Now recruiting testers

Someone should always know where you are on the mountain.

MountainEars is a safety app for hikers, trail runners, mountain bikers — or anyone else out on the mountain. Log your route and expected return, and the people tracking you are alerted automatically if you go quiet. It's still under active development, and we need it tested for real, on real trails.

Become a tester Android & iOS · Free · Early test version

Less than 5 minutes to register and to start your first tracked activity.

The gap

Close the gap between something going wrong and someone noticing

You tell someone roughly where you're headed and when you'll be back — and then you're on your own until you either return, or someone eventually thinks to worry. That gap, between something going wrong and somebody realising it, is where a manageable situation on the mountain turns into an emergency.

MountainEars closes that gap. You start an activity before you set off — route, party size, expected return — and it quietly does the watching: tracking your progress, and flagging it the moment you're overdue, without you having to check in yourself.

Why this needs real testers, not just a lab GPS behaves differently on a exposed ridge than it does on a desk. Battery, signal, and terrain all matter — the only way to know it holds up is to take it out on an actual outing.

What it does

Keeps adventurers connected, loved ones informed, and mountain communities safer

Track

Log an activity before you start

Route, expected distance, party size, and when you plan to be back — saved routes make repeat outings a one-tap start.

Alert

Automatic overdue alerts

Trusted contacts see your status at a glance — on time, running late, or well overdue — without needing to message you to ask.

Raise

Raise & respond to alerts

Report an incident, a missing person, or a hazard near your location, and make visible to trusted contacts only, or to anyone who might be affected or can help.

Groups

Tracking groups

Clubs, volunteer safety teams and event organisers can monitor an entire area, not just one person at a time.

Contacts

Emergency contacts

Your recorded ICE numbers and emergency services are on hand without having to dig for signal-starved search results.

Before you sign up

What testing involves

Time

Very little – just start an activity when you're heading out anyway

Devices

A recent Android or iPhone

Feedback

Tell us what can be improved, directly on the app

This is genuinely early — expect the occasional rough edge, and expect it to change while you're using it. In return, you get a direct line to the developer, and a real say in what it becomes. Nothing about your involvement is binding — install it, try it on your next few outings, and give us your feedback.

Join in

Take it out on your next outing.

Leave your name, email, and which platform you're on (Android or iOS), and you'll be added to the testing group with install instructions.

Request an invite See what it does again

or reach out directly — guy@mountainears.co.za