Living Alone in Sydney? Stay Safe with Daily Check-ins

Sydney's high cost of living means more people live alone than ever. A free daily check-in keeps your family informed — across the city or across the country.

Download Free See How It Works

Free forever • No credit card • iOS & Android

I'm Alive app showing the I'm Okay check-in button

The Problem

Sound familiar? You're not alone.

Worrying about an aging parent living alone in Sydney

Daily phone calls are hard to schedule across busy lives

No reliable way to know something's wrong without constant checking

How I'm Alive Solves This

A simple solution that actually works.

One-tap daily check-in takes seconds from their routine

You're notified the moment they miss a check-in — not before

No pendant, no hardware, no GPS tracking — location only in a real emergency, auto-deleted in 72 hours

Why This Works for You

Sydney has over 350,000 single-person households and the number grows every year, from Inner West and Eastern Suburbs apartments to family homes out across the Hills District and the west.
The city's high cost of living pushes many young professionals into solo units, while a large number of older Sydneysiders age in place alone — often widowed women over 75 whose adult children live interstate.
Bushfire season, severe storms and extreme-heat days regularly disrupt daily life and isolate people who live alone, making a simple daily check-in a sensible safety habit.
A monitored personal alarm in Australia typically costs about $25-$60 a month plus a device fee and only helps if it is worn and pressed. I'm Alive is free on iPhone and Android, needs no hardware, and raises the alarm from a missed daily check-in instead — it catches the fall or faint where you cannot press anything.
Privacy-first: the free daily check-in collects no location at all. Only during an active missed-check-in escalation is an approximate location shared with your contact, and it is auto-deleted after 72 hours — not the continuous trail of an always-on tracking app.
Australia's emergency number is 000 (Triple Zero). I'm Alive does not replace it — it is the early warning that tells your family when to call. See /location/australia for the country-wide picture and /living-alone for solo-living safety guidance.

How It Works

Three simple steps.

Set Your Time

Choose when to check in each day

Tap I'm Okay

One tap confirms you're safe

Auto-Alert

Miss a check-in? Contact is notified

Features

One-Tap Check-In

Large, easy button - done in seconds

Customizable Schedule

Set your perfect check-in time

Smart Alerts (Protect Me)

Escalating notifications to your contacts if you miss a check-in

Check-In Notes

Add context like 'Going hiking today'

History Tracking

See all your past check-ins

Free to Start

Daily self check-in and reminders are always free; add Protect Me for contact alerting

Frequently Asked Questions

I live alone in a Sydney apartment.

In a city this large, neighbours in the next unit may not notice if something is wrong for days, since nobody is really tracking your comings and goings. A daily check-in ensures the person you chose is alerted within hours of a missed tap, whether you are in a Surry Hills flat or a unit out in Parramatta, so a quiet day at home never becomes a dangerous one.

My mum lives alone in the suburbs.

She taps once a day to confirm she is okay, and the free check-in reminds her if she is running late. On Protect Me you get escalating alerts if she misses it, with her check-in history on your own dashboard. It suits an older parent who wants to stay independent in her own home rather than wear a pendant she will take off and forget.

I'm a UNSW student living alone in Kensington.

Set a parent or a mate as your contact, and one daily tap gives them peace of mind without the constant calls. They are only alerted if you actually miss a check-in, so a big night or a long day on campus never triggers a false alarm. It is an easy way to reassure family, especially if they are back home interstate or overseas.

Is this free?

Yes — the daily check-in and the reminders to you are free forever, with no hidden subscription and no card required. Automatic alerting of your family when you miss a check-in is part of Protect Me ($29.99/year), which also adds up to ten contacts, a caregiver dashboard and SMS alerts alongside push and email.

Does daylight saving affect it?

No — the app automatically adjusts for the AEST/AEDT switch, so there is nothing to change when the clocks move in October and April. Your check-in window simply follows your local Sydney time, and your contacts are alerted on the same schedule right through the year, whether or not New South Wales is on daylight saving.