A Kautio check-in is a timer that runs on Kautio's servers. When you schedule one, you say what you're doing, when it starts, and where you'll be, and you choose who is notified, and in what order, if you don't respond when Kautio checks in on you. Kautio is not an emergency service. If your contacts are notified, it means a timer wasn't stopped, nothing more. Kautio contacts only the people you chose, and it can't promise any outcome.
How do I schedule a check-in?
To schedule a Kautio check-in, fill in the New check-in form and tap Schedule check-in.
On the Check-ins tab, tap New check-in.
Fill in the Activity Details section (see Scheduling a check-in › The Activity Details fields).
Fill in the Check-in Settings section: Send first check-in after, Grace window, your tiers, Wait between tiers, Follow-up, Share my location, and Also call me.
Read the credit line above the button. It tells you whether this check-in uses a credit.
Tap Schedule check-in.
Check-in details opens and shows the state Scheduled.
If you have no credits and no subscription, tapping New check-in shows "You're out of credits. See plans to keep scheduling check-ins." and then opens the Plans screen. For plans and credits, see Plans, credits, and prices.
The Activity Details fields
The Activity Details section of a Kautio check-in describes what you're doing, when, and where.
Field label | Required | Limit and notes |
Share what you're doing | Yes | The check-in's title. Up to 100 characters. |
When does this activity start? | Yes | Date and time the activity starts. At least 5 minutes from now and no more than 30 days ahead; the date picker offers no later dates. If the time is too soon, you see "Start time must be at least 5 minutes from now." |
Repeat | No | Kautio Pro only. See Presets and repeating check-ins (Pro) › Making a check-in repeat. |
Share where you'll be | Yes | The location. Search for a place and select it. If no place is selected, you see "Please select a location." |
Add More Details (optional) | No | A description. Up to 500 characters. |
Photos | No | Up to 6 photos, from the camera or the photo library. JPEG, PNG, or HEIC. |
On plans other than Kautio Pro, the Repeat row reads "Make this check-in repeat" and shows a Pro chip. Tapping it opens the Unlock with Pro screen.
Who can see my title, details, location, and photos?
The title, details, location, and photos of a Kautio check-in stay private to you until one of your tiers is notified. After that, contacts in a notified tier can see them in the Kautio app. Contacts in tiers that haven't been notified can't.
The text message a notified contact receives carries only your name, the check-in title, and a link. Your details, location, and photos appear only in the app. For what contacts see, see Got a text from Kautio?.
Send first check-in after
Send first check-in after on a Kautio check-in sets how long after the activity start Kautio first checks in on you. It counts from the activity start you entered, not from the moment you schedule.
Option | Notes |
1 min, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour | 30 min is selected on every new check-in. |
At the activity start, the check-in becomes Active, and you get a "[title] is starting" notification that says how long until Kautio checks in on you and, when Tier 1 has contacts, how long your grace window is. When the Send first check-in after time is up, Kautio opens the first grace window. If it passes without a response, your Tier 1 contacts are notified.
Example: with Send first check-in after set to 30 min and Grace window set to 5 min, the first grace window opens 30 minutes after the activity start, and Tier 1 is notified at 35 minutes if you don't respond.
For what happens in the window, see When a check-in comes due › The grace window.
Grace window
Grace window on a Kautio check-in sets how long you have to Snooze or Dismiss each time Kautio checks in on you, before that tier is notified. Kautio's servers time it and never extend it.
Options | Default |
1 min, 2 min, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min | 5 min is selected on every new check-in. |
One grace window length applies to every tier of the check-in, and to every window after a snooze.
Under Wait between tiers, just above your tiers, the form shows how long you have to check in each time Kautio checks in on you, for example "Each time Kautio checks in on you, you have 5 minutes to check in before that tier's contacts are notified." With two or more tiers and a Wait between tiers chosen, it adds a second sentence saying how far apart the later tiers are and what that time is made of (the wait, then the grace window), for example, with a 30 min wait: "Each time Kautio checks in on you, you have 5 minutes to check in before that tier's contacts are notified. Later tiers follow 35 minutes apart: a wait of 30 minutes, then 5 minutes to check in."
The "[title] is starting" and "Check-in time" notifications say how long your grace window is when the tier being notified has contacts. For example, "Check-in time" reads "You have 5 minutes to check in before Tier 1 is notified."
The check-in's details show its Grace window.
Presets, Clone check-in, and repeating check-ins keep the grace window you chose.
You can change it while the check-in is Scheduled (see Changing or cancelling a check-in › Editing a check-in).
The grace window options are the same on every plan.
Choosing a grace window
The length of a Kautio grace window trades time to respond against how soon your contacts are notified: each extra minute is a minute later that they hear from Kautio if you don't respond.
Choose a longer window when you may not see your phone at once, for example during a long meeting or a workout.
Choose a shorter window when you'll have your phone in hand and want your contacts notified quickly if you don't respond.
Snooze is another way to get more time: it closes the window, and Kautio checks in on you again after your Wait between tiers (see When a check-in comes due › How Snooze and the grace window work together).
The earliest your Tier 1 contacts can be notified is the activity start + Send first check-in after + Grace window. Each later tier can be notified, at the earliest, Wait between tiers + Grace window after the one before.
Choosing who is notified: tiers
Tiers in a Kautio check-in set who is notified, and in what order, if you don't respond when Kautio checks in on you.
The form starts with Tier 1, which is notified first, if your first grace window passes without a response.
You can add up to 4 tiers of contacts, Tier 1 to Tier 4, with up to 10 contacts in each tier.
Use Add tier N to add a tier, Add recipients to choose its contacts, and the remove button on the tier (Remove tier N) to remove it. Any tier can be removed while at least one remains.
Every tier needs at least one contact. An empty tier shows "No recipients selected", and scheduling with one shows "Tiers must have at least one recipient."
Only contacts who accepted your invitation can be added. If you have none, the picker shows "No contacts available. Invite contacts first." See Managing your contacts.
A contact can appear only once in a tier but can be in several tiers. A contact who is in another tier shows "Also in Tier N".
You can't add yourself to a tier.
On Kautio Pro, the tier editor also offers Add from contact group and saving a tier's contacts as a group. See Managing your contacts › Contact Groups (Pro).
For how tiers run once a check-in starts, see Tiers and follow-up › How tiers work.
Wait between tiers
Wait between tiers on a Kautio check-in sets how long Kautio waits, after one tier is notified, before it checks in on you again.
Options | Default |
5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours | None. You must choose one. |
If you don't choose a wait, the form shows "Please select a wait between tiers" and the check-in can't be scheduled.
The wait between tiers is also how long a snooze lasts (see When a check-in comes due › Snoozing a check-in). For exactly when the wait starts, see Tiers and follow-up › How tiers work.
Follow-up
The Follow-up switch on a Kautio check-in ("A second check-in after this one starts.") adds a follow-up deadline. It is off on every new check-in.
When Follow-up is on, choose 24 hours or 48 hours (24 hours is preselected). The deadline counts from the activity start, not from when Kautio first checks in on you.
If you don't clear the follow-up by its deadline, your contacts get a text asking them to reach out to you. For how the follow-up runs and how to clear it, see Tiers and follow-up › How follow-up works.
Location sharing
The Share my location switch on a Kautio check-in ("Record GPS breadcrumbs while the check-in is active.") records your location trail during the check-in. It is off on every new check-in.
When Share my location is on:
The app records a location point about every 30 seconds while the check-in is Active.
Recording starts the first time the Kautio app is open while the check-in is Active.
Recording stops when the check-in leaves Active: when you dismiss it, or when it moves to Follow-up pending or Complete. Nothing is recorded before the activity start or after the check-in ends.
No points are recorded while your phone is off.
Kautio needs location permission on your phone.
On Kautio Pro, if several check-ins with location sharing are Active at once, only one of them records a trail at a time.
For who can see the trail, see Your privacy and data.
Phone call option ("Also call me")
The Also call me switch on a Kautio check-in ("Call my phone when this check-in needs attention.") adds a phone call to your verified number each time Kautio checks in on you. It starts on or off according to your saved default (see Scheduling a check-in › Your check-in defaults).
When Also call me is on, Kautio calls you each time a grace window opens, including every window after a snooze. If the tier has contacts, the greeting says how long until they are notified, for example "If you don't press 1 or 2, your contacts are notified in about 4 minutes." On the call:
Key | What it does |
1 | Snoozes the check-in for your wait between tiers. |
2 | Dismisses the check-in. If any contacts were already notified, it also sends them the "all good" text. |
If you press nothing, the call repeats its menu up to 3 times, then ends.
The call is best-effort and doesn't extend the grace window. Answering the call isn't a response; only pressing 1 or 2 is. If Kautio has already started notifying the tier when you press a key, the call says the option isn't available and asks you to open the app.
Kautio's calls come from a number that doesn't take incoming calls. If you call it back, your carrier says the number can't be reached, so to snooze or dismiss, use the call's menu or the app.
The phone call option is available on every plan.
Your check-in defaults
Kautio saves one check-in default: Settings › Preferences › Call me during check-ins. It sets whether Also call me starts on or off on each new check-in. Its description matches the call: "When a check-in needs your attention, we also call your verified phone. Press 1 to snooze or 2 to dismiss. If a contact was already notified, 2 also tells them you're all good."
Every other setting starts fresh on each new check-in:
Setting | Starts as |
Send first check-in after | 30 min |
Grace window | 5 min |
Wait between tiers | Not chosen |
Follow-up | Off |
Share my location | Off |
To reuse a full setup, copy an earlier check-in with Clone check-in (see Changing or cancelling a check-in › Copying a check-in) or, on Kautio Pro, start from a preset (see Presets and repeating check-ins (Pro)). The Settings › Check-ins section holds Safety presets and Recurring check-ins, which are Kautio Pro features.
Scheduling limits and credits
Kautio limits how far ahead and how many check-ins you can schedule. The limits depend on your plan.
Limit | Free and Full Access | Pro | What you see at the limit |
How far ahead | 5 minutes to 30 days | 5 minutes to 30 days | "Start time must be at least 5 minutes from now." Later than 30 days isn't offered. |
Upcoming check-ins (Scheduled plus Active) | 10 | 25 | "You can have up to N upcoming check-ins. Complete or cancel an existing one first." |
Check-ins created per day | 5 | 15 | "You've created several check-ins today. You can create more tomorrow." |
Cancelled check-ins still count toward the per-day limit.
The day for the per-day limit starts at midnight UTC on Kautio's servers, which may not be your local midnight.
Check-ins created by a repeating series don't count toward either limit.
On every plan, Kautio accepts at most 10 new check-ins in an hour. Past that, scheduling fails until the hour is up.
Credits apply when you don't have a subscription. Each check-in uses 1 credit when you tap Schedule check-in. Credits are never refunded, including when you cancel. The credit line on the form reads one of:
"Scheduling uses 1 credit. You have N remaining."
"Full Access active. No credit will be spent."
"Kautio Pro active. No credit will be spent."
"You're out of credits. Subscribe to keep scheduling check-ins."
For plans and credits, see Plans, credits, and prices.
Why did I see "One at a time" after scheduling?
The One at a time notice appears on Free and Kautio Full Access after you schedule a check-in that may overlap another one. It names the other check-in and says that if it is still running when this one starts, this one will wait and start automatically. The buttons are OK and See Kautio Pro.
Your check-in is scheduled either way. The notice is an estimate and never blocks scheduling. For how a waiting check-in starts, see More than one check-in › One check-in at a time (Free and Full Access).