What is Kinfolk? A location sharing app built for friends
Kinfolk is a free location sharing app for friends and family who want a map, low-stress pings, and privacy controls that do not feel like a leash.
The short version
Kinfolk is a location sharing app for people who actually chose each other. You invite friends or family, they accept, and then you decide together how much location to share. Live map when it helps. A quick ping when live tracking would be weird. Off when you are done.
That sounds simple, and it should be. A lot of location tools grew up as surveillance products or as bolted-on features inside Maps and Messages. Kinfolk starts from the opposite place: peer-to-peer check-ins, not a parent dashboard watching every move.
What you can do in the app
The home screen is a map of your people. You can share exact live coordinates when you want the Find My style view. You can also send an intent ping instead, like Heading to Central London, so your circle knows the plan without a continuous trail.
Arrive and leave alerts fire when you hit places you care about. Safe-home timers and bedtime check-ins cover late nights. If you have not checked in by the time you set, Kinfolk can ping your friends for you.
For festivals and big crowds, event hubs keep a group in one place. What3Words sits on the map so you can meet inside a three-meter square when GPS gets jumpy and the group chat is useless.
Privacy without the lecture
Older apps train people to leave sharing on forever, then wonder why everyone feels watched. Kinfolk leans on ghost mode, temporary circles, and ping-only access. You can share with one person for a weekend and shut it down without a drama.
Nobody gets added by surprise. Circles stay separate, so family, trip buddies, and your festival crew are not one giant blob on the same feed.
Who it is for
Friends who split across iPhone and Android. Flatmates who want a heads-up when someone is nearly home. Groups that meet at gigs, campsites, or city days out. Families who want check-ins without turning location into a full-time job.
If what you need is a free location sharing app that treats consent as the default, Kinfolk is built for that. Download it on iOS or Android when you are ready, or leave your email on the site for updates.