Everything you need to know.

A dead man's switch app automatically sends a pre-written message to your chosen contacts if you stop checking in. You set a check-in interval and write your message in advance. If you ever miss your deadline and don't respond to reminders, the app delivers your message on your behalf. No human executor needed.

You write a message and choose who receives it. Then you check in simply by opening the app, which restarts your timer (24 hours on the free plan; anywhere from 1 hour to 1 month on Pro and Max). Before your deadline we remind you by push notification and text. If the deadline passes without you opening the app, your message is texted to the people you chose. Opening the app at any point resets the clock.

Anyone who wants a safety net, or who wants the people they love to hear from them if something happens. Solo hikers, people living alone, the elderly, remote workers, travelers, people with a serious diagnosis, or anyone who has ever thought: if something happened to me, would the people I love find out in time, and would they know what I wanted to say?

Yes. Many people use If You Read This exactly this way. You can write a personal letter to the people you love, delivered only if you stop checking in. It could be words you have always wanted to say, instructions for what to do, or simply a way of making sure the people who matter most hear from you one last time. The app was built with both uses in mind: a safety check-in for emergencies, and a personal message for the moments that matter most.

Before your deadline, you get the reminders you chose by push notification and text, plus an automatic final reminder 30 minutes before the deadline. Opening the app at any point checks you in and resets the clock. If the deadline passes without you opening the app, your message is texted to your contacts within about a minute.

It means someone who cares about you uses If You Read This and chose you as one of their trusted contacts. You do not need to download anything or do anything. If they ever miss a check-in, we will text you the message they wrote for you. You can reply STOP to any of our texts to stop receiving them.

Yes. The free plan includes one contact, one message, a daily (24-hour) check-in, one reminder of your choosing plus an automatic final reminder, and SMS alerts. Paid plans add more contacts, more control, and attachments.

There are three plans. Free costs nothing. Pro is $7.99 a month or $54.99 a year and adds unlimited contacts, a personal message for each contact, any check-in interval from 1 hour to 1 month, up to three reminders, quiet hours, and GPS location in your alert. Max is $10 a month or $79.99 a year and adds photo, video, audio, and file attachments with 10 GB of storage. Pro and Max both start with a 7-day free trial. Prices are in US dollars.

Yes, on the Max plan. You can attach photos and videos from your library and files (including audio recordings) from your phone. Your contacts open them through a private link in their text, after confirming the last four digits of their phone number.

The app is available on iPhone and Android. Your phone number and your contacts' numbers need to be US or Canadian numbers, because sign-in codes, reminders, and alerts are all sent by text message.

No. Everything is sent by text message (SMS) and push notification. Your contacts do not need to install anything to receive your message.

Your messages are encrypted on your device using AES-256 before being stored, so they are not readable in our database as plain text. However, this is encryption at rest, not end-to-end encryption. When an alert fires, our servers decrypt your message in order to deliver it by SMS to your contacts. That is unavoidable: automatic delivery requires the server to know what to send. We do not access or read your messages for any other purpose.

If You Read This is designed for personal messages to the people you love: a safety check-in, a note for a solo trip, words you would want someone to have if something happened to you. It is not designed to store passwords, financial account information, legal documents, or anything whose disclosure could put you or others at serious risk. No online service can guarantee absolute security, and you should never fully trust any cloud service with information you consider extremely high value. Write what matters to the people who matter. Use a different tool for everything else.

Your contacts receive an SMS from If You Read This letting them know you missed your check-in, along with the personal message you wrote for them. If you enabled location sharing, a link to your last known location is included.

Yes. Any contact can reply STOP to any message from our number and they will be immediately removed and will not receive further messages.

On the free plan, one contact is notified. Pro and Max users can add unlimited contacts, with a unique personal message for each one.

On the free plan, yes: the interval is a fixed 24 hours, and checking in just means opening the app. On Pro and Max you can choose any interval from 1 hour to 1 month, so a weekly check-in is fine. Checking in at any point resets the clock.