Care without watching: the decisions behind Lampsill
The decisions behind Lampsill: why it asks for nothing, why it asks you first, why your people see only one thing, and why the person being looked out for never pays.
Subhankar Denria
CTO & product engineer
A "Good morning" on the family WhatsApp group isn't really a greeting. It's a signal: I'm awake. I'm fine. Don't worry.
Lampsill started from one question about the morning that message doesn't come: when someone who lives alone goes quiet, how does a person who loves them find out, quickly and kindly?
Not "how do we monitor them". Cameras, trackers and panic buttons already exist, and most people who live alone don't want any of them. Here are the six decisions that shaped what I built instead.
LampsillA quiet safety net for people who live alone. Early access is open on iPhone and Android.Early access1. Ask for nothing
Every product in this space asks for something: wear it, charge it, press it, check in. Lampsill notices the one thing nearly everyone already does every day: picks up their phone. No second habit to build.
What it asks of you
Nothing new. That’s the idea.
A pendant
- Wear it
- Charge it
- Press it
A daily check-in
- Remember it
- Every morning
- Even on holiday
Lampsill
- Use your phone
- As you already do
- That’s all
2. Ask the person first
The most likely reason a phone goes quiet is ordinary: a flat battery, a trip, a coat pocket. If every quiet phone went straight to the family, the alerts would soon be ignored. So Lampsill asks first.
Asked first
Most quiet phones end with one tap
A phone goes quiet
Usually a flat battery, a trip, or a coat pocket.
“Still there?”
The person is asked first. One tap ends it, and nobody is told.
No answer in 10 minutes
Only now is someone they chose told, calmly, with the battery and their note.
3. Show one thing, and only one
The people you choose see whether your light is on. Never where you are, when you last used your phone, or what you did on it.
Care without watching
Your people see your light. Nothing else.
Is the light on?
The one thing they see
They never see
- Where you are
- What you do on your phone
- Your messages and calls
- Your steps
- Any camera
- Any microphone
4. Put them in charge
Dignity isn't a feature you add at the end. It's who holds the switch.
Who holds the switch
The person being looked out for
Says yes first
Nothing starts until they agree, on their own phone.
Picks the window
12, 24 or 48 hours of quiet.
Sets sleeping hours
The clock never runs out overnight.
Pauses for a trip
It starts again by itself.
Leaves a note
Seen only if their phone goes quiet.
Switches it off
Any time, without asking anyone.
5. The person looked out for never pays
Lampsill is free during early access. When paid plans come, they'll belong to the person doing the looking out. A mother should never be asked for her card details so that her son can stop worrying.
6. Say plainly what it isn't
Lampsill isn't an emergency service or a medical device. It can't tell why a phone went quiet, only that it did. So nothing about it says "always", "never miss" or "24/7 protection". A safety product built on a feeling it can't keep doesn't deserve trust.
What building it taught me
Same promise, two routes
How each phone shows it’s in use
Android
- Notices the phone coming to life as it happens
- Tells the server at most about once every ten minutes
iPhone
- Far stricter about apps working in the background
- Checks in about once an hour, and can be nudged for a quiet look
Same promise, two very different routes to keeping it. Most of the engineering in Lampsill lives in gaps like that one.
Try it
Lampsill is in beta on iPhone and in testing on Android, and the early access programme is open, worldwide. Early testers shape what it becomes, and I'd be glad to hear what you think.
Leave a light on for someone
Early access is open, and free: beta on iPhone, testing on Android. About five minutes to set up, once.
Get early accesslampsill.com · Not an emergency service
See it in action: watch a quiet weekend with Lampsill.
Booking new builds now