What Welcome Back does
Welcome Back helps paired Android phones recognize when they are nearby. Bluetooth is the primary presence signal, with same-Wi-Fi detection as a secondary signal. After a paired phone has been away for two minutes, a new detection can trigger one return notification.
The app does not show a GPS position, follow a route, or use cellular location tracking. No Welcome Back cloud account is required.
Information stored on your device
Welcome Back stores the information needed for pairing and current presence monitoring locally on your phone:
- Pairing secrets and the names you assign to paired phones.
- The current here-or-away state and the latest detection time.
- Your monitoring setting.
The app keeps the latest detection and current state, rather than a history of your movements. It does not send this information to an internet server.
You can clear the app's locally stored information through Android's app storage settings. Clearing app data resets pairing information and settings.
Nearby communication
Pairing uses a manually shared 16-character code. Share it directly with the person whose phone you want to pair with.
During monitoring, your phone uses a rotating Bluetooth identifier derived from the pairing secret. This allows a paired phone to recognize its presence nearby. Same-Wi-Fi information can provide a secondary presence signal.
Welcome Back does not maintain a Wi-Fi scan history or send nearby observations to a cloud service.
Permissions
The app needs the Android permissions that enable nearby Bluetooth detection and notifications. Monitoring also needs to remain active in the background to notice a paired phone's return.
On Android 11 and earlier, Android may require a location permission for Bluetooth discovery. Welcome Back uses that permission for Bluetooth compatibility; it does not request GPS coordinates or perform GPS tracking.
You control app permissions in Android settings. Denying a required permission or stopping background activity can prevent detection or notifications.
Information Welcome Back does not collect
The app does not collect GPS location, contacts, messages, advertising identifiers, analytics, or crash telemetry. It does not build a location history or a Wi-Fi scan history.
Welcome Back has no advertising and no subscription. It does not send app data to an internet server.
Purchases and third parties
Google Play handles the paid download. Your purchase is associated with the Google account used to buy the app. Welcome Back does not receive your payment-card information.
Google Play shows the current price and availability for your account. Its own policies apply to its store and purchase services.
Website privacy
This section describes this website separately from the Android app.
Our static website code includes no analytics, advertising, cookies, or information-submission forms. The hosting provider may process normal connection and request information to deliver the website and protect its service.
If you follow a Google Play link, you visit Google's service. If you email us, your message and the information you choose to include are handled through email providers so we can respond.
Contact
Questions about Welcome Back or this policy? Email 10tothehundrethpower@gmail.com.
Please do not include your pairing code, passwords, or payment information in a support message.
For setup and troubleshooting, visit Welcome Back help.