The Smileys App: How to Install It and What It Does

Smileys lives on your home screen, not in an app store. Here's how to install it on iPhone or Android, and what you can do once it's there.

There's nothing to download from an app store. Smileys is a web app you add to your phone's home screen, and it behaves like a regular app: its own icon, full screen, no browser bars. Here's what it does, and how to get it set up in under a minute.

Open Smileys on your phone to follow along.

Where it started

Smileys began in Istanbul in 2023 as a WhatsApp community for meeting people in person. Before there was an app, we organized more than 1,000 events that way. The app is the next step: one place for your events, your clubs and the people you've met.

Who's in it

As of October 2026, the app connects:

2,000+ members from more than 100 nationalities, most of them in Istanbul
About 12 new sign-ups a day on average since launch in May
7 cities: Istanbul, where almost everything happens today, and six newer ones just getting started (Antalya, İzmir, Bodrum, Ankara, Eskişehir and Bursa)
170 clubs built around shared interests
300+ events held in the app since May, with over 1,500 check-ins at the door

Behind those numbers are small tables, not big crowds. In the newer cities, you could be one of the first. Most events are sized so everyone can talk to everyone.

Add it to your home screen

iPhone (Safari): open Smileys in Safari (not inside Instagram or another app's built-in browser), tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen.

Android (Chrome): open the menu (three dots), then Install app or Add to Home screen.

On iPhone, installing it this way is also what lets Smileys send you notifications, so do it before you turn them on.

What you can do in it

Find and join events. Browse what's coming up in your city, RSVP, and see your own plans under My Events.
Join clubs. Clubs are small groups built around a shared interest, each with its own events and people.
Hangouts. Casual, spontaneous meetups with members, without waiting for a scheduled event.
Messages. Talk to people you've met, privately.
Members and the directory. Find people and local places. You decide how much of your profile others can see.
Visiting. Traveling to another Smileys city? Let that city's members know you're coming.
Reviews and stories. After an event you can leave a review. You can also share a story, which the team reads and, if it fits, publishes under your name.
Invite. Know someone who'd fit in? Invite them from the app. We'd rather grow slowly with people you'd actually want at the table.
The Handbook. Practical guides for living in Turkey: transport cards, SIM cards, healthcare, and more.

Your member card

At the door of an event, your member card is how you check in. Open it from the home screen shortcut, or from the menu. The QR code on it is signed to you and expires every 24 hours, so the app keeps it fresh for you.

Keeping seats for people who come

Many events are small: a dinner table, a boat, a room with twenty chairs. When someone takes a seat and doesn't show up, that was somebody else's evening. So for events with limited spots, Smileys keeps a simple record of whether you turn up. We call it your standing.

It only applies to events with limited spots. Events with no cap never affect it.
Not showing up counts against you. So does cancelling less than 24 hours before a limited event, unless someone from the waitlist takes your seat and comes. Cancel earlier and you hand the seat to someone waiting.
Two of those within 90 days is a yellow card, and you join limited waitlists at the back. One more while on yellow is a red card. Checking in at events clears them.
Marked absent by mistake? Tap I was there on your Standing page within 30 days.

Your Standing page shows exactly what's on record, and it's visible only to you.

Your profile, your call

You choose who sees your profile. Members you're connected with can see more than members you aren't, and you can limit your profile to connections only. People who aren't signed in see very little: first names at most. Check your privacy options in Settings.

Notifications, on your terms

Smileys is built to stay out of your way. There's no endless feed to scroll. You'll hear from us about things that matter to you: replies, event reminders, and approvals. In Settings you can choose what you receive and set quiet hours so your phone stays silent at night.

Why we built it this way

The goal isn't to keep you in the app. It's to get you out of it and into a room with people you want to meet. If you open Smileys, find something you like, and close it again, it did its job.

Follow Smileys

See what's coming up and what past events looked like:

Trouble?

If something looks wrong after an update, close the app fully and reopen it. If it still doesn't work, write to us from the Contact page and tell us your phone and what you saw.