Frequently asked questions

Q: How does Bump work?

There are two parts to Bumptm: the app running on your device and a smart matching algorithm running on our servers in the cloud. The app on your phone uses the phone's sensors to literally "feel" the bump, and it sends that info up to the cloud. The matching algorithm listens to the bumps from phones around the world and pairs up phones that felt the same bump. Then we just route information between the two phones in each pair.

Q: No way. What if somebody else bumps at the same time?

Way. We use various techniques to limit the pool of potential matches, including location information and characteristics of the bump event. If you are bumping in a particularly dense area (ex, at a conference), and we cannot resolve a unique match after a single bump, we'll just ask you to bump again. Our CTO has a PhD in Quantum Mechanics and can show the math behind that, but we suggest downloading Bump and trying it yourself!

Q: Is Bump secure?

When we built Bump, our number one priority was creating the best possible user experience we could. Security of your personal information is a huge part of that experience. First, all communications between your phone and our servers are encrypted and sent using https - the same encryption that is used for online banking. Second, the nice thing about Bump is that *you* are in control of deciding with whom you share your information. You don't have to worry about anyone being able to get at your information unless you physically bump your phone with theirs. Finally, we will never share any of your personal information with any third parties. Check out our privacy policy for more details.

Q: What happens to my contact information?

When you bump, if we find a match with a phone that felt the same bump, our servers ask each phone to send up the contact information each user chose to share, but nothing more. If and only if both users then confirm that the match is indeed correct will the contact information be sent down to the other person. None of your personal data is ever stored on our servers.

Q: Will Bump be free forever?

Bump is most useful when everyone else has it. We want to get Bump on to as many phones as possible so that no one ever has to manually type in a phone number or email address again. To that end, we plan to offer the basic version of Bump free of charge for the entire foreseeable future.

Q: Cool, but doesn't this only work between two iPhones?

No! Bump currently supports iPhone, iPod touch, and Android. We are working to bring Bump to other platforms soon. Today, there are several other phones that include the sensors that Bump needs to feel bumps, but in the next few years, the vast majority of new phones will have these sensors. We plan to offer Bump on all of them, and Bump will work between any two of them.

Q: Wait, you are saying an Android phone can bump an iPhone?

You bet. Any two devices running Bump can bump each other.

Q: Why does Bump want to use my location?

A: We've got millions of users worldwide now. We use location information as one of the ways we limit the number of other phones we have to check to determine the correct match. Basically, if you are in Chicago, we use that info so we don't have to compare your bump with bumps coming in from Japan, Europe, New York, etc. For this reason, we require that location services be turned on and that users authorize the use of their location information. If you do not authorize use of location information, Bump won't work, sorry.