Know your family got home safe.
FamilyBeacon is family location sharing with no accounts and end-to-end encryption. We can't see where your family is, even if we wanted to.
How it works
No email, no phone number, no password. A family is just the phones that scanned each other.
1. Scan in person
One phone shows a QR code and the other scans it. Before anything is shared, the joining phone lists everyone who will see its location.
2. Encrypted on the phone
Your phone encrypts each update separately for each family member. Only their phones hold the keys to open it.
3. A relay that can't read
Our server only passes sealed messages along, and deletes each one once it's delivered. It never sees names, places or coordinates.
The things families actually use
And nothing else: no ads, no insurance upsells, no driving scores sold to anyone.
Family map
Everyone's latest position, with "updated 3 min ago" and battery level.
Places
Get an alert when someone arrives at or leaves home or school. Their phone checks the place and sends only the event. Parents add places by typing an address or moving the map.
SOS and "Are you OK?"
Hold the compass to send your exact location and set off a loud alert on every family phone. Parents can ask anyone "Are you OK?", and one tap on their phone answers.
Alerts you choose
Pick which alerts your phone shows, down to "tell me when Sam gets to school, not when he gets home". SOS and "Are you OK?" always come through.
Precision per person
Share your exact spot with your partner and just your neighborhood or city with others. It's coarsened before it leaves your phone.
Parents, children, adults
The family owner or a parent sets each member's role. Parents set what a child shares and who sees it; adults manage their own and can leave any time. A child's phone is managed by the parents.
Today and history, on your phone
The Today screen lists who arrived, left or checked in. It and the received points are kept on your phone for 7 days by default, then deleted. We hold no copy.
Bring your own server
The relay address is part of the QR code, so a family can run its own relay instead of ours.
Built so it can't be used to spy
Location sharing without accounts could be misused, so FamilyBeacon makes hidden tracking impossible by design.
Always visible
A permanent notification says how many people can see you. It can't be hidden, and the app has no disguised mode.
Who can see me
One screen lists everyone who can see your location and at what precision. For a child, the parents set it and the child can see exactly what was chosen.
Leave in two taps
Parents and adults can leave at any time, without a PIN or anyone's approval. The owner hands the family over or disbands it first.
Honest status
If someone's location is switched off, the family sees "Location off", never an old position passed off as current.
No subscription unless we host your relay.
Common questions
Do I need an account?
No. There is no email, phone number or password. A family is just the phones that scanned each other's QR codes, in person.
Can you see our location?
No. Your phone encrypts every update for each family member before it leaves, and only their phones hold the keys. Our relay passes sealed messages along and deletes each one once it is delivered.
What does the relay see?
Random mailbox addresses, sealed messages it cannot open, and the IP address it needs to answer a connection. No names, places, coordinates or timing records. The privacy policy lists everything.
Can my teen turn it off?
It depends on their role. Set as an adult, a teen can leave the family in two taps, without a PIN or anyone's approval. Set as a child, their phone is managed by the parents: to leave, the family owner removes it. Either way, there's no hidden mode: while sharing is on, a notification that can't be hidden says how many people can see them, and the app can always be uninstalled.
Does it work on iPhone?
Not yet. FamilyBeacon is Android only, and in closed beta.
Can I run my own relay?
Yes. The relay address is part of the QR code, so a family can point every phone at a relay it runs itself instead of ours. Then nothing passes through us at all.