Using Dropby

Dropby is a private location sharing app. Your location is encrypted end-to-end before it leaves your phone — the server only relays ciphertext between you and your friends. Nobody else can see where you are, not even Dropby. This guide covers everything you need to know.

Getting Started

Once you've installed Dropby and granted location and notification permissions, there are three things to do:

1. Add a friend — meet in person and scan each other's QR codes (see below)
2. Start sharing — tap the sharing pill at the top of the map and turn sharing on
3. Set a status — let your friends know what you're up to with a short note

That's it. Your location is now encrypted and shared only with friends you've added.

Adding a Friend

There are two ways to add a friend: in-person via QR code (recommended) and remotely via account ID.

In-person (QR code)

This is the preferred method. It's more secure because you can verify the connection face-to-face. Adding a friend is a mutual exchange — both sides must scan each other's code.

1. Both of you open the add friend screen (tap "+" from the friends list, or "Add a friend" from the menu)
2. Show your QR code — your code and safety number are displayed
3. Scan their code — tap "Scan their code" and point your camera at your friend's QR code
4. Name them — enter a nickname (only you see this name) and tap "Add"
5. Let them scan yours — now your friend scans your QR code and names you on their device

Both sides must complete the exchange. If only one person scans, the connection won't work — both of you need to scan each other's code.

Remote add

If you can't meet in person, you can add a friend using their account ID:

1. Get your friend's account ID (they can find it in Settings > Your identity)
2. Enter it in the remote add screen
3. A 6-digit verification code appears — compare this with your friend over a trusted channel (phone call, Signal message, etc.)
4. If the numbers match, tap "Numbers match" and name your friend
5. If they don't match, cancel — the connection may have been intercepted

For more on why verification matters, see Safety & Verification below.

Your Status

Your status is a short note that your friends see next to your name — things like "at the park" or "running late." It's a lightweight way to share context without sending a message.

Setting a status

Tap the status pill at the bottom left of the map (it shows a wave icon if you haven't set one yet). The status composer opens with two options:

• Presets — 9 quick-pick statuses: ☕ Getting coffee, 🏃 On the move, 🏠 At home, 📚 Studying, 🛒 Running errands, 🍽️ Eating out, 🎉 Out tonight, 💤 Sleeping, 🔇 Do not disturb
• Custom — type your own status (42 character limit, with a live counter)

Tap a preset or type a custom note and confirm.

Clearing a status

Open the status composer and tap "Clear" to remove your current status. Your friends will no longer see a note next to your name.

Who sees your status

Your status is only visible to friends you're currently sharing your location with. If you stop sharing with someone, they can no longer see your status.

Visual decay

Statuses age visually. A freshly set status looks crisp with full opacity. As time passes, it fades and goes italic — this tells your friends at a glance whether a status is current or stale.

The Map

The map is the home screen. It shows your location and the locations of friends who are sharing with you.

• Friends button (top left) — opens the friends nearby drawer
• Menu button (top right) — opens the main menu with settings, identity, places, and more
• Sharing pill (top center) — green dot when sharing is active, shows how many friends you're sharing with. Tap to change your sharing status or to stop/start sharing with specific friends
• Status pill (bottom left) — shows your current status with emoji. Tap to edit it, or tap the wave icon to set one if you haven't yet
• Compass button (bottom right, above re-center) — resets the map to face north, only shows if the map is rotated
• Re-center button (bottom right) — snaps the map back to your current location
• Tapping a friend dot — centers the map on them and shows their info in the bottom sheet
• Long-pressing a friend dot — opens that friend's detail screen directly

Swiping up from the bottom opens the friends nearby drawer — a summary of nearby friends with their name, status, distance from you, and movement mode. Tap "View all friends" to see everyone.

Banners appear at the top when something needs your attention:

• Sharing is off — your friends can't see you. Tap "Start sharing" to resume
• Location permission missing — Dropby needs GPS access. Tap "Fix it" to open settings
• Nobody's sharing — none of your friends are currently sharing their location
• Identity changed — a friend's encryption identity has changed (usually because they reinstalled the app). Tap the banner to review. See Safety & Verification for what to do
• Battery optimization — your phone may be pausing Dropby's background location updates. Tap the banner to adjust battery settings so sharing stays reliable

Friends

Friends Nearby Drawer

The bottom sheet on the map shows friends who are actively sharing within your area. Each friend shows:

• Their color dot — a unique muted color assigned to each friend
• Their name — the nickname you gave them (only you see it)
• Their status — a short note they set, with visual decay (fresh statuses look crisp; older ones fade and go italic)
• A movement icon — shows whether the friend is still, walking, cycling, or driving (see Movement Tracking below)
• Their distance from you — how far away they are, shown in metric (m/km) or imperial (ft/mi) units

Tap "View all friends" at the bottom to navigate to the full friends list.

Friends List

The friends list shows everyone you've added, organized into two sections:

• Active right now — friends whose location was updated within the last 60 minutes
• Recent — friends who shared before that or aren't active at the moment

Each row shows a sharing direction icon next to the friend's name:

• Mutual arrows — you're both sharing with each other
• Outgoing arrow — you're sharing with them, but they're not sharing back
• Incoming arrow — they're sharing with you, but you're not sharing back

On the trailing side of each row, you'll see a movement icon (still, walking, cycling, or driving) and their distance from you when available.

The "+" button in the top right opens the add friend flow. Tapping any friend opens their detail screen.

Friend Detail

Tapping a friend (from the map or the friends list) opens their detail screen. Here you can see:

• Nickname — tap the pencil icon to rename them. Only you see this name; your friend doesn't know what you call them
• Status — their current note, with visual freshness decay
• Distance — how far away they are from you (e.g., "1.2 km away")
• Movement mode — an icon and label showing whether they're still, walking, cycling, or driving
• Last update time — exactly how long ago their location was received, with a colored dot indicator (green = fresh, gray = recent, amber = stale)
• Map preview — a zoomed-in map showing their position
• View on map — jumps back to the main map centered on this friend
• Stop sharing — stops sharing your location with this specific friend
• Safety number — the unique encryption fingerprint for this connection (see Safety & Verification for details)
• Remove friend — permanently removes the friend from your list and stops all sharing in both directions. To reconnect, you'll need to scan QR codes again

Health indicators may appear on this screen when something is wrong with the connection:

• Send failing (red indicator) — location updates to this friend are not going through. This usually resolves on its own. If it persists, try removing and re-adding the friend
• Decryption error — messages from this friend could not be decrypted. The app will attempt to restore the session automatically
• Session restore — the encrypted session with this friend is being repaired. This happens automatically after certain errors

Movement Tracking

Dropby classifies each friend's movement based on the speed between their location updates. This helps you see at a glance whether someone is stationary or on the move.

Movement modes

• Still — not moving (below 1.5 km/h)
• Walking — on foot (1.5–9 km/h)
• Cycling — on a bike (9–25 km/h)
• Driving — in a vehicle (above 25 km/h)

Each mode has a distinct icon that appears in the friends nearby drawer, the friends list, and the friend detail screen.

Movement classification updates automatically as new location data arrives. There's a brief delay before a friend is marked as "still" to avoid flickering between modes.

Movement notifications

You can optionally get notified when a friend starts moving (transitions from still to walking, cycling, or driving). This is off by default — enable it in Settings > Notifications > "A friend starts moving".

Places

Places let you define named geographic areas and get notified when friends enter or leave them. Places are stored locally on your device (encrypted) and are never shared with your friends or the server.

Creating a place

1. Open the main menu and tap Places
2. Tap the "+" button (or "Create a place" if you have no places yet)
3. Position the map where you want the place centered
4. Name it — enter a name (only you see this). Tap "Save" to confirm the name
5. Set the radius — use the slider to adjust the area from 10 meters up to 10 kilometers. The slider uses a logarithmic scale, so small adjustments at the low end are precise
6. Tap "Save place"

Editing a place

From the Places screen, tap any place to edit it. You can change the name, adjust the radius, or delete it.

Deleting a place

Open a place for editing and tap "Delete place" at the bottom. A confirmation dialog will appear. Deleting a place removes it and stops geofence notifications for that area.

Place notifications

When a friend enters or leaves one of your saved places, you'll see a notification (e.g., "Alex arrived at Home" or "Alex left Work"). These notifications are on by default — you can toggle them in Settings > Notifications > "A friend enters or leaves a place".

Place detection happens entirely on your device by comparing incoming friend locations against your saved places using distance calculations. No place data is sent to the server.

Safety & Verification

What's the safety number?

The safety number is a unique fingerprint of the encryption between you and a specific friend. It's derived from both of your identity keys.

Why it matters: If both of you see the same safety number when you compare (in person or over a trusted channel), it confirms that no one has intercepted or tampered with your connection. The server can't see your safety number — it's computed locally on each device.

How to verify: Open your friend's detail screen or your identity screen. Compare the number shown with what your friend sees on their device. If they match, your connection is private.

You don't need to verify every time — once is enough, unless one of you reinstalls the app (which generates new identity keys).

Identity change warnings

If a friend reinstalls Dropby or switches to a new device, their encryption identity changes. When this happens, you'll see an identity changed banner on the map and a warning on that friend's detail screen.

What to do:

• If you know your friend reinstalled or got a new phone, this is expected. You can dismiss the warning and re-verify the new safety number when convenient
• If you don't know why the identity changed, verify the new safety number in person or over a trusted channel before continuing to share
• If you can't verify and are concerned, remove the friend and re-add them in person

Verified vs unverified

Once you've compared safety numbers and confirmed they match, the connection is verified. This doesn't change how the encryption works — it's already end-to-end encrypted either way — but verifying gives you confidence that there's no one in the middle.

Settings

Access settings from the menu button (gear icon) on the map, then tap "Settings."

Main menu

The menu button on the map opens the main menu sheet, which provides quick access to your identity, friends, places, notifications, settings, and help.

Settings screen

Account

• Your identity — shows your QR code, safety number, and account ID. Share your QR code or account ID to let friends add you
• Delete account — permanently removes your account from the server and wipes all local data. Your friends will see you disappear from their map. This cannot be undone

Sharing

• Manage friends — view and manage your friend list
• Places — create and manage named geographic areas for geofence notifications (see Places)
• Background mode — choose between Balanced (normal location updates) and Minimal (reduced battery usage with less frequent updates)

Notifications

• Notifications — configure what you're notified about (see below)

Display

• Theme — System (follows your phone's setting), Light, or Dark
• Haptic feedback — toggle vibration feedback for interactions like tapping buttons and switching toggles. On by default

About & help

• About Dropby — app info, version, and privacy explanation
• Help & FAQ — common questions and answers

Notifications

Dropby keeps a notification history so you know what happened while you were away. Open it from the main menu — the Notifications row shows an unread count badge when you have new events.

The notifications screen groups events by time period — Today, This week, and Older. Each notification shows:

• A colored dot matching the friend's color
• An icon indicating the event type (pin, wave, people, or broadcast)
• A description of what happened
• A relative timestamp (now, 5m, 2h, 3d, 1w)

Unread notifications are highlighted. Tap one to mark it as read and jump to that friend's detail screen. Use "Mark all read" in the top bar to clear everything at once.

What triggers a notification

• A friend shares their location — when a friend starts sharing (first location update only, not every GPS fix). Off by default
• A friend starts moving — when a friend transitions from still to walking, cycling, or driving. Off by default
• A friend enters or leaves a place — when a friend crosses the boundary of one of your saved places (see Places). On by default
• A friend updates their status — when someone changes their status note. Off by default
• Someone adds me as a friend — when a new friend connection is established. On by default
• My sharing turns off — when your location sharing stops unexpectedly (e.g., system killed the service). On by default

Configure these toggles in Settings > Notifications.

Quiet hours

Quiet hours silence system notifications during a time range (e.g., 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM). Events are still recorded in the notification history — only the pop-up alert is suppressed. Supports overnight ranges that wrap past midnight.

Notification style

• Subtle — shows only the friend's name
• Detailed — shows name and location description

Troubleshooting

Why can't my friend see my location?

• Is sharing turned on? Tap the sharing pill at the top of the map — it should show a green dot
• Did you both scan each other's QR codes? Adding a friend requires a mutual exchange. If only one of you scanned, the connection isn't complete
• Are location permissions granted? Check that Dropby has "Allow all the time" or "While using the app" location permission in your phone's settings
• Is battery optimization interfering? Some phones aggressively kill background apps. See the battery optimization section below

Battery optimization is pausing updates

Some Android phones restrict background apps to save battery, which can stop Dropby from sending location updates. If you see a battery optimization banner on the map:

1. Tap the banner (or go to your phone's Settings > Apps > Dropby > Battery)
2. Set battery usage to Unrestricted or Not optimized
3. This lets Dropby keep running in the background to send and receive location updates

Location permission missing

If you see a "Location permission missing" banner:

1. Tap "Fix it" on the banner, or go to your phone's Settings > Apps > Dropby > Permissions
2. Set Location to "Allow all the time" for the best experience, or "Allow only while using the app" if you prefer manual control
3. Return to Dropby — the banner should disappear

"Send failing" on a friend

A red "send failing" indicator on a friend's detail screen means location updates to that friend aren't getting through. This can happen after network interruptions or if the encrypted session gets out of sync.

• Wait a moment — most send failures resolve automatically on the next retry
• Check your internet connection — make sure you have data or Wi-Fi
• If it persists — remove the friend and re-add them in person to establish a fresh encrypted session

A friend's identity changed

An identity change warning means your friend's encryption keys are different from what Dropby expects. This usually happens when they reinstall the app or switch phones.

• If you know they reinstalled — dismiss the warning. Re-verify safety numbers when convenient
• If unexpected — verify the new safety number in person before continuing to share. If you can't verify and are concerned, remove the friend

Messages could not be decrypted

If you see a decryption error on a friend's detail screen, it means some messages from that friend couldn't be read. The app will automatically try to restore the encrypted session.

• This usually fixes itself — the session restore happens in the background
• If the error persists — remove and re-add the friend to start a fresh session