Frequently asked questions

Open the members list from the map and choose to add a member. You get a six-character invite code and a link. Send either — the link opens the app straight on the join screen if they already have it, and the code works over a phone call. They install Family Nest, sign in, and they are in.

An invite link only carries someone into the app if the app is already installed. If they tapped it, installed from the store, and then opened a blank app, the code is what finishes the job — the invite page copies it to their clipboard, and the join screen in the app has a Paste button.

If the code itself is not working, check they typed all six characters and that you are reading them the current code — refreshing the nest code in settings invalidates the old one.

Only the nest admin can. Open the members list, edit the member, and take them out. They stop sharing with — and seeing — the nest immediately.

Whoever created the nest. The admin can edit members, see each member's sign-in method, and manage the nest.

Yes. Use the nest switcher to create or join another one. Each nest keeps its own members, places and alerts.

Check which email you signed in with under your profile, then sign out on the old phone. Install the app on the new phone and sign in the same way — same email, same method (Google, Apple, or email). Everything is waiting.

Yes, but not on the same account. A device is identified by the account signed in on it, so signing in twice makes two devices fight over one identity and location stops updating properly. Use your main account on the phone you carry, make a second account for the tablet, and add both to the nest with the invite code.

There is no desktop version. You can run the Android app inside an emulator like BlueStacks and treat it as a tablet, but a phone you actually carry is what makes the app useful.

Look for a warning badge on their avatar. Open the member and tap Ask to fix — they get a notification that opens a screen telling them exactly what is broken on their phone: location off, permission not set to Always, Precise Location off, Low Power Mode, or Background App Refresh. That is faster and less annoying than guessing over text message.

Red means sharing is broken — location is off or permission was denied, so nothing arrives at all. Orange means it is degraded — Low Power Mode, Background App Refresh off, or notifications off — so updates still come, just less reliably. Both show how long the problem has been going on.

That is how long the problem has existed, and it also explains any gap in that member's history over the same stretch. The phone simply could not report.

Phone GPS is less precise than people expect, and the app can only show what the hardware reports. The blue circle around someone is the area they are probably in — as accuracy improves it shrinks. Indoors it grows.

Two things genuinely help: keep Wi-Fi switched on, even with nothing connected, because phones use nearby networks to place themselves; and set Precise Location to on. Drifting while stationary is the GPS re-locking and usually settles by itself. Expect around 45 m at best, worse indoors.

It is worth saying plainly: this is not evidence of where someone was. Do not hold a wobbly dot against your family.

Their local time, shown when they are in a different timezone — so you know it is 5 AM for them before you call.

In most cases the app spots it and marks that member's location as probably spoofed.

Turn location sharing off for the nest in settings. Your position stops updating and everyone keeps seeing you at the last place you were, with a note that you have sharing turned off — it does not hide you silently.

Open Places from the map and add one, or add it from a timeline card for a spot someone already visited. Give it a name and a radius — arrival and leaving alerts fire on that circle.

Usually the radius is too small. GPS needs slack, so 150 m or more works reliably; a 50 m circle around a house will miss crossings. Also check whether that member's phone had a warning badge at the time — degraded sharing delays the crossing being noticed.

Check that alerts are still enabled for that place, and that you have not muted that particular member — alerts can be turned off per member as well as per place. On iPhone, a Focus mode will also silence them.

Labels for spots that do not need alerts. They name a location on the map and in history, nothing more. Use a place when you want notifications; use a tag when you only want a name.

Three on the free tier. Premium removes the limit.

Set a speed limit for a member. While they stay above it, one alert card is created for the whole episode and updates in place — started, still speeding, then a summary with the route, top and average speed. One drive is one card, not a stream of notifications. Tap it to see the episode on the map.

Trip stats come from history samples taken every few seconds. The overspeed episode watches every GPS fix, so its number is the accurate one. Where an episode overlaps a trip, the trip shows the episode's figure.

Driving events. A deep-orange down arrow is a hard brake, an amber up arrow is a rapid acceleration. Tap one for the time and the speed change. A clean drive says so.

Open the Safety tab and press SOS. After a short countdown every nest member gets an alert with your location, and your emergency contacts receive an SMS with a map link. You can also say "Hey Siri, send SOS with Family Nest."

The emergency contacts saved under Safety. Add at least one — nest members get an in-app alert either way, but the SMS is what reaches people who do not have the app.

A live escort for one journey. Start it before a late-night commute or a cab ride and your nest can follow it as it happens — route, progress and speed — until you arrive. You can share a link with someone who does not have the app; that link stops working when you mark yourself safe, or after 48 hours.

If the journey goes quiet for about ten minutes, or does not reach its destination in the expected time, watchers are alerted with your last known position, and again if it stays overdue. Arriving ends the watch and tells everyone.

Yes. The route is stored with the session, so a watcher opening it later still sees the path it took.

"Expect this person at this place by this time." You are notified when they arrive, and if they have not arrived about five minutes past the deadline you get a late alert, with one follow-up fifteen minutes after that.

Yes. Repeating expectations roll forward to the next day once today's is done — the school-run case.

365 days with premium, 30 days on the free tier. Recent days open instantly; older days are archived and take a moment to restore when you open them.

Tap a timeline card to highlight that one trip or stay on the map. The arrow buttons step through the day in order, and View details opens the full trip screen with playback and stats. Tap empty map to see the whole day again.

Yes. The download button builds a PDF with the timeline, a map of the day, charts, most-visited places, driving events, and the full log with tappable map links.

Points are only recorded while the phone allows background location. Low Power Mode, force-quitting the app, or a permission below Always all thin the trail. That member's warning badge tells you which one it was, and for how long.

A year of location history instead of thirty days, unlimited saved places instead of three, and live tracking. The rest of the app — the map, alerts, SOS, Watch over me — is free.

Premium attaches to the account that bought it. If you have signed in with a different email since, the purchase will not follow you — sign out and back in with the account you paid on. If that does not do it, email support@familynestapp.com.

Linking is not automatic. Open the premium screen, tap Manage linked premium, and set each member yourself. If you have already done that and it has not taken, send us the emails involved.

Subscriptions are handled by the store you bought from, not by us. On iPhone, Settings → your name → Subscriptions. On Android, Google Play → Subscriptions.

Refunds are handled by the store. Google Play has a 72-hour self-service window; Apple refunds are requested through reportaproblem.apple.com. Before you do, it is worth mailing us — most problems people refund over turn out to be a permission setting.

Preferences → measurement units. Everything follows it — speeds, distances, trip stats and PDF reports.

Open Help & Support in the app. It runs live checks on the device and shows exactly what is wrong — notifications off, Background App Refresh, Low Power Mode. An iPhone Focus mode will also silence alerts without appearing broken.

Open your own entry in the members list and edit it. The change syncs to everyone in the nest.

Menu → Delete all data, then confirm twice. Your nests, location history and places are deleted. See Delete data.