An opening animation for the app

• Opening yen.bio from your home screen now plays a little blooming-flower intro before your dashboard.

A better yen.bio app

• Install yen.bio as an app from the account menu: one tap on Android, Chrome and Edge, and simple steps on iPhone.
• The app icon shows how many unread messages and notifications you have, and long-pressing it jumps straight to messages, the feed, notifications or the editor.
• Sharper icons that fit your phone's icon shape, a proper notification icon on Android, a friendly screen when you're offline, and faster opening.

iPhone layout fix, snappier chat list

• iPhones always get the phone layout now, including with "Request Desktop Website" on.
• Your chat list updates the moment a message arrives instead of reloading, and chats load lighter.

@mentions with bio effects

• @mentions in your bio are links with any Bio effect on (the help center said otherwise, and is now up to date). In the editor, a mention you type turns into a link in the preview right away.

Notifications outside yen.bio

• Turn on notifications outside the site from the Notifications page: messages, likes, replies, follows and mentions arrive even when yen.bio is closed. Each phone or computer has its own switch, and you choose which kinds you get.
• On iPhone and iPad, add yen.bio to your Home Screen first (Share → Add to Home Screen); that’s how iOS allows web notifications. On Brave, turn on “Use Google services for push messaging”.
• Message notifications now also show when yen.bio is open behind another window, not only in a hidden tab.

Phones always get the phone layout

• yen.bio no longer switches to the desktop layout on a phone, even in “Request Desktop Website” mode or inside apps that shrink pages. In desktop mode you’ll also see a note on how to turn it off, since everything looks small there.

Sort your For you page

In preview: the feed is only open to certain accounts right now. Opening to everyone soon!

• Choose how For you is ordered: Best (the usual mix), Latest, Top today or Top this week. It remembers your choice.

Crests got a glow-up

• Crests take on the color of their icon, with a soft glow and a shine that sweeps over them when you hover. Post actions on the feed are tidier too: reactions sit right in the row with reply, repost and like.

Notes, but better

• Pick how long a note stays up (1 hour, 6 hours, 24 hours or 3 days), and who sees it: everyone you chat with, or friends only.
• Notes you haven’t opened have a colored ring. See who has opened yours, and quickly add a feeling emoji.
• React to someone’s note with one tap (❤️ 😂 🔥 😭 👀 🫶), or reply. Hide a person’s notes any time, and bring them back from the editor.
• A little equalizer shows when a note’s song is playing, and bubbles float.

Report notes

• Tap someone’s note and use the flag to report it. The team gets a copy of the note as it was, even if they change or delete it. Reporting a message with a photo or voice message now says what it contained, too.

Sticker layout links stay solid

• Links in the Sticker layout are always paper stickers now. They used to turn clear or see-through if your link Style was Outline, Soft or Brutal, or your Icon style was Glowing.

Type emoji by name

• In chats, type a colon and a few letters, like :so, to pick from matching emoji (arrow keys and Enter, or tap). Writing a full name like :sob: turns into 😭 when you send.

See who’s read your message

• Hover (or tap) the checks under your message in a chat to see who has read it and who hasn’t yet. In groups it shows “seen by 3 of 5” with their names.

yen.bio updates chat

• Every account is now in a chat called yen.bio updates, marked with an animated sky-blue “i” badge. The team teases new features there, and only the team can post. You can react and mute it any time.
• Your notifications now show a note about it (and the notifications page is open to everyone, not just feed accounts).
• Crests now show in the chat list too, next to the name of anyone you’re chatting with who wears one.

A livelier feed

In preview: the feed is only open to certain accounts right now. Opening to everyone soon!

• Posts glide in one after another, and the tab pill slides between For you, Following and Saved.
• Counts tick when they change, reposts spin, bookmarks drop in, reactions and replies pop open, and the composer glows when you write. Everything respects your reduced-motion setting.

Group crests

In preview: the feed is only open to certain accounts right now. Opening to everyone soon!

• Group owners can set a crest, a tag of up to 4 characters (any case, symbols too), and pick an icon (and its colour) for it, in group settings.
• Anyone in the group can choose to wear it: it shows next to their display name on the feed. Hover it to see the group’s picture, name, description, whether it’s verified, and how many people are in it.
• Crests also show next to names in your chats: above messages in groups, in a chat’s header, and in the member list.
• Group descriptions work in private groups too: owners and admins set them in group settings, and every member can read them.

Links and a separate bio on your feed profile

In preview: only certain accounts have access right now while we test it. Opening to everyone soon!

• Links in your feed bio are clickable now.
• Want a different bio on the feed than on your page? Turn on “Use a different bio on the feed” in Edit profile. Leave it off and the feed keeps showing your page bio.
• Your pronouns and location show on your feed profile too.

Reactions, pinned posts and reply controls

In preview: only certain accounts have access right now while we test it. Opening to everyone soon!

• React to any post with 🔥 😭 🫶 👀 💀 or ✨ on top of liking it. One reaction each, and you can swap it any time.
• Pin one of your posts to the top of your feed profile from its ⋯ menu.
• Choose who can reply when you post: anyone, people you follow, or only friends.
• A few visual touches: reaction chips, a pinned ribbon, and a small note on posts with limited replies.

Encrypted chats

• Your chats are now end-to-end encrypted: only the people in a chat can read it, not even us. Photos and voice messages are locked too.
• Encrypted messages have to be on to use your chats (public groups still work without it). Messages asks you to turn it on the first time.
• The first time you open Messages you choose a chat passphrase. Type it on a new phone or computer to read your chats there.
• Public groups aren’t encrypted, since anyone with the link can join them. Link previews are off in encrypted chats so we never see what you share.
• Forgot your passphrase? You can start over, but messages you can’t open stay locked.

Notes and group pictures

• Share a note: a short thought that floats above your picture at the top of Messages for the people you chat with, and disappears after 24 hours. Tap someone’s note to reply to it: your reply lands in your chat with them, with their note quoted above it.
• Put a song on your note: paste a Spotify link and its cover and title show on your note (with or without words). Tap a note with a song to hear a 30-second preview.
• Group owners can give their group a picture from group settings. It shows in the chat list, the header, Discover and invite links.

The feed gets a lot better

In preview: only certain accounts have access right now while we test it. Opening to everyone soon!

• Replies show right under the post on your feed, and you can like them without opening the post. Replies you open can be liked too.
• Notifications: likes, replies, reposts, quotes, mentions and new followers, with a badge on the sidebar.
• The yen.bio team gets a staff badge on the feed (it replaces the verified check).
• New: a Saved tab for your bookmarks, search for posts, content warnings that hide a post until you choose to show it, a few seconds to undo a post before it goes out, and drafts that wait for you if you leave.

Voice messages on phones, and shinier badges

• Voice messages now play on iPhones and Android phones (new recordings use a format every phone understands).
• The verified group check sparkles properly now instead of looking trapped in a bubble.
• Fixed a square box that could appear around the synthwave name effect.

Public group chats

• Make a group public from its group settings: it shows up in Discover (the compass in Messages) and can hold up to 250 people.
• Share an invite link (yen.bio/group/…) and anyone can join with it. It shows a proper preview in Discord too.
• Owners can make admins. Owners and admins can /kick, /ban and /unban people, and only they can @everyone.
• Groups the yen.bio team trusts get an animated green check.

See who follows who

In preview: only certain accounts have access right now while we test it. Opening to everyone soon!

• Tap followers or following on any feed profile to see the list and follow people from it (currently available to accounts in the early feed preview).
• Prefer to keep yours private? Turn it off in Edit profile; people will still see your counts.
• When you and someone you chat with start following each other, your chat marks the day you became friends.

Show your feed on your page

In preview: only certain accounts have access right now while we test it. Opening to everyone soon!

• Add a Feed profile block to your page: your feed picture, banner, followers and latest posts, with a View feed button. Pick whether to show posts and how many (up to 3). (Currently in preview for select accounts).

Telegram gift badges show their art again

• Telegram gifts on your page show their pictures and animations again, instead of a broken image.

8 new dashboard themes

• Pick from cherry, ocean, citrus, grape, peach, glacier, ember and mint in the dashboard theme picker.

No more double chats

• Sending a few messages quickly into a brand new chat no longer opens two chats with the same person.
• Chats that were already doubled up have been merged back into one, with every message kept.

Smoother loading

• A calmer loading screen, and dashboard pages show a placeholder while they load instead of sitting still.

Move things around on Bento pages

• Unlock positioning now works on the Bento layout: drag any tile, section or your page link away from its spot in the grid.
• Bento pages no longer get cut off at the bottom of the window. They scroll when there’s more than fits, and sections sit right under the grid.