Family Safety: location sharing, places and alerts Coming soon
Know they got home — without anyone being tracked. Sharing is opt-in, on your terms (for 15 minutes, 1 hour or 8 hours, while the app is open, or always on iPhone), and only with the people you choose.
Family Safety lives in the Kunbaa mobile app, which is not in the App Store or Google Play yet. This page explains how it works so you know what to expect. Join the waitlist to hear when it arrives.
Turning sharing on
Open the Kunbaa tab → Safety and tap Share my location. Choose how long — 15 minutes, 1 hour, 8 hours, or until you turn it off — and who can see you: everyone in the family or just the people you pick. The first time, your phone asks to let Kunbaa use your location while using the app; allow it. Your dot appears on the map for the people you chose, and theirs for you if they’re sharing too.
Choosing who can see you
Sharing is never with “the app” — it is with people. When you turn it on you pick the audience: everyone in your family space, or only the relatives you tick, and you can change that list or stop at any time. Nobody outside your family can ever see you. Each person decides for themselves: nobody can turn on sharing for someone else, and nobody is shown a position they were not given.
Sharing for a set time
A timed live share — 15 minutes, 1 hour or 8 hours — is for “I’m driving home” or “my flight just landed”. While a timed share runs, your position keeps updating even if you switch apps or lock your phone — about every 15 seconds on a 15-minute share and every 30 seconds on a 1-hour share, whether or not you move, and every few minutes on an 8-hour share — and your phone shows you that it is happening:
- iPhone: the blue location indicator shows in the status bar while Kunbaa is using your location. If you force-close Kunbaa from the app switcher, updates pause until you open it again; the share itself stays on until it ends.
- Android: a notification saying “Sharing live location until” the end time stays in your notification shade for as long as the share lasts. Tap it to open Kunbaa and stop sharing — the notification itself has no Stop button. Swiping Kunbaa away doesn’t stop the share.
Neither phone asks for “Always” permission for a timed share. It ends by itself when the time is up: your dot leaves your family’s map at that moment, even if your phone has died or lost signal, and Kunbaa deletes the stored position within about an hour. Tap Stop sharing to end it sooner — signing out of Kunbaa ends the shares started on that phone too. Turning off Kunbaa’s location permission only stops new updates, so your family keeps seeing the last position until the time is up or you stop sharing. Picking a time while you are already sharing until you turn it off replaces that share, so sharing is off once the time is up. You can also share your live location into a chat — see sharing live location in a chat.
Until you turn it off: While using, and Always
While using shares your location while Kunbaa is open on your screen, refreshed every few minutes. Close it or switch apps and sharing pauses; open it again and it resumes.
Always keeps sharing when the app is closed — about once an hour, and whenever you move a meaningful distance — so “did she get home?” has an answer without anyone opening the app. It is on iPhone only in this release. You turn it on yourself, after choosing to share until you turn it off: Kunbaa first explains exactly what it will collect and how often, then your phone asks for “Always” location access. Choosing “While using” at that prompt keeps you on the first level. Always is never on by default, and you can drop back to While using or Stop at any time.
Places
Family editors can save places — home, school, care, work — with a radius. Tap Add place in the safety controls and it uses your current location as the centre. Places are shared with the family and can be archived when they’re no longer needed.
Arrival and departure alerts
Once there are places and at least one person sharing, choose which family members and which places you want to hear about: arrivals only, or arrivals and departures. You get a notification when someone who is sharing reaches or leaves that place. Alerts you’ve seen can be acknowledged; the list keeps recent arrivals and departures.
That list is the only trail Family Safety keeps. Entries are kept for 7 days and then deleted automatically; they are visible only to the family members the person shares their location with; and they are deleted as soon as that person turns sharing off, or deletes their account. When a timed share ends by itself, that person’s entries are hidden from the family at the same moment and are deleted on the same 7-day clock at the latest.
Stopping
Tap Stop sharing, or open the sharing control and choose Off. Your dot disappears immediately, and your stored position and your arrival and departure entries for saved places are deleted with it. You can also revoke the location permission in your phone’s settings at any time.
Questions families ask
Is location sharing on by default?
No. It's off until you turn it on, and you choose who in the family can see you. Nothing is shared with anyone outside your family space.
Does Kunbaa track me in the background?
Only when you choose to. A timed live share — 15 minutes, 1 hour or 8 hours — keeps updating while Kunbaa is in the background, and stops by itself when the time is up; while a timed share runs, iPhone shows the blue location indicator in the status bar and Android shows a notification. Always, on iPhone only, sends your position about once an hour, and when you move a meaningful distance, even when the app is closed; you turn it on separately, after an in-app explanation and your phone's own permission prompt. While using updates while Kunbaa is open on your screen and pauses when you close it. You can stop any of them at any time.
Does sharing for a set time need the Always permission?
No. A timed live share uses the same while-using location permission as While using, on iPhone and Android alike, so your phone never asks for Always for it.
What happens when a timed share ends?
Your dot leaves your family's map at the time you picked, even if your phone has died or lost signal, and Kunbaa deletes the stored position within about an hour. Your arrivals and departures at saved places are hidden from your family at the same moment and are deleted on their usual 7-day clock at the latest. Sharing is then off; it doesn't switch back to an earlier setting. If notifications are on, Kunbaa also tells you it has stopped.
Does closing Kunbaa or signing out stop a timed share?
Closing Kunbaa doesn't — tap Stop sharing instead. On Android, a timed share keeps running even if you swipe Kunbaa away. On iPhone, force-closing Kunbaa pauses updates until you open it again, but the share stays on. Signing out does end the shares started on that phone, the same as tapping Stop sharing; if the phone is offline at that moment, they end at their set time instead. Turning off Kunbaa's location permission only stops new updates: your family still sees the last position it sent until the share ends or you stop it.
Can I share with just one person?
Yes. The sharing audience is yours to set — one relative, a few, or the whole family — and you can change it or stop at any time.
What are places?
Saved spots — home, school, care, work — with a radius around them. Once a place exists, family members who share their location can get arrival and departure alerts for it.
Is there a location history?
Only a short one. Family Safety shows where someone is now, while they're sharing, and it keeps a log of arrivals and departures at your family's saved places. That log is kept for 7 days and then deleted automatically, it is visible only to the family members you share your location with, and it is deleted as soon as you turn sharing off or delete your account.