Getting started
What can I do with Nowhere?
Keep a journal of the places that make up your days. Record somewhere you’ve been, save a spot for later, or add photos, voice memos and reflections to help you remember it. It’s a private journal on your iPhone, with no public posts or followers.
Is it free?
Yes. All features are free, with no subscription or paywall. If you’d like to support my work on Nowhere, you can leave an optional tip through the Caffeine Fund in Settings. Nothing is locked behind a tip.
Do I need to sign up?
No. There’s no Nowhere account to create. Your journal is saved on your iPhone and can sync through your own iCloud account.
Will it work on my iPhone?
Check the App Store listing for the current iOS requirement. Some writing features and parts of Scout need an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, with it available and turned on. You can still keep your journal without those features.
Can I use Nowhere without internet?
You can read anything already saved on your iPhone. Downloaded Area data also helps Nowhere recognise nearby places. Maps, search, new downloads, iCloud sync and online information need a connection. If some of your journal is only in iCloud, let it download before going offline.
Your places
How do I check in somewhere?
Search for the place, open its card and tap Check In. That saves a record of your visit and when you were there. Just opening the card doesn’t add a check-in.
How do I save somewhere for later?
Bookmark it. A bookmark keeps a place you want to visit or return to, while a check-in records a visit you’ve made. When you get there, you can open the bookmarked place and check in.
Will Nowhere notice where I stop?
With location permission, Nowhere can record your movement and suggest places you’ve stopped. Review a suggestion, confirm it or choose the right place. You can always check in yourself too. It can miss a stop or get the place wrong, so suggestions are there for you to review.
Can I change a check-in?
Yes. Open the saved check-in to edit its details or delete it. You can also add a reflection if there’s something about the visit you’d like to remember.
How does Scout work?
Found somewhere you want to remember in a video, post or map link? Tap Share, choose Nowhere, then review the place Scout finds and save it to Bookmarks. Scout opens shared pages online and uses Apple Intelligence to read their text on supported iPhones. Map links can still work without Apple Intelligence. Some links don’t include enough information to find the place.
How do I bring my Swarm check-ins over?
Request your Foursquare or Swarm data export and save the ZIP or JSON file in Files on your iPhone. In Nowhere, open Settings → Import places, choose the file, then review the places and import them. This brings over your recorded visits. Scout is for finding places in new links you share.
Recording and your map
Can it record while I use other apps?
Yes. Allow Always location access in iOS Settings so Nowhere can record your movement in the background. iOS decides when it sends background location updates, so there can still be gaps in a recorded day.
What are Arrival nudges?
They’re optional notifications that invite you to review a stop. You can turn them on or off in Nowhere’s Settings, and notifications need permission in iOS Settings too. Suggested places also appear inside your journal, separately from these notifications.
Can I choose which reminders I get?
Yes. In Settings, you can choose things like Arrival nudges, Nearby bookmarks, Daily reflections and Weekly digest separately. You can also turn off all Nowhere notifications in iOS Settings.
What is Area data for?
It keeps information about nearby places on your iPhone to help Nowhere recognise your stops. You can manage it in Settings → Area data. Downloads need internet and coverage varies. Area data contains place information, not a full offline map.
Where do the city facts come from?
City knowledge brings in introductions, facts and pronunciation from Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons. It’s on by default, and you can turn it off in Settings. These details come from an online lookup. The Privacy Policy explains what’s sent when a city is looked up.
What am I seeing on the Fog map?
The Fog map reveals the areas you’ve moved through while Nowhere was recording. It follows the location information your iPhone provides. Gaps can happen, and it won’t fill in journeys from before you started using it.
How does my Footprint grow?
As you move around a city, Footprint shows how much of its neighbourhoods you’ve explored. It grows from the movement Nowhere has recorded, so you can see familiar ground build up over time.
How much battery does recording use?
It varies with your iPhone, signal, movement and settings. Location recording does use battery. High-fidelity location gives you a more detailed path while you move and can use more, so you can adjust it in Settings to suit you.
How do I replay a day?
Open a day with recorded movement and look for Retrace this day. Retrace plays back the path Nowhere recorded, so what you can replay depends on the movement saved for that day.
How do Trips work?
Trips bring together recorded visits from time away. They’re a way to look back at where you went and the places that made up your trip. You don’t need to build an itinerary first.
Your journal and memories
Can I add notes or photos to a visit?
Yes. Reflections let you keep your words, photos and voice memos with the places and days you want to remember. Write whenever you feel like it. You can choose whether to receive reminders.
When will I get an issue of The Brief?
The Brief looks back at a completed month with at least three recorded check-ins. Creating an issue needs Apple Intelligence on a supported iPhone. It can also catch up on recent months that qualify, so you don’t have to wait a full month after joining. Give it time to process; when an issue appears depends on Apple Intelligence being available too.
Can I ask about places I’ve been?
Yes. Ask your world finds saved visits, bookmarks and trips using questions you type. Try asking in English. It searches records on your iPhone, works offline with those records and doesn’t need Apple Intelligence.
How can Cap help me reflect?
Open a reflection and chat with Cap about what you’d like to remember. You can write back, pick a mood when Cap asks, or add a photo or voice memo. To talk through several recent places together, open Reflections and tap Reflect with Cap.
Does chatting with Cap need internet?
Some replies are prepared on your iPhone. Others use Apple’s Private Cloud Compute and need a connection. What’s available depends on your device and Apple Intelligence.
What are Trophies for?
Trophies mark milestones in the places you’ve visited. You can keep them just for yourself. There’s no need to turn on Game Center.
Will Game Center show where I’ve been?
No. If you turn it on, Game Center shares achievements and leaderboard scores under your Game Center identity. Those scores include check-in totals and counts of different places, not their names, your journal entries, photos or routes. Game Center is optional and starts off turned off.
Can I use Nowhere from my Home Screen?
Yes. Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets can show your recorded places and activity. You can also use Check In and New Reflection controls from Control Center or compatible Lock Screen controls to open those actions quickly.
Privacy and your data
Is my journal private?
Yes. There’s no public journal or followers. Your journal is stored on your iPhone and can sync through your personal iCloud account. You choose what to share or export. Optional Game Center shares achievements and scores, not your journal entries or place names. A few features send only what they need to work, like city names for City knowledge, and Apple Intelligence may use Private Cloud Compute for The Brief and Cap. The Privacy Policy explains each one.
Do you sell my data or show ads?
No. Nowhere has no ads or app-usage analytics. Features such as Apple Maps and City knowledge do send the requests they need to their providers. The Privacy Policy explains those connections and how this website works.
Do I have to use iCloud?
No. You can keep your journal on your iPhone. If iCloud sync is active, supported journal data can sync through your Apple account. Check Settings → iCloud sync for its status. It needs internet and may take a little time. Remember that sync also carries changes between devices, so it isn’t a separate backup.
How do I keep a copy of my journal?
Open Settings → Export Data. It makes a ZIP containing readable CSV and JSON files, plus available photos and voice memos. You can choose to include your Location trail. Save it somewhere you control. You can read these files outside Nowhere, but you can’t restore them into the app as a backup.
How do I stop recording or delete my journal?
To stop background recording, change Nowhere’s location permissions in iOS Settings. To delete your journal, open Settings → Delete all data in Nowhere and read the confirmation. Export anything you want to keep first. Deletions sync through iCloud when available and can take time. Any copies you’ve shared or exported need to be removed separately.
Help
What if Nowhere misses a stop?
Check location permissions and your downloaded Area data. You can correct a suggested place or add a check-in yourself. Location signals and place details aren’t always accurate, but if stops keep failing to appear, please get in touch. It may be something I need to fix in the app.
Where’s my journal on my new iPhone?
Check that both iPhones use the same Apple account and that iCloud is available for Nowhere. Connect to the internet, check iCloud sync in Settings and give your records and media time to download. If something is still missing, contact support before deleting or reinstalling anything.
How do I get help?
Open Settings → Contact to draft an email, or write to me at support@visitnowhere.app. Tell me what happened and what you expected. The draft includes your app version and device details to help me investigate, and you can edit them before sending.