Nearly
Real-time location and safety alerts for your family.
I bought an expensive kids smartwatch to track my daughter during school. It worked fine for a few months.
Then the GPS quietly degraded. Cell tower location only - kilometers off. Bad enough. But then it started mixing her location with other random devices in different cities.
Contacted the manufacturer. They did a remote reset. It happened again. Dead end.
I went looking for a self-hosted alternative. Something I could run myself, on my own server, where I actually control the data. Found nothing usable.
I have background in location tracking from previous projects, so I built one. A proper background location service on Android, posting over MQTT to my own server. It worked.
Then I wanted configurable active hours so it wouldn't drain battery at night. Then smart locations and intervals, notifications, a proper map. Then my wife to be able to see all this on her device too.
One feature at a time, that tracking service became a full app. I called it Nearly.
It's a family location sharing app — self-hosted, privacy-first, no third-party servers ever seeing your family's data. Built solo, written in .NET MAUI.
It's on the Play Store now. Still early days. But it exists because the commercial alternative failed my family and nothing else filled the gap.
Happy to answer questions about the build, the self-hosting setup, or the journey from script to shipped app.
8 Comments
The story behind Nearly is powerful—nothing motivates a founder like a personal failure in family safety. But you’ve picked one of the hardest niches to build trust in.
When it comes to tracking kids, parents are beyond skeptical. Even with a 'privacy-first' and 'self-hosted' model, the average parent won't trust a solo dev's app with their child's location unless it has been vetted and featured by major, reputable media outlets. Without high-level validation from respected tech or parenting publications, Nearly will always be viewed as a 'risky' alternative compared to the big (even if flawed) brands.
Have you considered how a feature in a top-tier news site could solve this trust gap? Because in this space, if the media isn't vouching for your security and mission, parents simply won't take the leap, no matter how good the code is.
The trust argument is real, but 'get featured by major media' is circular advice - those outlets cover what's already winning, not what deserves to. A lot of those 'reputable' parenting publication features are sponsored placements - which means the trust they supposedly confer was bought, not earned. That's not the kind of credibility I'm after.
The parents who are most sceptical of big brands are exactly the ones who will do their homework — read the privacy policy, check the backend, ask questions in communities like this one. Those are my early adopters, and word of mouth from one convinced, privacy-conscious parent is worth more than a passing mention in a TechCrunch roundup.
That said — curious what's actually worked for others building B2C trust without a marketing budget. This is the part of the puzzle I'm still figuring out.
Thank you Umar
I completely get your skepticism about 'sponsored' content—most founders feel the same. But there’s a massive difference between a paid ad and earned media (digital PR). When I mention top-tier placements, I’m talking about natural, dofollow links in authoritative news outlets.
The reality is that modern LLMs and AI Overviews don’t just look at code; they look at 'Trust Signals.' If high-authority news sites are citing Nearly with a natural link, AI models recognize it as a credible recommendation, not an ad. This is how you win in AI-driven search.
Also, regarding the 'smart parents' you mentione when they do their homework and Google 'Privacy-first family tracking,' seeing Nearly mentioned in a reputable publication (as a technical solution, not a banner ad) is exactly where the 'homework' ends and the 'download' begins.
Instead of burning money on ads, investing in SEO and digital PR builds a long-term 'moat' around your brand. My advice would be to optimize Nearly's digital footprint for both humans and search engines. Since you're looking for natural ways to build trust, have you looked into how your current backlink profile looks to an AI crawler? That usually reveals exactly why a great tool stays 'hidden' from the parents who need it most.
Appreciate the breakdown, and the earned vs paid distinction is a fair one. The classic chicken-and-egg problem: you need traction to have a story worth pitching, and you need coverage to get traction. Plan to post about Nearly on several product directories & Reddit threads where the topic is already being discussed and I'm hoping for genuine people that will use the app and talk about which should do more than any backlink campaign.
Fair enough, Martin! Starting with Reddit is the best way to get that initial feedback loop going.
But here’s a reality check from the SEO world: Even the biggest agencies spend thousands of dollars on single links, not because they want 'volume,' but because Google’s algorithm is built on trust signals. When you get a high-authority Digital PR placement, you’re getting two 'killers' in one:
As I said, when a parent sees you on Reddit and then Googles you, a mention in a reputable tech site is the 'closing argument' that converts them.
One high-authority 'Dofollow' link from a real news story is worth more than 10,000 spammy comments or directory listings. It’s the only way to outrank the big, flawed brands you’re competing with.
Without that 'Authority Moat,' even a great tool can stay buried on page 10. Definitely keep pushing on Reddit, but don't underestimate the power of a solid backlink profile to protect your brand's future. Rooting for Nearly!
Thank you!
You're welcome! No worries at all.
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