Porchlight Daily Check-In
Health & Fitness
$0.99 · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
One tap a day. If you go quiet, the people you chose are told, even if your phone is dead.
Porchlight is a check-in app. You tap one button a day to let the people who care about you know you are okay. If you do not, it tells them.
That is the whole idea, and everything in the app is built around making it simple enough to use every day without thinking about it.
HOW IT WORKS
Pick a time. Porchlight asks you once, at that time, with one large button to press. You can also check in with Siri ("Check in with Porchlight"), from the Action button, or by answering a reminder on your Apple Watch.
If you do not answer, it reminds you again, and then louder. Only after that does it tell the emergency contacts you chose. They see when you last checked in, and they can say you are safe, say they are going to check on you, or call you, all with one tap.
WHY IT STILL WORKS WHEN YOUR PHONE DOES NOT
This is the part most check-in apps get wrong. If everything depends on your phone, then a dead battery means nobody is told.
When the people watching you also have Porchlight, their phone keeps its own eye on your check-ins. It knows when you are due. If nothing arrives, their phone raises the alarm by itself. That keeps working when your phone is switched off, out of signal, or flat.
BUILT FOR REAL LIFE
A missed check-in usually means someone was asleep, had no signal, or their battery died. Porchlight knows that. It tells your contacts what it saw, so they get "her phone was on three percent last night" instead of a fright.
WHO IT IS FOR
Living on your own, and you want someone to know the morning went normally.
A parent or a child, where a missed check-in should reach family, not a stranger.
Heading out on a date, a run after dark, or a long drive. Set a time to be back.
A DAY WITH PORCHLIGHT
Margaret lives alone and taps the button with her morning tea. One night her phone dies. At 9:45 her daughter's phone tells her no check-in arrived, and that Margaret's phone was on three percent. One phone call settles it.
Priya is meeting someone new. Before she leaves she sets "back by 11". She is home at 10:40, taps I'm back, and nobody is told a thing.
A family keeps an eye on each other. When Grandpa misses a check-in, his neighbour marks that she is checking on him. Everyone else sees it, so nobody is woken by five phone calls.
PLAIN ABOUT WHAT IT CANNOT DO
Porchlight cannot call 911. No app can. What it does is put the right information in front of a person who can act, with nothing left to look up.
WHAT IT COSTS
The app is a one off purchase and includes the first month. After that it is 1.99 a month to keep watching. If your subscription lapses, Porchlight tells you clearly rather than going quiet, and a check-in already underway always finishes.
PRIVACY
There is no server. Your details sync through your own iCloud account to the contacts you picked, and nothing is ever sold.
Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Privacy Policy: https://dbalette.github.io/Grandview_Ventures/porchlight/privacy.html
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
The developer, Daniel Balette, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Daniel Balette
- Size
- 5.8 MB
- Category
- Health & Fitness
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later. - Apple Watch
Requires watchOS 10.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
9+
- 9+
- Contains
Health or Wellness Topics
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Porchlight monthly $1.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Daniel Balette