For families
Know your parents are fine. Without checking up on them.
Your mum or dad lives alone, and you think about it every morning. With Ondira, your parent checks in with a single tap. If they miss a check-in, you get an email.
Free version · Plus CHF 3 a month or CHF 30 a year
You don’t want to keep tabs. But you want to know.
You ring on Sunday and everything sounds fine. By Tuesday you wonder whether anyone would notice if your parent couldn’t get in touch.
Daily calls can feel like checking up. A personal alarm or location sharing may not fit. What’s missing is a small, agreed sign of life, and a message if it doesn’t arrive.
“I don’t want to spy on her. I just don’t want to find out three days later that something is wrong.”
How it works for you
Set it up together once. After that, you won’t notice it in daily life as long as everything is fine.
Choose the rhythm together
Your parent decides how often to check in, for example every day or every other day.
One tap a day
Open the app, tap “I’m here”, done: it takes two seconds and needs no conversation.
A reminder comes first
If the tap is forgotten, Ondira first reminds your parent, by push notification and email.
Only then an email to you
If the reminder also goes unanswered, you receive a calmly worded email with the last sign of life.
What families often ask us
- My mum doesn’t want to be monitored.
- She doesn’t have to be. Ondira shows you neither her location nor her daily routine. You only learn whether a check-in was missed. She sets the rhythm, she can change it, and she can delete the app at any time.
- She isn’t comfortable with technology.
- In daily use there is exactly one action: open the app, tap the big button. It is best to set it up together, for example on your next visit. For someone who does not use a smartphone, though, Ondira is not the right solution.
- What if her phone is flat or she forgets it?
- Then she gets a reminder first. Only if that goes unanswered do you receive an email, which says clearly that a missed check-in need not mean anything. Often it is a flat battery, and a phone call sorts it out.
- What will it cost later?
- The daily check-in is free in the free version. Ondira Plus, with more contacts and flexible rhythms, costs CHF 3 a month or CHF 30 a year. Nobody is moved onto a paid plan automatically.
- Do I need to install the app too?
- No. As a trusted contact, all you need is an email address. If you like, you can also use the app and check in yourself.
How do you raise the subject with your parents?
The conversation is often harder than the technology. Five ways of putting it that work for many families. Pick the one that suits you, and say it in your own words.
When you bring it up yourself
“I’ve noticed I worry more often than I let on. Can I show you something that would help me?”
You talk about your worry, not about any weakness of theirs. That makes it easier to say yes.
When independence matters
“You decide when and how often. I can’t see where you are or what you’re doing. I only find out if you don’t check in.”
Control stays visibly with them. That is exactly what separates Ondira from surveillance.
When you hear “I don’t need that”
“I believe you’re fine. It’s about me not having to ring every day to know it.”
You don’t argue; you offer to ask less often. For many parents, that is a gain.
When it can go both ways
“Let’s both do it. You check in with me, I check in with you.”
If you check in too, it becomes a ritual between adults rather than a measure for the older generation.
When more time is needed
“Let’s try it for a month. If it bothers you, we delete it, no discussion.”
A trial with a clear way out takes the pressure off. The decision can be reversed at any time.
And if the answer is no for now, that is an answer too. A second conversation in a few weeks is often easier than the first.
What Ondira is not
Not an alarm button
Ondira does not call a monitoring centre or an ambulance. It notices that something is missing and lets you know. For an acute fall with a call for help, a personal alarm is the better choice.
Not tracking
No live location, no camera, no microphone. The app shares location only if your parent switches that on, and then only at the moment of check-in.
Not a medical device
Ondira measures nothing and diagnoses nothing. It replaces neither care nor medical support. In an emergency, call 144.
Why you can trust Ondira
Little data, kept briefly
Check-in history is kept for 14 days. No health data, no advertising IDs, no selling of data.
Designed to comply with FADP/GDPR
Built around the Swiss Data Protection Act and the GDPR. Server location: Switzerland.
Clear about what happens
You can see in advance exactly which email you would receive. There are no hidden notifications.
From the Valais
Ondira is developed and run by diehm it-services in Brig-Glis, Switzerland, with a full address in the imprint.
Ondira came about because its co-founders, Daniel Diehm and Oliver Gepp, looked for something between an alarm system and a location app, and found nothing. The story behind it
Frequently asked questions from families
How can I check on an elderly parent without calling every day?
With Ondira your parent checks in with one tap in a rhythm they choose, for example every morning. You hear nothing as long as the check-ins arrive. If one is missed and the reminder also goes unanswered, you get an email.
Is Ondira an alternative to a personal alarm?
For some families yes, for others it is an addition. A personal alarm helps when someone presses a button after a fall. Ondira helps when someone can no longer get in touch. You will find the full comparison on our personal alarm page.
Is there a check-in app for elderly people without a subscription?
Yes. The free version gives you the daily check-in and the email to one trusted contact, with no subscription and not time-limited. For more contacts or shorter intervals, Ondira Plus costs CHF 3 a month or CHF 30 a year.
Does my dad see that I am his contact?
Yes. He adds his trusted contacts himself in his app and can change them at any time. Ondira only works if he checks in regularly himself, so it cannot be used secretly.
What does the email say if no check-in arrives?
When the person last checked in and that no check-in arrived within the agreed time. It also says this need not mean anything and asks you to get in touch. Using a link, you can confirm that you have reached the person.
Can several siblings be notified?
Yes. Ondira Plus allows up to 20 trusted contacts in three groups: one person first, others after. So it doesn’t all fall on one person. The free version has one contact.
What if my mother is away on holiday?
With Ondira Plus she can pause protection for 24 hours or 3 days and see when it resumes automatically. Without Plus, she can adjust her interval herself. She stays in control.
Less worry, without more control
Set up Ondira together with your mum or dad. Or start with yourself and show them how little it takes.
Setting Ondira up for someone else? Install it together on the phone of the person who checks in.
Free version, no credit card. Plus can be cancelled for the end of the term.
Feedback & news
Want to hear what changes in Ondira? Leave your email address. Feedback and wishes are welcome at support@ondira.app.