Everything people actually ask when they download the app for the first time. No jargon, no fine print — just answers.
Getting started
You pick an end time — say, 11:30 tonight. Before that time, you tap in. If you don’t, we send a quiet alert to one person you chose. No location-sharing, no broadcasting, no explanation required. Think of it as a dead man’s switch, minus the drama.
Under two minutes. Download, pick one person you trust, and you’re done. Tapping out after that takes three taps and about fifteen seconds.
No. They just need a phone. If you miss a check-in, they get a text — your name, the fact that your check-in is overdue, and a single reply to confirm they’ve reached you. No download, no account, no friction.
Someone who will actually pick up their phone. Not someone who’ll panic. The ideal contact is the person who, if you texted “I’m good,” would say “obviously” and move on.
How it works
First, a 5-minute grace period — your phone buzzes once, and you can tap to extend or confirm. If you don’t, your chosen contact gets a text: “Maya set a check-in that’s now overdue. She may be fine — but she’d want you to reach out.” No sirens. No 911. Just a nudge for them to call.
No — and this is the key thing about how we built it. Once you tap out, the timer lives on our server, not your device. Your phone can be stowed in your pack, sealed in a dry bag, or completely off — the clock is still running. If you don’t tap in, we send the alert regardless of what your phone is doing. That’s what makes it work for water sports, trail runs, and backcountry trips where a phone is inaccessible or powered down.
No. Not automatically, not ever. We are not an emergency service. We’re a signal to someone who knows you. If escalation is needed, that’s a decision a human in your life makes — not our servers.
It happens. That’s why there’s a grace period, a buzz on your phone, and a text path before anyone else gets involved. If your contact reaches out and you reply “sorry, asleep” — that’s the whole exchange. Nobody’s mad.
Always. From the app, the lock screen, your Apple Watch, or a home-screen widget. One tap to add 30 minutes. One tap to end it early.
Active & adventure use
Yes, and this is one of the core use cases we built for. The server-side timer is the key. You tap out at the beach or trailhead before you go in, your phone goes in the dry bag or stays at the car, and if you’re not back by the time you said, your contact finds out — even though your phone was off the whole time. No satellite communicator required for day trips in cell-covered areas.
The check-in needs to be set while you have signal — before you go in. Once it’s set, no ongoing connection is required for the timer to run and the alert to fire. But you will need signal when you tap back in, and your contact needs to be reachable by SMS. For truly remote backcountry with no signal at the trailhead, a satellite communicator like Garmin inReach is the right tool.
When you text “I’m going kiting, back by 2” — nothing happens at 2 if you don’t show up. Your friend has to remember, notice, and take initiative. Vital Check-In puts the clock on us. We fire the alert automatically if you don’t tap in. Your contact doesn’t need to be vigilant — they just need to pick up when we tell them to reach out.
Privacy & data
No. By default, Vital Check-In never knows where you are. You can opt in to share your last known location only if you miss a check-in — but that’s off by default and toggled per check-in, not globally.
No. Never. Not to advertisers, data brokers, “partners,” insurance companies, or anyone else. Our revenue is paid subscriptions. That’s the whole plan.
Your account email, your contacts’ names and numbers (encrypted), and your recent check-in history (auto-deletes after 30 days on Essential, 90 on Plus). You can audit everything we have on you from inside the app.
Settings → Privacy → Delete account. One tap. We wipe everything within 24 hours and email you a confirmation. No retention clauses, no guilt trip.
Pricing
No — and we’re honest about why. Every subscriber gets a dedicated phone number so that STOP and START replies always route to the right person. That number costs real money to maintain. Rather than offer a hobbled free version or sell your data to cover the cost, we charge a fair price: Essential at $1.99/month (1 contact, unlimited check-ins) and Plus at $3.99/month (up to 8 contacts, travel mode, 90-day history, Apple Watch).
Because ads require data, and data requires surveillance, and surveillance defeats the product. We’d rather charge two dollars than sell two facts about you.
Yes. Cancel in-app, in 30 seconds. Your account downgrades gracefully at the end of your billing period. No retention call. No last-ditch discount offer.
Platform & misc
iOS first. Android is in active development — join the waitlist and you’ll hear when it’s ready. We didn’t want to ship a worse version to half our users on day one.
Yes — anywhere your phone has cell service or Wi-Fi. Travel mode routes alerts through local SMS so your contact doesn’t get a weird international-number text.
No. We designed it for anyone who goes alone — solo travelers, runners, hikers, water sports people, night shift workers, people living alone. Women were the first audience because they told us loudest that they needed it. But the app doesn’t ask you to prove anything about why you want a quiet safety net.
A small team sharpened by the absence of a product like this. A founder who kite surfs solo and got tired of texting someone “back by 2, probably.” A backend engineer who built the server-side timer architecture specifically so phones don’t have to survive. More on the about page.