May 29 release: announcements that do more — polls, video, reactions & pinned updates

Hosts kept telling us the same thing: the announcements feed was useful, but it was a megaphone that only spoke one way. You could tell the room something — you couldn’t ask them anything, show them anything, or make sure the important note didn’t scroll away. This release fixes all of that.

For hosts

• Ask the room with a poll. “Which round was your favorite?” “After-party — yes or no?” Add two or more options and watch the results come in live. You can make it pick-one or pick-many, and you can lock answers so people can’t change their vote once it’s in (it’s on by default for single-choice polls).
• Post a short video. Record a quick welcome or a how-it-works clip and attach it — it plays right inside the feed. Clips are kept short and lightweight so they load fast on everyone’s phone.
• Share a link that actually looks like something. Paste a URL — a venue page, a playlist, your next event — and we pull in the title, description, and image automatically so it shows up as a tidy preview card instead of a raw web address.
• Pin the one that matters. Pin an announcement and it jumps to the top of the feed and shows as a banner on the event page, labeled “Important update.” Pin a different one and it takes over — only one stays pinned at a time, so there’s never any clutter.
• Choose when to ring the bell. A new “Notify daters” switch lets you post quietly. Leave it on for the big stuff; turn it off for a minor note so you’re not pinging everyone’s phone over nothing.
• See who responded. As the host, you can tap any poll or reaction to see exactly who voted for what — helpful for reading the room and following up.
• Richer link resources. The links you add to your event’s “More from your host” section now show the same polished preview (image, title, description) instead of a bare link.

For daters

• React with a tap. Hit an announcement with a ❤️, 🎉, 🔥, and more — a quick way to say “got it” or show some energy without typing.
• Vote in polls. Tap your answer and you’ll see how everyone else voted. Results stay hidden until you’ve voted, so the room’s answers don’t sway yours.
• Never miss the important note. When a host pins an update, you’ll see it as a banner right on the event page — no digging through the feed.
• Your answers are your business. Other daters only ever see the totals — never who voted for what or who reacted. Only the host can see the names behind the numbers.

Why we built this

A speed dating night is a room full of people who all showed up for the same reason — and the announcements feed is the one place a host can talk to all of them at once. Making it one-directional was leaving a lot on the table. A poll turns a quiet room into a conversation. A pinned banner means the “tables open at 7:15” note doesn’t get lost. A reaction lets a shy dater say “I’m in” without raising their hand.

We also took privacy seriously from the start. Reactions and poll votes show up as totals to everyone, but the names stay with the host. Daters can be honest in a poll without broadcasting their answer to a room of strangers they just met.