SaveSelf Support

App versions: the active iPhone control and deletion marker described below apply starting with version 1.0.1. In version 1.0.0, use only one iPhone per Apple Account; that version does not enforce this control.

Answers to the most common questions. If yours isn't here, write to us.

What do I need to use SaveSelf?

• An iPhone with iOS 18 or later.
• An Apple Account with iCloud turned on on that iPhone.
• You sign in with Apple, with no new password. SaveSelf doesn't ask for your email.

Why does SaveSelf need iCloud?

SaveSelf doesn't have its own server: what each person shares is stored in their own iCloud, and iCloud's own sharing shows that data only to the people you chose. Without iCloud available on the iPhone, there's no way to share with your circle.

If the app shows "iCloud Required":

1. Tap "Open Settings" and, in iPhone Settings, go back to the first screen.
2. At the top, sign in with your Apple Account. If you're already signed in, tap your name, then iCloud.
3. Make sure iCloud is turned on, then come back to SaveSelf.

If iCloud is restricted by Screen Time or by a school or work profile, ask whoever manages the iPhone to allow it. If your iCloud storage is full, your family may stop receiving your location.

Does everyone in the circle need the app?

Yes. Each person needs an iPhone with SaveSelf installed and iCloud turned on, because everyone shares from their own iCloud. There is no Android or web version.

After you connect, ask the person to open SaveSelf at least once: until their iPhone turns on receiving, your SOS only reaches them when the app opens on it. On the person's profile, SaveSelf tells you when receiving hasn't been turned on yet.

How do I invite someone?

1. If your circle is empty, tap Home → Invite Someone. Later, use Settings → My Circle → Invitations.
2. Tap "Share Invite" and send the link in the messaging app you both use, or show the QR code.

• 1 link = 1 person. Whoever opens the link first connects with you; after that, it won't work for anyone else. Send it only to that person.
• To invite someone else, tap "Invite Another Person": each person gets a new link.
• "Invite a Contact" creates an invitation that only that contact's Apple Account can open.
• "Your Invitations" shows pending and accepted invitations. A link that no one used shows as expired after 7 days; if that happens, generate a new one.

I got an invitation. How do I join the circle?

• Tap the link on your iPhone. The invitation is accepted with your iCloud account.
• If you don't have the app yet, install SaveSelf from the App Store, go back to the message and tap the link again.
• You can also open SaveSelf, tap "I Got an Invitation" (during setup) or "I Have an Invitation" (later) and paste the link.
• After you join, you choose whether to share your location and your SOS with the person who invited you.

How do I choose what each person sees?

When you connect with someone, SaveSelf asks what you want to share with that person: Location and Alerts (SOS), each with its own switch. Sharing is one-way: seeing someone's location doesn't show them yours, and vice versa.

Your name, photo, phone number (if you add one) and your iPhone's status (battery, last seen and location permission) are visible to your whole circle from the moment you connect. Location and SOS only if they're turned on.

To change it later, person by person:

• Settings → Privacy → Who Can See My Data → tap the person and turn "Location" and "Alerts" on or off.
• Settings → Sharing → Location: the main "Share Location" switch and the list of who sees your location.
• Settings → Sharing → Alerts: who gets your SOS.

When you turn off location for someone, that person loses access to your position. Turning off "Share Location" removes the last position you published from your circle.

Why does SOS start on? How do I turn it off?

Letting the people you chose know in an emergency is the main reason for the circle. That's why, on the choice screen, "Alerts (SOS)" starts on and "Location" starts off. Before you continue, the screen says who your SOS will reach, and you can turn it off right there.

To turn it off later: Settings → Sharing → Alerts or Settings → Privacy → Who Can See My Data → the person → "Alerts". If no one receives your SOS, Home warns you: "No one receives your SOS."

Why does my location only update while the app is open?

Because SaveSelf's location permission is set to "While Using the App". With it, iOS only lets the app get your position while it's open, so people who see your location get your position from the last time you opened the app. On your profile, they see "Updates only while the app is open".

For your circle to get your position even when the app is closed, allow "Always":

• In the app: Settings → Sharing → Location → Share When App Is Closed.
• Or in iPhone Settings: Apps → SaveSelf → Location → Always. iOS only shows the "Always" request once; after that, you change it in iPhone Settings.

With "Always", iOS decides how often to update your position to save battery, so it may not be from this exact moment. Location also depends on the iPhone's signal. If "Precise Location" is off for SaveSelf, your circle only sees an approximate area, except during an SOS: then the app asks iOS for temporary precise location, and you decide in that prompt.

During an SOS triggered in the app, SaveSelf keeps sending your live position for 60 minutes, even in the background, to the people who see your location (see How does SOS work?). If you force-quit SaveSelf in the App Switcher, iOS may stop this.

How does SOS work?

1. On Home, tap SOS (at the top of the screen).
2. Press and hold the button for two seconds to confirm.
3. The alert goes to the people who receive your alerts. They get a Time Sensitive notification, even when the app is closed.

• The alert includes the time. Your location isn't in the alert: the people you let see your location follow your position live for 60 minutes. Ten minutes before it ends, SaveSelf reminds you and offers "Keep Sharing Live". People who receive your alerts but don't see your location get only the time.
• The SOS screen shows who has seen it ("Seen by…") and who tapped "I'm Helping".
• If no one confirms seeing it within about 2 minutes, or if the alert hasn't been sent yet, the app offers to call or text someone directly.
• While the SOS is open, Home and Map show "Your SOS is active". When it's over, tap "End" or "I'm OK, Cancel Alert". Only you can end your SOS.
• Before sending, the screen says who the alert goes to. If no one in your circle receives your alerts, it tells you.

Does SOS call emergency services?

No. SaveSelf only notifies people in your circle and doesn't contact or replace emergency services. In an emergency, call your local emergency number. The SOS screen has shortcuts at the top to the emergency numbers for your iPhone's region (Settings → General → Language & Region): for example, "Call 911" in the U.S. and Mexico, "Call 112" in most of Europe, and "Call 192" (ambulance) and "Call 190" (police) in Brazil.

How do I receive someone's alerts?

• The person needs to turn on "Alerts" for you. On their profile, SaveSelf shows whether you receive their SOS.
• Allow notifications for SaveSelf. In Settings → Notifications → Alerts & Emergencies you can see the permission and whether Time Sensitive notifications are on, and send a test notification.
• When you get an SOS, open the alert: the person sees that you saw it. Tap "I'm Helping" to let them know you're on it; your name appears to them and to the other people who receive their alerts. If there's a phone number (the one they added or the one from the contact you linked to them), you can also tap "Call".

What do Safe, Active, Unavailable and Emergency mean?

• Safe: no open SOS and a signal from the device in the last 6 hours. Only people who receive the person's alerts see this status.
• Active: the device checked in within the last 6 hours. This is what people who don't receive the person's alerts see.
• Emergency: the person has an open SOS (from the last 24 hours).
• Unavailable: recent data is missing. It doesn't mean danger.

"Safe" and "Active" don't guarantee that everything is fine: they only mean there's no open alert and the device has checked in.

How do I remove someone or leave a circle?

• Remove someone: in Settings → My Circle → People, swipe left on the person and tap "Remove". You'll both stop seeing each other's data, and the person moves to "Hidden People" so they don't come back as a suggestion. "Show Again" only takes them off that list: to see each other again, you need to connect again (with an invitation or a request).
• Leave the circle: on the same screen, tap "Leave Circle". No one in the circle will see your data anymore, and you'll no longer see theirs.

How do I sign out?

Tap Settings → Sign Out and confirm. If your SOS is open, the app offers to end it first.

• Your location, your signal and your SOS will no longer be sent from this iPhone, and your circle will no longer see your last position. Without internet, this removal goes out the next time the app has a connection.
• Your connections and choices are kept for when you sign in again with the same Apple Account.
• Your phone number and profile photo are erased from this iPhone: when you come back, setup asks for your phone number again, and you'll need to choose your photo again in Settings.
• "Sign Out" doesn't erase what's in your iCloud: your circle keeps seeing your name, photo, phone number and last signal. To erase everything, use Delete Account.

How do I delete my account?

1. If you use SaveSelf on another iPhone with the same Apple Account, sign out of the app (or uninstall it) there first. Otherwise, it could recreate what was deleted.
2. Tap Settings → Delete Account and confirm with "Delete Account and Data".

• SaveSelf erases everything it stored from your iCloud, removes you from all circles and erases the app's data on this iPhone. This can't be undone.
• If the deletion doesn't finish (without internet, for example), the app shows "Account Deletion in Progress". Until you tap "Finish" with internet, SaveSelf doesn't send anything, not even SOS, and nothing is erased from this iPhone.
• Uninstalling the app does not erase your data from iCloud. If you already uninstalled it, install it again, sign in with the same account and use Delete Account.

How do I remove "Sign in with Apple"?

Delete Account doesn't, by itself, undo the link between your Apple Account and SaveSelf, because the app has no server and keeps no token to revoke. To undo it, go to:

iPhone Settings → [your name] → Sign in with Apple → SaveSelf → Delete

In other versions of iOS, the path and the button name may be slightly different. If you do this without deleting your account, SaveSelf notices and signs you out automatically.

Can I use SaveSelf on two iPhones?

A random iPhone identifier, the account state and the change time are stored in a private area of your iCloud, without access for your circle. When you delete the account, this minimal control remains to prevent another updated iPhone from recreating the data. It stays until you reactivate the account or erase SaveSelf data in iCloud. Update the app and sign out on your other iPhones; older versions do not respect this control.

A pending location removal is stored on this iPhone, excluded from backups, with only the account identifier and the intent to delete, without coordinates. If another iCloud account signs in, removal waits for the original account to return with internet and for this iPhone to be active. Until iCloud confirms, the last position may still be visible.

What is Demo Mode?

It's a way to see how SaveSelf works with a fictional family, before you build your circle.

• To open it: if your circle is empty, tap Home → See How It Works (Demo). Without iCloud, the "iCloud Required" screen offers "Explore Demo".
• People and data are fictional and stay on your iPhone. Nothing is sent or shared, not even an SOS triggered during the demo.
• To leave: Settings → Exit Demo. It also ends when the app is closed.

Who can see my data?

Only the people in your circle, according to what you chose for each of them. We don't see your data: it stays in your iCloud. The details are in the Privacy Policy and, in the app, under Settings → Privacy.