Companion is now on Google Play: the road to release

Short answer: Companion is now on Google Play! Our Android app is publicly available on Google Play under the name I'M OK Companion. You can download it from Google Play. In this post we walk through the road to release and what changes for people already using the app.

How did we get here?

• Developer account. We published on Google Play with a personal developer account.
• Closed testing. For personal accounts, Google requires at least 12 testers to keep the app installed for 14 uninterrupted days before production. We completed closed testing under that requirement.
• Internal testing. We also tried the release build in internal testing.
• Production and release. On 10 October 2026 we sent version 1.19.13 to production. After Google's review, the app became publicly available on Google Play.

How to install Companion

Google Play is now our main channel. You can install the app from its Google Play store page or with the Google Play button on the Companion product page. You can start for free and move to Pro on Google Play with an annual subscription (including a 7-day free trial) or a lifetime purchase; you see the price on the Google Play purchase screen.

The direct install (APK) option from before Google Play remains as a secondary choice. The two versions are not identical: the payment method and some features differ. Details are in the "Direct install and tokens" section of the Plans page.

Why did it take time?

Putting an app on Google Play isn't uploading a file and waiting. Because of what Companion does, there were separate gates we had to pass.

1. Sensitive permissions go through a separate review

Companion is a safety app. Features such as location reminders, sharing your location in an emergency, alarms and reminders need permissions like background location and a foreground service.

Google doesn't approve these automatically. A separate declaration form is filled in for each one, and for background location a video showing where the app actually uses that permission is required. The video has to show both the flow where the user grants the permission and the one where they don't.

In Companion every one of these permissions is genuinely tied to a core feature — not a single one was added because it "might be nice". That is exactly what Google is looking for.

2. Privacy and data safety declaration

Companion handles sensitive information such as location, emergency contacts and health-related notes, and it can send them to the people you choose. Play counts that as both sensitive data and data sharing.

So the privacy policy, the data safety form and the account deletion route all had to match exactly what the app really does. Glossing over the form and being caught later would have been the most expensive mistake; we didn't take that road.

For people already using the app

We published the Play version with the same signing key as the build you installed from our site. In practice that means the version from Google Play lands as an update over your current install; your contacts, saved locations, reminders and settings stay where they are.

Your token license stays valid in the direct-install version and is not affected by this change. Tokens are not used in the Google Play version. For people who use Pro with a token, we'll announce the transition method here once it is settled.

Your feedback matters

If you've used the app, you can share your experience as a rating and review on the Google Play store page. In a safety app some issues only show up in real use; your reviews show us what to fix first.

An iPhone version is planned; it isn't on the App Store yet and we're not giving a date.