How it works
- You write a letter or last wishes and name who should receive them. You can attach files from the vault (5 MB free; more when paid).
- You arm it: send if you miss check-in, or on a date you set, or both.
- You can invite watchers. Each gets a private link to your latest ping (short status, optional approximate location). Mail or a notification when you post one. Watchers do not see your letters unless they are also on that letter.
- You check in on a schedule (site, ping page, mail link, PIN, or API). We nag you at 7/5/3/1 days, then a grace period, then a last notice.
- If grace ends or the date hits, letter recipients get a time-limited link (letter and will notes). Emergency stop revokes those links, opened or not.
The mail will say you asked us to send this because you missed check-in, or because the date you chose arrived. It will not say you died. A stored will is not legal advice and is not a valid will by itself.
Install the ping page on your device (Add to Home Screen) if you want a one-tap check-in.
Guides
Longer notes on the parts people ask about most.
What is a dead man's switch?
Where the name comes from, how the mechanism works, and the failure modes that actually matter.
How to set up check-in reminders
Choosing an interval, what the escalating reminders look like, and why the grace period exists.
Is a digital will legally valid?
What this service is and is not, why a stored will is not a will, and the questions to ask a qualified lawyer.
What happens to my letters and files?
Who can read what, when it is sent, what emergency stop does, and how to delete your data.
How to share travel status with watchers
Setting up watchers, what they can and cannot see, and how watchers differ from letter recipients.
The LastKnow web app
One app, two pages. How to add it to a home screen on iPhone and Android.
Sending email after you die
The mechanics of release, why a link arrives instead of the letter, and what to settle first.
Writing a letter to someone you love
Getting past the blank page: one person, real specifics, and permission to leave it unfinished.
Passing on crypto and passwords
Instructions not keys: what to write, what never to write, and how to split a secret so no single part is enough.
Who looks after your pets when you're gone?
Getting someone told quickly when you stop checking in, who to name, and what the letter should say about each animal.
Setting up a welfare check
How a welfare check differs from a letter, choosing the interval, and making check-in effortless.
What if this service shuts down
The honest answer to the question every service dodges, and the exit route that makes it moot.
How to turn location on
Allow location for this browser, then reload Ping. Check-in still works without it.