An app to check on an elderly parent

You call every morning. Most days they pick up. Some days they don't, and you spend the next hour wondering why. Lanturne is an app that tells you they're OK without that call, and tells you fast when something is off.

How the daily check-in works

Your mom or dad wears a Wear OS smartwatch.
Each morning the watch asks them to tap I'm OK.
Your phone shows that they checked in. There is nothing for you to do.
If the tap doesn't come by the time you choose, your phone gets an alert.

That one tap a day replaces the worried phone call. You see it from work, from the store or from another state.

What else it watches for

A check-in only helps if they can tap it. So Lanturne also tells you when:

The watch goes quiet. It stops reporting for longer than you chose.
The watch is worn, but finds no pulse and no movement for as long as you chose.
They hold the HELP button on the watch.
The watch detects a fall and they don't cancel it.

Four of these five need nobody to press anything. See exactly how each one works.

Why a watch, and not a phone app or a camera

A phone app only works if they carry the phone. A watch stays on the wrist all day.
Many older people don't want a camera in their home. A check-in asks for one tap a day, and you only see what you need to see.
A watch looks like a watch. There is no pendant around the neck that tells everyone in the room they need help. When they won't wear a medical alert.

If you can't answer

Your phone keeps repeating the alert, and it can break through Do Not Disturb. If you haven't answered after a few minutes, your backup contact gets the same alert. It keeps repeating for up to two hours, until one of you marks it handled.

Every alert shows what happened, when, and where the watch was. It also has a Call 911 button that opens your own phone's dialer.

What you need

An Android phone for you.
A Wear OS smartwatch for them, such as a Samsung Galaxy Watch. Refurbished Galaxy watches start at $89.
An Android phone in their home to set up the watch the first time.
A way for the watch to get online: Wi-Fi, its own mobile plan, or the phone it was set up with nearby.

Everything you need, in detail

What it costs

$30 a month, or $120 a year. The first 7 days are free, and you cancel in Google Play if it isn't for you. One plan covers you, the person wearing the watch, and your backup contact.

Lanturne is not a medical device and not an emergency service. It tells you and your backup contact what the watch noticed, so you can decide what to do.