There are a number of ways to share your location with family and friends, from Apple’s built-in Find My app to location pins in messaging apps like WhatsApp. HeyPolo aims to deliver smarter features, including even greater privacy controls than available in the Find My app.

The app was developed by the team behind leading VPN provider Surfshark, with seven key features on offer.

Apple’s Find My app was, of course, originally known as Find My Friends and intended as a way to keep tabs on the locations of your family and friends. It’s still a great way to do this, but it’s not as smart as it could be.

For example, when you choose to share your location, the only options available to you are for one hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely. If you need to share your location beyond the end of the day, it’s easy to forget about it afterwards and end up sharing your location indefinitely. There’s also no option to decide how precise a location to share: it always shares exact location.

HeyPolo is a third-party app designed to offer more control without compromising on privacy – and indeed actively enhancing it. Typical users include parents and teenagers who want to stay connected, couples checking in safely without the pressure to share more than they want to, friends being able to find each other on nights out or when travelling together, caregivers and elderly family members, and co-workers on-site or field visits.

Key features

Precise control of timings

Instead of being limited to a few fixed durations, you can set precise start and end times. Once the end time is reached, tracking stops automatically without you having to take any action.

Control over location precision

If you’re trying to meet up with someone, you can share your exact location exactly as in the Find My app. But if you simply want someone to know your general location, you can choose to share it in a less precise way. The choice is always yours.

Unlimited groups

If you want to regularly share your location with the same people, you don’t have to manually select them each time. You can create groups for family, friends, travel or work. Only you need a subscription to the app – everyone else can see your location without a membership.

Smart notifications

There’s no need to manually check in on the app in order to keep track of someone’s location when they have shared it with you. You can automatically receive SOS alerts as well as be notified when a friend or family member enters or leaves a designated area. You always have full control over which alerts you get and from whom.

Trip history

You can choose to make your trip history available to group members or not as you choose. Again, you are always in control.

Driving behavior

If you have teenage drivers in the family, the app offers you the option of monitoring driving speeds and habits. As always, you have complete control over the alerts you choose to receive.

Your location will never be sold

It’s depressingly common these days for app developers to sell location data to data brokers. HeyPolo will never do this. All location data is encrypted in transit and the company will never sell, monetise or otherwise exploit user location data.

7-day free trial

You can try HeyPolo for yourself via a seven-day free trial without any commitment. If you do choose to subscribe, an annual plan costs $47.88 per year, working out at $3.99 per month. If for any reason you’re unhappy with the service, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee.