Visibility and Location
Understand precisely when sharing starts, what others see and how to stop it
Start with an informed choice
Installing DOS, signing in or accepting terms does not itself start a new 1.0.6 sharing session The app presents a manual start and an explanation Choosing an OS permission is separate from starting DOS sharing The server still receives location when you use the feature; this is not processing performed only on your phone
Check your installed version
| Version or mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| 1.0.6 beta — foreground | Manual start Sharing ends when the app enters the background; this mode has no fifteen-minute timer |
| 1.0.6 beta — background | Separate opt-in and required device permissions Continues until stopped or signed out, subject to device restrictions May resume the same authorized session for the same account |
| iOS 1.0.5 builds 56–58 | Manual foreground check-in of at most fifteen minutes Leaving the app ends it No background discovery |
| Other older builds | Controls may differ Follow the build’s actual explanation and update before relying on a newer control |
End sharing, rather than only interrupting it
In DOS Settings, turn off Nearby visibility, Background discovery or Location, or sign out These stop controls end the saved session and disable local updates Turning off OS location permission also prevents new location access, but restoring it can continue a saved background session unless you ended that session in DOS
Force-closing the app, losing connectivity or switching on battery saving may interrupt updates Do not treat those actions as a reliable permanent withdrawal of the saved background choice Check the DOS setting when you next open the app
If a stop request is offline, the server may briefly retain the previous state A last sample more than three minutes old no longer qualifies for new discovery in the current implementation Existing alerts, favorites and third-party screenshots are separate from new discovery
Coordinates, distance and inference
DOS can process precise coordinates, accuracy and time on its server Nearby results disclose approximate proximity or distance and eligible profile fields, not an exact GPS point Distance can be stale or affected by location errors and is not a reliable method of finding a specific person
Never use repeated observations or multiple accounts to infer someone’s address, route or sensitive activity Turning a social discovery feature into surveillance is prohibited even when some profile information is public
Recent encounters and public cards
Recent encounter alerts can remain visible in signed-in history for up to three hours Expiry from the app and physical database cleanup are separate Saved favorites are separate records A block may hide eligible encounters earlier
A public web card has its own publication choice Publishing it does not start nearby sharing, and stopping nearby sharing does not automatically unpublish a card Check both controls if you want to reduce your visibility across both surfaces