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Guardian Labs

StepGuardian · Walking-while-scrolling alerts

A heads-up when they walk and scroll.

If your child looks at their phone while walking, a heads-up appears. Keep looking, and a warning covers the screen. Location, daily app time and family chat are in the same app.

Coming soon to Google Play

How walking alerts work

Install the parent app on your phone and the child app on your child's.

Scroll to see it in action

1 / 3 Nothing changes. Walking without looking at the phone? Nothing pops up.

  1. 1 / 3Nothing changesWalking without looking at the phone? Nothing pops up.
  2. 2 / 3Looking while walking"Wait, check your surroundings" slides onto the screen.
  3. 3 / 3Still lookingA full-screen warning appears. It clears once they stop walking.
Illustration: a child wearing earbuds, absorbed in her phone, walks toward a railway crossing as the barrier comes down, while the startled meerkat mascot raises its paws to say stop

It really happens

What happened to kids who walked and looked at their phones

Real accidents, each checked against the original report. All three happened on the way to or from school.

  1. Case · South KoreaHigh school student wearing earphones killed by a train at a rail crossing
  2. Case · United Kingdom11-year-old watching a video killed by a train at a footpath crossing on the way to school
  3. Case · Japan14-year-old walking along a platform edge killed after being caught between train and platform
See all cases

One app for your family's day

See all features
Heads-up over the child's home screen: Wait, check your surroundingsHeads-up over the child's home screen: Wait, check your surroundings

Connect two phones with one code.

  1. Install the parent appInstall it on your phone and sign up with Google or email.
  2. Install the child appInstall it on your child's phone. They don't need an account.
  3. Enter the 6-digit codeEnter the code from the parent app on your child's phone. Once they agree, you're connected.
How to connect
Invite Child screen on the parent's phone: a 6-digit invite code, time until it expires, and Copy Code and Share link buttonsInvite Child screen on the parent's phone: a 6-digit invite code, time until it expires, and Copy Code and Share link buttons
Enter Guardian Code screen on the child's phone: six input boxes and a number padEnter Guardian Code screen on the child's phone: six input boxes and a number pad

How we handle your family's data

Never used for ads

We don't use location or app usage records for ads, and we don't sell them.

Walking is detected on the phone

The sensor data used to detect walking isn't sent to our servers.

Deleted on schedule

Location history is deleted after 90 days and chats after 60 days.

Common questions

Visit the help center

In the parent app, choose which apps trigger alerts. When your child uses one while walking, a small prompt appears first. If they continue, it changes to a full-screen warning.

Walking is detected on your child's phone, while current status, alert counts, and history also appear in the parent app. See smombie walking alerts for details.

Invite codes are valid for 5 minutes. If yours expires, create a new one from the child-connection screen in the parent app and enter it again.

Check the following on your child's device.

  • Location permission is set to Allow all the time
  • StepGuardian is excluded from battery optimization
  • The device has an internet connection
  • The device is not indoors or underground where GPS may be weak
Illustration: a mom and her daughter walk hand in hand down an evening neighborhood path, with the meerkat mascot beside them

While walking, eyes up, phone down.

Install one app on your phone and one on your child's. The Android apps are being prepared for launch.

On the parent's phone

Coming soon to Google Play

On your child's phone

Coming soon to Google Play

On iPhone? Get notified at launch