Family Nearby is a family locator app that shows where everyone is, and how fresh each location is. Get alerts when they arrive, leave, finish a drive or miss an expected arrival. Need help? One SOS alerts your whole family. No ads, and your data is never sold.
Now live on Google Play
Walking, driving, on the train or in the air: each person shows how they are moving and how old their location is. When a phone goes quiet, the app says why.
A demo family. The photos are stock models, not app users.
AnnaWalkingnow
DavidDriving · 28 mphnow
LeoDriving · 34 mph1 min ago
NoahOn a bus or train1 min ago
GrandmaFlying3 min ago
MiaAt Maple Hill Middle School12 min ago
GrandpaPhone likely off (low battery)2 h ago
Mia walks to the bus stop, rides Bus 44 and gets to school. You get one alert when Mia arrives, and the day’s trips are there if you want them.
Leo just started driving. You see the speed on the road and the direction of travel, and get one alert when the drive is over. No stream of pings.
Grandpa goes to the senior center every weekday morning. If the arrival can’t be confirmed by 10, you hear about it. If the phone is off, the app says so plainly.
Noah is on the train back from campus and Grandma is flying in. Adults share on their own terms: pause any time, or leave a Circle, without having to explain.
A dot on a map can be hours old and still look current. Family Nearby always says how old a location is, and gives a reason when a phone goes quiet. Try it: move the slider.
Mia’s phone has not checked in for a while. It may be off or offline. Refresh asks it for a new location.
A phone that stays still checks in every 30 minutes, so its location stays trusted longer.
3 places per Circle on the free plan, each a circle or a shape you draw. Alerts come about a minute after someone gets there, so driving past does not count.
Pick alerts per person and per type. Quiet hours hold them and send one summary in the morning. No marketing messages.
The app tells walking, cycling, driving, bus or train and flying apart, so a train ride is never counted as driving.
Support replies within 48 hours. No chatbot maze, no upgrade pop-ups.
Hold the SOS button for 3 seconds. Everyone in your Circles gets a loud alarm with your live location, even when their phone is on silent, if they allow it. Free for every family.
A short countdown follows, so a mistake is easy to cancel. Then your family gets the alarm.
Each person shows delivered, seen or on the way. Your location updates every 15 seconds. Hold “I’m safe now” to end it.
The alarm rings until they silence it. They see your street, distance and battery, and can call you, get directions or tap “I’m on my way”.
Screens from the Android app, with a demo family in Seattle.
Follow Mia from home to school. This is a sample route; nothing here uses a real location.
Mia left Home · updated 7:21 AM
Location apps are known for draining phones. Family Nearby is built the other way round: it does as little as possible while nobody moves, and only works hard when someone is on the way.
How we check it: a scripted day on real phones, with 16 hours still, 1.5 hours driving, 1 hour walking and 10 refreshes, must stay under 5 %. We run it on real phones and will publish the result here.
Pricing is not set yet. A feature that is free today stays free.
Get the Android appFamily Nearby is available now on Android. Download it directly from Google Play using the link below to install the app on your phone.
Not yet. Android comes first; an iPhone app is planned so families with both kinds of phone can use it. We will not call a platform available until it is.
People 13 and older. A teen aged 13 to 17 joins through a parent, who adds them from the parent’s own phone and agrees to share the teen’s location with the Circle. Nobody under 13 may use the app.
Only people in a Circle you joined, and only while your sharing is on in that Circle. Admins approve who joins. This website never asks for your location. See the privacy policy.
Adults can pause sharing or leave a Circle at any time from Your sharing. A managed child asks an admin before pausing.
Every person shows how long ago their location was updated. When a phone goes quiet, the app says why if it can (for example, low battery or no network) and what to do next.
Very little. It is designed to use under 5 % of a phone’s battery a day: no GPS while the phone is still, and GPS only on the move or near a saved place. We measure this on real phones, and we will publish the result.
Yes, the basics are free: up to 10 people per Circle, 3 places with arrive and leave alerts, and 7 days of history. A paid Plus plan is planned for more places and 30 days of history; pricing is not set, and a feature that is free today stays free.
Yes: Family Nearby has no ads, no ad SDKs and no advertising id. Your data is never sold or shared with data brokers, and the basics stay free.
Family Nearby is designed to use under 5 % of a phone’s battery a day, our design goal as we measure it on real phones. It uses no GPS while the phone is still, and turns GPS on only on the move or near a saved place. More in do family locator apps drain your battery?
No. A phone that shares its location always shows that sharing is on, so there is no hidden tracking. Teens aged 13 to 17 join through a parent, who agrees to share the teen’s location with the Circle. Read location sharing with teens: a parent’s guide.
It is honest about how old each location is, and the basics stay free. Arrive and leave alerts are free, a bus or train ride never counts as driving, there are no ads or upgrade pop-ups, and a person answers support within 48 hours.
Yes. The map works worldwide, and distances and times follow your phone’s settings: kilometres or miles, 12- or 24-hour clock. The app starts in English, with more languages later.
Yes. Settings → Delete account and data. Your data leaves our live systems within 30 days after you confirm, and disappears from backups within 30 more days. You can also delete your account on the web.
Yes, free for every family. Hold SOS for 3 seconds, and everyone in your Circles gets a loud alarm with your live location. You see who saw it and who is on the way, and “I’m safe now” ends it. It ends on its own after 24 hours.
No. Family Nearby is not an emergency service. Its SOS alerts your family only: it does not call the police or an ambulance, and there is no crash detection. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.
Family Nearby is live on Google Play. You need an Android phone and a Google account.
Install Family Nearby on your Android phone to start sharing location with your family.
Create a Circle in the app and share your invite link with your family members.