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Project KirkProject Kirk

How it works

From setup to an emergency, in order.

This is the real flow, including the parts that do not work. Being straight about failure modes is the whole point of Kirk.

  1. 1

    The parent creates an account and chooses a plan

    Kirk Family covers up to 4 children, Kirk Family Plus up to 10. Every safety feature is in both. Billing runs through Apple In-App Purchase or Google Play Billing.

    Choosing a plan during sign-up.
  2. 2

    The parent adds a child and gets a pairing code

    The code is 6 characters. It expires after 30 minutes, and can be reissued as many times as needed.

    A pairing code, valid for 30 minutes.
  3. 3

    The child installs Kirk and enters the code

    Then the child grants permissions. Each request has an on-screen explanation of what it is for, in plain words, before the system prompt appears.

    Permissions, each explained before it is requested.
  4. 4

    The parent invites a co-parent or emergency contact

    The invited adult receives an email, installs Kirk, and signs up with the exact invited address. That address is what connects them to the family. A guardian is view-only. An emergency contact receives Need Help alerts and nothing else.

    Roles are chosen at the moment of invitation.
  5. 5

    Day to day, Kirk is quiet

    A risk level of Low, Medium or High — never a score, never a percentage. Screen time summaries and app limits where the child's platform supports them (iPhone today). Nothing else. Kirk stays out of the way.

    A normal day in the parent app.

Step 6 — an emergency

The Need Help sequence, both sides at once.

The child confirms before anything is sent, and sees the exact wording that will go out. Nothing is sent behind their back.

What the child sees

  1. 1. Taps "Need Help?" and reads the message that will be sent.
  2. 2. Confirms. Location is captured at that moment, and only then.
  3. 3. Sending → Retrying if the connection drops → Sent.
  4. 4. Seen, with the name of the adult who opened it.
  5. 5. If nothing is Seen within four minutes: "Call an adult you trust."

What the adults see

  1. 1. Every adult in the family is alerted immediately.
  2. 2. The alert opens to a map with a true-to-scale accuracy circle around the captured point.
  3. 3. Opening the alert marks it Seen for the child. That is the signal they are waiting for.
  4. 4. Repeated taps during one emergency are recognised as one alert, never duplicated.
  5. 5. The alert is kept in history, grouped by day, with its map.

Sending

The alert has left the child's phone and is on its way.

Retrying

The connection dropped. Kirk tries again automatically, up to four times.

Sent

The push notification was accepted for delivery. It does not mean anyone has seen it.

Seen

A person opened the alert. This is the only state that means a human knows.

Plainly

What happens when things go wrong

No signal when the child presses

Kirk shows Retrying and tries again automatically, up to four times. The child sees that it has not gone through yet — it never pretends otherwise.

Nobody opens the alert

After four minutes without a Seen, the child app tells the child to call an adult they trust. Kirk will not leave a child waiting on a screen.

A phone is off or the battery is dead

Nothing can be sent from a phone that is off, and nothing can be delivered to one. Kirk cannot alert you to a phone that has gone dark.

Notifications are disabled on an adult's phone

The alert may be accepted for delivery and still never appear. This is why Sent and Seen are different words in Kirk.

Kirk is not an emergency service

Kirk does not contact police, ambulance, fire services or 911. Alerts depend on working phones, battery, network, notification permissions, and an adult being available to answer. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

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