For family and friends of someone who lives alone
A brother after a divorce, a friend who moved to a new city, a cousin working abroad. If something happened, how long before anyone noticed? FiveClose brings that down to days, and nobody has to feel watched. Free.
How it works
- Make a close circle and invite them with one link, by WhatsApp, text or email. They join in a tap, in the phone's browser, with nothing to install from an app store.
- They tap I'm OK now and then, or just open FiveClose, which counts too. A one-tap I'm OK button can sit on their home screen.
- If a week goes by without a sign from them, the people in their circle get a nudge to check in. Each time you open the app, the Circle page shows who has been quiet longest.
Without feeling watched
- It goes both ways. Accepting your invitation puts you in their circle, and they'd hear if you went quiet too.
- No location unless they turn it on. Even then it's only where they were last seen, to about 100 metres, and only people in each other's circles see it.
- No messages to read and no feed to keep up with. For them, it's one button.
On a bad day
A mood takes one tap. "Not great" quietly asks their circle to reach out, and "Call me" sends a notification to the people closest to them, so they don't have to ask anyone directly.
Older, or not keen on phones?
You can set up their phone for them with a QR code, with no sign-in for them, and a simple version with big buttons. See FiveClose for sons and daughters of older parents.
Good to know
- FiveClose asks people to reach out. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.
- Free. It speaks English, Simplified Chinese, Malay, Tamil, Indonesian, Japanese and Spanish.
More: Check-in apps for people who live alone: how they work.