Press record. Both cameras record, and each second is uploaded while you are still filming — so if the phone is smashed, drowned or taken, the footage already exists somewhere safe. If you stop answering, the people you chose are told where you are, with the video.
Every other camera app saves to the phone and uploads later. In a robbery, a crash or an assault, later never comes: the phone is smashed, thrown in a river, or in someone else’s pocket. Keepwatch was built the other way round.
Fragments one second long are sent the moment they exist. A phone destroyed at 21:16 has already delivered everything up to 21:15:59.
What has been uploaded is in your account, not on the device. Whoever holds the phone cannot remove it.
If the recording stops and you don’t answer, the server notices. Your people are told — first gently, then fully — on a schedule you set.
Rear and front cameras record together, with the time, your location and the app’s name burned into the picture — so the footage says when and where by itself.
Each second is sealed, fingerprinted and sent. On a weak signal the quality steps down rather than the upload stopping; offline, it saves to the phone and catches up the moment you are back.
While you record, Keepwatch expects a heartbeat. If the recording ends unexpectedly or the phone goes silent, it asks you first: Are you OK? Face ID to answer, so nobody can answer for you.
No answer after a time you chose — a gentle heads-up. Still nothing — the full alert: the video, the map, your own message, by email and SMS to the people you picked.
There is also a panic button that skips every countdown, an impact detector for crashes, and a Siri shortcut — “Hey Siri, start Keepwatch” — so recording can begin without unlocking the phone.
You choose who. They confirm once, by email, that they are willing. After that they hear nothing from Keepwatch until it matters — and when it does, they get everything in one place.
He started a recording at 21:14 and has not answered for 7 minutes. This is the message he asked us to send you if that happened:
“If you get this, call me first. Then call the police and give them the location in this email.”
Watch the recording and see the mapThe link opens a page with the whole video, a map with the route your phone took, and the list of every second that did or did not arrive. No app needed, no account needed. If you were fine after all, one tap cancels the alert and the people who got the heads-up are told it was a false alarm.
The camera works from the first launch. An account is needed only for alerts, and setting one up takes three minutes.
Five quality levels, chosen every four seconds from what your connection can actually carry, so the upload never falls behind for long.
Each fragment carries a SHA-256 hash, checked again on the server. A fragment that was altered in transit is flagged, never silently accepted.
The full recording is also assembled on the phone within a second of stopping, for when you need it right now.
If seconds were lost to no signal, the video shows a card that says so, and the page lists them. Nothing is stitched over.
The cameras are warm the moment the app opens; the record button responds on the tap, not after a spinner.
Your recordings, the location trail during a recording, your email, and the names and addresses of the people you added. Nothing else — no contacts list, no photos, no browsing.
You, and anyone holding a link Keepwatch sent on your behalf. Links expire after 90 days. Recordings are not analysed, sold or used for advertising, and nobody at Keepwatch watches them.
Recordings stay in your account until you delete your account. Recordings made without an account are removed after 7 days. Deleting your account removes everything after a 7-day hold, in case the footage is needed.
Record without the button pressed. Contact the police or emergency services on your behalf. Show ads. Sell data. Tell you that you are safe when we cannot know.
The full privacy policy says the same thing in more words.
No. It does not call the police, an ambulance or anyone official, and it should never replace calling your local emergency number. It records, keeps the footage safe, and tells the people you chose. If you are in danger, call for help first.
Recording continues and the seconds are saved on the phone. As soon as any connection returns — even a weak one — the backlog uploads in order. If the phone never comes back online, that footage is on the phone only; everything up to the moment the signal dropped is already in your account.
Recording with both cameras and uploading costs about 19 % of battery per hour on a recent iPhone. Nothing runs in the background when you are not recording.
Yes. The camera and the cloud copy work from the first launch. An account is needed only so the alerts have someone to send to; the guided setup takes about three minutes.
You do. In Settings you choose how long Keepwatch waits before the gentle heads-up and before the full alert. The defaults are 15 and 60 minutes after a recording ends without you answering. The panic button skips both.
Tap “I’m OK” in the app (Face ID) or the link in the email Keepwatch sends you first. The countdown stops, and anyone who already received the heads-up gets a message saying you are fine.
Laws differ by country and situation. Keepwatch shows the standard camera indicator and does not hide that it is recording. You are responsible for recording lawfully where you are.
Keepwatch is free.
Set it up in three minutes. Then forget it is there until you need it.