Support · How can we help?
Southbound is a small, privacy-first product. When you email support, you reach the person who built it — not a ticket queue. Most questions are answered below. If yours is not, one email away.
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01 · Getting started
I
Download from TestFlight, open the app, and grant Always Allow when iOS prompts. Always is required for the app to detect state entries and exits while the phone is in your pocket. Without it, Southbound can only check your status while the app is open.
II
Installing mid-year? Southbound will ask you to add any trips outside Florida you have already taken. Everything else is assumed to be in-Florida. You can edit any day later from the Calendar.
III
That is the whole setup. Southbound runs quietly in the background on low-power location monitoring. Open it when you want to check your Departure Budget, manually correct a day, or export a report.
02 · Tracking & accuracy
No. Southbound does not use continuous GPS. It uses iOS significant location changes — the same low-power system Apple uses for Find My. Your phone only wakes Southbound when you move far enough that your cell tower or Wi-Fi network changes. Most users see zero measurable battery impact.
Yes. Tap any day in the Calendar and flip the Florida status. Manual overrides are flagged in the export as self-reported, which preserves the evidentiary value of the rest of the record. Use them to correct days the app missed, not to invent days you were not there.
This can happen near the state border — significant location changes can lag by a few hours when you cross. Correct the day manually from the Calendar. If it happens repeatedly far from the border, email us with the date and your approximate city and we will investigate.
No. As long as you granted Always Allow for location, tracking runs in the background. Opening the app lets you see the day's status, but the detection itself does not require it.
iOS Settings → Southbound → Location → Always. The app will resume tracking automatically. Days while location was off will show as unknown in your record; add manual overrides for those if you know where you were.
03 · Data & privacy
Sign into iCloud with the same Apple ID and install Southbound. Your complete record will appear within a few minutes as CloudKit syncs. If it does not, confirm iCloud Drive is enabled and that Settings → [Your Name] → iCloud → Apps Using iCloud shows Southbound toggled on.
CloudKit normally reconciles within minutes. Force a sync by closing and reopening the app on both devices. If one device was offline for a while, it will catch up once online. Still off after an hour? Email us with the date ranges that differ.
There are no Southbound servers. Your data is only on your iPhone and your personal iCloud. To delete: tap Settings → Reset All Data inside the app, or uninstall the app entirely. iCloud-synced data is managed from your Apple ID settings.
Not today. Each person has their own iCloud account and their own residency record. Household sharing is on the roadmap but is not yet in the app.
The full privacy story is on the Privacy page.
04 · Exports & reports
Open Settings → Export. You will see two options: a compact CSV summary or a detailed CSV with per-day GPS confidence. iOS's native share sheet handles the rest — email, AirDrop, Files, or your preferred destination.
Every calendar day with a Florida / non-Florida / unknown status. Each day carries a confidence score based on GPS accuracy and sample density. Manual overrides are labeled as self-reported. Year-end totals and a projection against your 183-day target are included.
Not yet. The formatted PDF report is a premium feature arriving with v1.1. During early access, the CSV export carries the same underlying data and is accepted by every tax professional we have tested it with.
05 · Billing
Free during early access. $249/year after launch, billed annually through the Apple App Store. Less than one billable hour for most of our users.
All subscriptions are managed by Apple, not by Southbound. iOS Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Southbound → Cancel. You keep access through the end of the current billing period.
Apple handles all refunds directly. Use reportaproblem.apple.com and select the subscription. We can advocate on your behalf if you email us first, but the actual refund is issued (or declined) by Apple.
Southbound is enabled for Apple Family Sharing. Up to five household members can use one subscription — but each person has their own residency record, stored in their own iCloud. Shared residency tracking across a household is a separate feature on the roadmap.
06 · Bug reports
These five details get a report fixed faster. Copy & paste from Settings > About if you are unsure.
01
iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, etc.
02
e.g. iOS 26.4.1 — Settings > General > About > Software Version.
03
Settings > About (inside the app).
04
Three one-liners. "Opened calendar. Expected March 14 to show in FL. It shows outside."
05
If the bug is visual, attach a screenshot. It saves a round trip.
We read every bug report personally and fix what we can in the next TestFlight build.
Still stuck?
One email reaches the whole team, because the team is us. No ticket numbers, no phone tree, no "your call is important to us." Just a reply, within a business day.
[email protected] →Typical response · 1 business day · M–F · 9–5 ET
Other resources
Journal
Field notes on audits, the 183-day rule, and protecting your Florida presence.
For advisors
A tool worth recommending. Share this with your clients.
Privacy
We don't. Your data stays on your iPhone and your iCloud.