — how quickly your content gains likes, comments, and views within the 48-hour window. You can compete on city, state, and national leaderboards. Rankings update in real-time, so every post is a chance to climb.

We want small creators to have a shot finally. Now you can use your local rank to seek partnerships and brand deals much easier — and businesses and brands can find the best creators much faster.

Post at least once every 24 hours to build your streak. Longer streaks boost your visibility in the algorithm and unlock special badges. Miss a day? Your streak resets to zero. Stay consistent to maximize your reach.

When a video expires after 48 hours, it's removed from the main feed but becomes a "memory" that's still viewable on your profile. You can view all your past content anytime, and so can others — it just stops counting toward leaderboard rankings. Think of it as your personal highlight reel that never disappears.

This is a party for only college students. College Portals are exclusive feeds only for verified students. Non-students CANNOT see this content. It's a private space to share campus moments and compete on college-specific leaderboards against other schools nationwide.

During signup, enter your .edu email address. We'll send a verification link. Once confirmed, you'll have access to your College Portal. Only students with valid .edu emails can join.

College Portal content is exclusively for verified students. If you're not seeing it, make sure you've verified your .edu email. If you're not a student, this content is intentionally hidden from you.

College-verified users get the option to post content "everywhere" or "college-only" portals. Both options track your stats on the leaderboards the same, and both get you stats from the city you're posting in.

College-Only posts simply make your content only viewable by other college students across the country. Nobody wants their grandma to see their wild Friday nights.

Yes! College leaderboards rank students within your campus AND let you see how your school stacks up against other colleges nationally. Rep your school and climb the ranks.

Portal has zero tolerance for:

• AI-generated content (we're for real humans only)
• Violence, threats, or harassment
• Nudity or sexual content
• Hate speech or discrimination
• Spam or misleading content
• Dangerous challenges or illegal activity
• Content featuring minors in unsafe situations

Violations result in content removal and potential account suspension.

Tap the three dots (...) on any video or profile and select "Report." Choose the reason and submit. Our team reviews all reports and takes action quickly. You can also block users directly from their profile.

You can see total view counts on your videos. Detailed viewer information is not currently available to protect user privacy.

Nope. Portal is currently ad-free. We want your feed to be all content, no interruptions.

Go to Settings > Account > Delete Account. You'll be asked to confirm. This action is permanent — all your videos, memories, and data will be removed and cannot be recovered.

Only while using the app. We only use this to find the major city you're in, not creepy exact locations — safety is important. Portal doesn't track your location in the background. You can review our full Privacy Policy for details.

Portal is designed as a public platform for competing on leaderboards. All posted videos are visible to users in your Portal.

Go to Settings > Edit Profile > Username. Note: You can only change your username once every 30 days.

Yes! Android is our top priority and coming soon. Join the waitlist at portaltech.app or in the iOS app to get notified the moment it launches.

Yes — creator monetization is coming. We're building features for tips, rewards, and other ways for top creators to earn.

This is VERY important to us — this app was made by creators. Our goal is to give you the highest % of any short-form video app and let you keep more money than you can make elsewhere. Stay tuned for announcements.

We're working on Event Portals for concerts, bar crawls, festivals, sports games, and local venues. Imagine competing for the top spot at SXSW or your favorite club. Coming soon.

We're expanding rapidly across Texas first, then nationally. Join your city's or college's waitlist to help prioritize where we launch next. The more signups, the faster we unlock your area.

Email us at support@portalapp.org. We typically respond within 24-48 hours.

Email support@portalapp.org with details about what happened, what device you're using, and screenshots if possible. We appreciate bug reports — they help us improve!

We pride ourselves on solving issues EXTREMELY FAST. Thanks for your patience as stuff breaks, we'll make it even better for you.

We love hearing ideas! Email support@portalapp.org with "Feature Request" in the subject line. We read every suggestion.

We like making cool stuff creators want + we add new features FAST.