Support

Questions about False Bottom? The answers are below. If you're still stuck, email us; we read every message.

Getting started

What do I need?: An iPhone with iOS 27 or later. False Bottom is designed for iPhone Duo, and every bag also plays on other iPhones with an on-screen zipper.
How do I play?: A goose wants to come along on the trip. Pack the open suitcase so that whatever lands on the goose when the case shuts hides it from the airport X-ray. Shut the case, and the customs officer stamps Next! if nothing suspicious shows, Hmm if something looks a bit odd, or Bag check if they spot the goose. Open the case to see what they saw, then repack and try again.
Are there any words to read?: No. The game is wordless: pictures, stamps and the officer's face tell you everything. Only the Settings screen has text.
Does it cost anything inside the app?: No. There are no in-app purchases, ads or subscriptions, and no account.

One bag, step by step

Open the phone. The inner display is the open suitcase: the lid on the left, the base on the right, and the spine down the middle. Some items may already be packed and locked in place.
Drag items from the tray into either half. Or tap an item, then tap where it should go. While you're holding an item, the turn handle beside it rotates it. Items turn, but they never flip over.
Close the phone to shut the case. The bag rides into the X-ray, the scan sweeps it row by row, and the officer's eyebrows rise as they get suspicious.
Open the phone. After Next!, the stamp goes into your passport and the next bag arrives. After Hmm or Bag check, the lid swings over and back so you can see where everything landed, and chalk marks circle what showed through. Your arrangement is kept, so you only need to fix what's wrong.

Changed your mind during the scan? Open the phone before the stamp lands and the bag comes back with no attempt used. Shutting a bag you haven't changed just shows the last verdict again.

If an item sits across the spine when you shut the case, the bag bursts and the item is left sitting on the spine. Move it into one half and shut again.

What hides what

Why does the lid land the "wrong way round"?: Because that's how a suitcase shuts. The lid swings over onto the base, so the item nearest the spine in the lid lands nearest the spine in the base, and left and right swap. The X-ray shows both halves pressed together.
Which things hide the goose?: On the X-ray, plastic shows green, metal blue and dense things black, and all three hide orange. The goose, the cheese and the durian are orange, and so are books and garlic. Cloth is pale orange. Orange never hides orange. Every item wears a small badge in its X-ray colour and pattern, so you can plan before you shut.
Does the whole goose have to be hidden?: No, but its head and feet give it away: if either shows, it's a bag check. A cell or two of its neck or body can slip past; any more and the officer goes Hmm. During the scan, the officer's eyebrows and the bar beside them show how suspicious they're getting.

Playing on iPhone Duo

Closing the phone shuts the case, and opening it unzips the case again. That's the only fold that matters. You never need to fold fast or hard, or hold a pose.

Pose	What it does in False Bottom
Open (inner display, held wide or tall)	The open suitcase. Held wide, the lid is on the left and the base on the right; held tall, the lid is on top. You pack here, read the chalk marks after a scan, and open your passport.
Partly folded (book or laptop)	The same case, laid out to keep clear of the fold. The lid darkens a little as it closes. It doesn't scan anything.
Closed (outer display)	Shutting the case. The outer display becomes the airport X-ray, lying over both halves of what you packed, and the officer gives the verdict.

Does it matter how fast I close the phone?: No. A slow close and a fast close do exactly the same thing. Only what you packed counts.
Does turning the phone change the puzzle?: No. Turning the phone or bending it part way only changes the layout. The verdict for the same arrangement is identical in every pose.
Can I play on iPhone Duo without folding?: Yes. Turn on Show the zipper in Settings and shut the case on screen instead.

Playing on other iPhones

My iPhone doesn't fold. Can I still play?: Yes. It's the same game, with the same bags, rules and stars.
How do I shut the case?: Tap the brass zipper beside the case's spine, or drag it. The lid folds over onto the base, then the X-ray appears. To unzip, tap the tab on the edge of the X-ray monitor.
Does it run on iPad?: It's an iPhone game. If your iPad runs iPhone apps, it plays there with the zipper too.

Airports, stars and hints

How many bags are there?: 16 bags in four airports, plus a Daily Bag and a secret. Each airport adds one new rule, shown on the poster beside the case: Puddleby teaches the case; at Lower Wobbly, black things that touch get opened; at Port Croissant, a leftover can pass as lunch if it looks like a baguette, a sandwich or a banana; and at Sniffington, Biscuit the basset hound sniffs out smelly contraband unless something else smelly sits beside it.
How do stars work?: One star for clearing a bag, two for clearing it with nothing left in the tray, and three for clearing it on the first scan, with no Hmm, bag check or burst first. Your best is kept, and you can replay any unlocked bag from your passport (the book button).
I'm stuck. Are there hints?: Yes, and they never cost stars. After a failed scan, chalk marks show what showed through and where a cover should land. After two, a faint ghost shows where the other half's items will land. Ring the brass bell and one item flies to a spot that works. To keep the ghost on all the time, turn on the Assist setting.
What's the Daily Bag?: A new bag every day, made for that date, which opens once you've cleared Puddleby. Its stars go on the calendar in your passport. There's no streak to lose.
Is there a secret?: There is. Look closely at your passport.

Settings

Tap the tag button on the case to open Settings. You can turn Sound, Music and Haptics on or off, keep the ghost on all the time with the Assist setting, turn on Show the zipper, and open the privacy policy and this support page.

Accessibility and comfort

Colour: every X-ray material has a pattern as well as a colour (dots, crosshatch, hatching or solid), and every item carries a badge with its material.
Playing without folding: turn on Show the zipper in Settings.
Time: nothing is timed. Take as long as you like over every bag.
Comfort: about one or two gentle shuts per bag. Book and laptop poses are optional.
Sound: every result is shown on screen, so the game plays fine with the sound off.

If anything in False Bottom doesn't work well with the accessibility settings you use, please tell us.

Progress, backups and a new iPhone

Where is my progress saved?: On your iPhone, inside False Bottom: your stars, your Daily results, the bag you're on and your settings. It saves as you go, so if the app closes in the middle of a bag, you come back to the same arrangement. It isn't synced between devices.
Will it move to a new iPhone?: Yes, if you restore your iPhone or iCloud backup to the new iPhone. App data is included in your own backups. We never receive it.

Starting over

To start again from the first bag, delete False Bottom and install it again. Deleting the app removes everything it saved on this iPhone.

Privacy

False Bottom collects no data: no account, no network, no analytics, no ads and no tracking. Read the privacy policy.

Contact

Email s.java.junk@gmail.com. To help us answer quickly, please include your iPhone model, your iOS version, your False Bottom version (iPhone Settings › General › iPhone Storage › False Bottom), the bag you were on, whether the phone was open, partly folded or closed, what you did, and a screenshot if you can.