Private, encrypted location sharing
Encrypted by design — even from us.
BanditKin brings your circle's live locations, encrypted messages and voice, and private turn-by-turn navigation together in one app — with privacy choices you control. Start with navigation on your own, and add your circle when you want to coordinate with your people. Android early access is open now, and BanditKin is running successfully on iPhone ahead of wider release, with Android and iPhone users connecting across the same circles. Your locations and messages are encrypted on your phones, so what doesn't exist in readable form can't be shared, sold, or leaked.
Thanks — if that's the email you use on Google Play, we'll add you to the Android test within a day. Otherwise we'll email you when the public release lands.
Worried about Flock cameras? See the ALPR cameras near you →
No ads. No AI. No data trade.
How it works
Private by architecture, not by promise.
Setup is one in-person scan. After that, your circle stays in sync while the server only ever relays sealed, encrypted data.
01
Pair in person or by invite
Scan a QR code in person, or send a text invite to someone farther away. The encryption key is created on your devices and never touches our server.
02
See everyone live
Your circle appears on a private, real-time map, with battery level and online status.
03
Alerts, messages, SOS
Arrive and leave alerts for places like Home and School, plus text, voice notes, and check-ins.
04
We only see ciphertext
Locations and messages are end-to-end encrypted. The server relays sealed data it cannot open.
Features
Everything you expect. Nothing you don't.
All the staying-connected features of a location app, built so none of it leaks.
Live shared map
See everyone in your circle on a private, real-time map.
Place alerts
Automatic arrive and leave alerts for Home, School, Work, and your own places.
Encrypted messaging and voice
Text, voice notes, and push-to-talk with your circle — end-to-end encrypted on your phone, with keys only your circle holds. Our servers relay sealed data they can't read or hear.
SOS & check-in
One-tap SOS and check-ins, so people know you are safe.
Offline maps
Download an area once and the map keeps working with no cell signal — useful off-grid, on the trail, or in a dead zone. And where you look on the map is never transmitted.
Battery & status
See who is online and their battery level, so you know who can respond.
See it in action
A look inside BanditKin
Real screens from the app — the encrypted tracker, private navigation, camera intelligence, sealed messaging, and Android Auto.
Your circle on one private map
Everyone in your group shares a live location on an end-to-end-encrypted map, with search and navigation built in. The server only ever stores ciphertext it can't read.
Turn-by-turn that stays on your phone
A real navigator — route preview, posted speed limits, smooth follow-me tracking. In the offline modes, routing runs on your phone and your destination and searches never leave it.
See the cameras. Route around them.
Flock and other ALPR cameras across your city, from public data — each with its approximate viewing cone. Turn on Avoid Flock cameras and your route detours only where you'd actually enter a camera's view.
Messages and voice, sealed end-to-end
Text, voice notes, and Push-to-Talk with your circle — end-to-end encrypted like your locations. The server relays sealed data it can't read or hear.
See how private messaging works →
BanditKin on your car screen
Plug into Android Auto and BanditKin comes up in the car's app launcher — full map, search, and turn-by-turn, with the same privacy modes as the phone. Navigate while your circle members stay visible on the car's map. CarPlay is coming soon.
Private navigation
Private navigation the big map apps don't offer
BanditKin isn't only encrypted location sharing — it's a full private navigator. These are the things you won't find in Google Maps, Waze, or Life360.
Three navigation modes — Fully Private, Private Online Assist, and Anonymous Online — each labeled with exactly what leaves your phone. The default is Waze-like search and traffic, anonymized; flip one switch and nothing about where you go ever leaves the phone.
In the offline modes your route is computed on the phone, and your destination and searches never leave it — by architecture, not policy. There's no routing server to send them to.
See Flock and other ALPR cameras with their approximate viewing cones, get alerts only when you'd enter a camera's view, and route around them with a field-of-view-aware strength slider.
See divided-highway median crossovers on the map, mark unmapped ones in a tap, and share them — crowd-verified, with no account required.
An opt-in profile for authorized users — law enforcement, EMS, fire, and service crews — that can route via crossovers and service roads, behind a legality confirmation on every route.
Save your whole area in one tap — map, search, addresses, speed limits, and routing. Your trail keeps recording with no signal and syncs, still encrypted, when you're back in range.
Why BanditKin
The difference is what we can't do.
Other location-sharing apps can read and sell your location. BanditKin is built so that is impossible. Here is what that rules out.
End-to-end encrypted
Locations and messages are encrypted on your device. Only your circle holds the key.
No ads, ever
There is no ad business here, so there is no reason to profile you.
No analytics SDKs
No third-party trackers or analytics SDKs are bundled in the app. What does leave the phone is only what a feature needs: the Play Store build registers with Google so alerts can arrive, and Anonymous Online mode fetches routes and maps through a relay, so no single party sees both who you are and where you're going.
No data sales
There is no readable data for us to sell, and we never will.
No account needed
Pairing uses random device IDs — join with a QR code in person or a text invite. No email, no account.
Yours to self-host
Run the relay on your own hardware, so even encrypted metadata stays with you.
See the Flock & ALPR cameras near you
Beyond the app, BanditKin keeps a free, public map of automated license-plate-reader (ALPR) cameras — Flock and other vendors — built from open OpenStreetMap data and community reports. Search any city, see which agencies operate the cameras, and report new ones. Same privacy-first principle: it uses only public data, and nothing about you is shared to view it.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is BanditKin really end-to-end encrypted?
Yes. Your locations and messages are encrypted on your device with a key only your circle holds. BanditKin's servers store ciphertext they cannot decrypt.
How is it different from Life360?
Life360-style apps can read and monetize location data. BanditKin is built so that is impossible: the server never sees readable locations, and there are no ads, analytics SDKs, or data sales.
Does it work on iPhone?
Yes. BanditKin is working on iPhone, including sharing circles with Android users. Additional reliability testing is underway before public availability. Sign up for launch updates.
Do I need an account or email?
No. Devices join with a QR code scanned in person or a text invite you send yourself, using random identifiers. No account or email is required.
Can I run my own server?
Yes. The relay is self-hostable and free to run on your own hardware — a spare PC is plenty. Your circle's data, including the metadata, then stays on a machine you control. Map downloads and online navigation still use their own public services.
Do the maps work offline?
Yes. Download an area once and the map keeps working with no cell signal — useful off-grid, on the trail, or in a dead zone. Where you look on the map is never transmitted.
What can BanditKin see?
Operational metadata: random circle and device IDs, timestamps, whether a device is online, its battery level, that an alert fired, and your circle's plan status. Never your locations or what a message says. Our privacy policy lists all of it.
What will BanditKin cost?
It's free during early access. Self-hosting is always free — run the relay on your own hardware. Cloud circles get a 30-day full free trial — no card, no account — then one plan covers your whole circle: $4.99/month, $39.99/year, or a one-time $99.99 for lifetime access. Early-access users keep everything free. That fee is the entire business model — no ads, no data sales, no “you are the product.”
iPhone — Coming soon
BanditKin is now running successfully on iPhone, with Android and iPhone users connecting across the same circles. They share the same live map, encrypted messages, Places, and alerts, and BanditKin has performed reliably throughout testing. We're completing additional testing to ensure a reliable experience before wider release. Android early access is open now on Google Play — leave your email for iPhone launch updates.
Thanks — if that's the email you use on Google Play, we'll add you to the Android test within a day. Otherwise we'll email you when the public release lands.