How to use

From first setup to alerts and history.

1. Getting started

Install saveyou from the App Store or Google Play.
Open the app and allow location access.
Go to Settings (⚙️) → Name & icon and choose the name and picture your people will see.

Please choose “Always” for location access. With “While using the app”, your position stops updating once the app is closed, so your family will see an old location.

2. Inviting people

There are two ways to invite, and both start from the add-person icon.

Invite to a new group

Tap the add-person icon at the top of the screen. A QR screen opens: the camera is on the top half, your own QR code on the bottom half.

If the person is with you, show them your QR code and have them scan it.
If they are far away, tap Send link and share the invite link via any messaging app.
To scan someone else's code, point the camera on the top half at their QR.

Add to an existing group

Tap “Groups n / Members n ▼” at the top left to open the group list, then tap the add-person icon on the group you want. The same QR screen opens.

Anyone who receives an invite link just opens it to join. If the app is not installed yet, they are taken to the store.

3. Reading the map

Everyone in your group appears on the map. Icons point in the direction of travel and change with speed (walking, motorbike, car, train…).
Tap a pin to see details for that person: last update, distance from you, battery level and so on.
When several people are close together they are grouped; tap to pick from the list.
The pull-downs at the top left open your group list and your geofence list. Tapping an entry moves the map to that place.
Tap the compass at the top right to snap the map back to north-up.

4. Arrival & departure alerts (geofences)

Place a zone over somewhere you go often — home, school, work — and you will be notified when someone in your group arrives or leaves.

Long-press the map where you want the zone.
Give it a name (Home, School…) and a radius, then tap Create.
A green circle appears. From then on, entries and exits are notified.

Editing and removing

Tap the green pin on the map to Edit (name and radius) or Delete. The same actions are available from the Geofences list in the top-left pull-down.

Limits and notification options

You can set 1 geofence on the free plan, up to 10 on Premium.
Settings → “Notify my own enter/leave” also alerts you about your own arrivals and departures (off by default).
Settings → “No sound for geofence alerts” shows geofence notifications silently, without a sound.

Detection runs on the server, so alerts arrive even when the app is closed. Positioning noise while you stay in one place is filtered using the accuracy of each fix, so you don't get false “left” alerts.

5. Trip history

Tap the 👣 icon at the top to open your own trip history. Trips are split by time; selecting one draws the route on the map. To see someone else's history, open it from their detail screen.

Free: the last 6 hours of trail can be shown.
Premium: the last 24 hours of trail, and all trip history is kept.

6. Update rate

Normally updates are kept modest to save battery, and you raise the rate only for the person you are watching. Use the slider on that person's detail screen: device default / 60s / 30s / 10s / 2s.

2 seconds is available when you (the viewer) are on Premium; the other person can be on the free plan.
A raised rate returns to normal automatically after 5 minutes to protect battery.

7. Lock & privacy

App lock: Settings → Lock method lets you use a PIN or biometrics.
Show others on lock screen: off by default, so the locked screen shows only your own position. This keeps your family's whereabouts private when you hand your phone to someone. Turn it on if you prefer.
Leaving a group: to stop sharing, leave from the group list. Owners can also remove members.
Deleting your account: Settings → “Delete account” permanently removes your account and data (location, groups, history) from the server. This cannot be undone.

saveyou needs no email address and no phone number, and never sells your location to third parties. See our Privacy Policy for details.

8. Battery & background

To keep your position updating while the app is closed, a few device settings may be needed.

Location permission: choose “Always”.
Battery optimisation (Android): exclude saveyou (“Unrestricted”) so it is not stopped while idle.
Auto-start (some Android phones): allow saveyou in the manufacturer's auto-start / background settings.
On Android an ongoing notification is shown while location is being tracked. This is required by the OS.

9. FAQ

Someone's location is stuck at an old place.: Check that their phone has location set to “Always” and that saveyou is excluded from battery optimisation. If they have fully quit the app, it may not update until they open it again.
I'm not getting notifications.: Check that notifications are allowed for saveyou in your device settings. Geofence alerts are only sent when someone actually enters or leaves a zone.
My position is shown in the wrong place.: On iPhone, if “Precise Location” is off you only get an approximate position that can be kilometres away. Turn it on in Settings → Privacy → Location Services → saveyou.
How do I move to a new phone?: Settings → Device transfer (a Premium feature) moves your account with a QR code or an image key. Your groups, history and subscription carry over.
What happens if I cancel Premium?: You keep Premium until the end of the period you already paid for, then return to the free version.