Account & sign-in

How sign-in works

Stitch accounts are based on an email address and a username rather than a phone number. You sign in with the email and password you chose when you created your account, or with Google or Apple if that is how you signed up. The same account works in the iPhone app, the Android app and the web app, so signing in on a new device brings your chats, contacts and settings with you.

Stitch keeps you signed in so you do not have to enter your password every time. On a shared or borrowed device, sign out when you finish — Sign Out is the last row on the main Settings screen.

You can see which sign-in methods are attached to your account, and add ones you do not have yet, in Settings → Account under Sign-in methods. Google, Apple and email & password are each listed with either Connected or a Connect button. Apple sign-in can only be added from an iPhone.

Verifying your email

After you sign up, Stitch sends a verification message to your email address. Open it and follow the link or enter the code to confirm the address is yours. You cannot finish setting up your profile or use core features until your email is verified, and verification is what makes email-based recovery possible.

If nothing arrives after two or three minutes, check your spam, junk, promotions and all-mail folders, and confirm the address is spelled correctly. If you request a new link or code, use the newest one — older ones expire.

Username and display name are different

This trips people up, so it is worth being precise. Your username is your unique @handle — it is what people search for to add you, and no two accounts can share one. Your display name is the name shown on your profile, at the top of chats, in calls and on your stories, and it does not have to be unique.

They are changed in two different places: the username in Settings → Account, and the display name from your profile card at the top of Settings. Editing your profile card does not let you change your username.

Changing your username

Username rules, exactly as Stitch enforces them: 3 to 30 characters; only lowercase letters, numbers, dots and underscores; it must start and end with a letter or number; it cannot contain two dots or underscores in a row; and a short list of names is reserved so nobody can impersonate Stitch (for example admin, support and stitch). Capital letters are converted to lowercase and any other character is removed as you type, so the field only ever holds a valid username.

Availability is checked when you tap Update Username, not while you type. If the name is taken you will see "Username already taken" and nothing changes. A successful change takes effect immediately, and your old username is released for someone else to claim. Your profile link and QR code keep working, because they point at your account rather than at your username.

There is a limit: two username changes in any 14-day period. The field shows how many changes you have left, and once both are used it is locked and shows how long is left, for example "Cooldown — 6d 3h remaining". The limit belongs to your account, so it is the same on iPhone, Android and the web.

1. Open Stitch.
2. Go to the Settings tab.
3. Tap Account.
4. Scroll to Change Username.
5. Type your new username in the field.
6. Tap Update Username to save the change.

Changing your display name, bio and photo

Display names must be between 2 and 50 characters.

To change your photo, tap the round avatar on the same Edit Profile screen, allow photo access if asked, pick a picture from your photo library and crop it to the square frame. The photo uploads and saves on its own — you do not need to tap Save Changes for it. Save Changes is only for the display name and bio.

It can take a moment for a new name or photo to appear everywhere, because chats, stories and calls briefly remember the previous version. Who can see your profile photo is a separate setting: Settings → Privacy & Security → Profile Photo, with the choices Everyone, Contacts and Nobody.

1. Go to the Settings tab.
2. Tap your profile card at the top — the card showing your photo, name and @username. This opens Edit Profile.
3. Edit the Display Name field, and the Bio field if you want to.
4. Tap Save Changes.

Changing your email address

The change only completes once the code is accepted, which is what stops anyone quietly moving your account to an address you do not control. Stitch also checks that no other account already uses that address.

If Current Email briefly says "Loading…", that is normal while your account details load. If it says "Not set", your account genuinely has no email address — usually because you signed in with Apple and chose to hide your address. In that case there is no Change Email Address button; add a password first under Sign-in methods if you want to manage an email address directly on Stitch.

1. Go to the Settings tab.
2. Tap Account. Your current address is shown at the top under Current Email.
3. Tap Change Email Address.
4. Enter the new email address and your current password.
5. Tap Send Verification Code. Stitch emails a 6-digit code to the new address.
6. Enter the code and tap Verify & Change Email.

Changing or resetting your password

If you are signed out, use Forgot Password on the sign-in screen. Stitch emails a secure link to the address on your account; open it and choose a new password.

If you are signed in, go to Settings → Account and look under the Password heading, then tap Reset Password via Email. Stitch sends the same kind of reset link. There is no "old password, then new password" form inside the app — the emailed link is the way. The button briefly counts down before you can send another, so you do not end up using an expired link by mistake.

If you signed in with Google or Apple and have never had a password, the same section offers Add Password to Account instead. Passwords need at least 8 characters including an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter and a number. Adding one does not remove your Google or Apple sign-in.

Keep your email account secure — because password resets go there, it is the single most important thing protecting your Stitch account. A reset email you did not request can be ignored; nothing changes unless you complete the link yourself.

Downloading a copy of your data

Stitch prepares a file with your profile, settings, chats and message history and hands it to your device to save or share. Large accounts take longer, and the row shows "Preparing Export…" while it works. It is worth doing before deleting your account.

1. Go to the Settings tab.
2. Tap Account.
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap Download Account Info.

Deactivating (web app only)

Deactivating is a way to take a break without deleting anything, and it is currently available in the Stitch web app only. There is no Deactivate Account option in the iPhone or Android apps.

On the web: open Settings, go to Account, scroll to Deactivate Account, and type "deactivate" to confirm.

On a phone your options are to sign out — which changes nothing about your account — or to deactivate from the web app instead. The only account-closing option in the mobile apps is Delete Account, which is permanent.

Deleting your account

Deletion is immediate and permanent. Your account is unregistered right away and your profile, chats, messages and related data are erased. There is no 30-day grace period and no way to recover the account, so use Download Account Info first if you want a copy of anything. You are signed out and returned to the welcome screen straight away.

If Stitch asks you to sign in again before it will delete the account, that is a security check — sign out, sign back in, and try again.

Deleting your Stitch account does not cancel a subscription bought through the App Store or Google Play. Cancel that in the store as well. For what happens to your data, see the Privacy Policy, or contact support.

1. Go to the Settings tab.
2. Tap Account.
3. Scroll to the very bottom and tap Delete Account.
4. Read the confirmation, then confirm.