Frequently Asked Questions

What does Hereish do?

It shows you what town you're in. That's it.

Can't I just ask Siri where I am?

You could. But then you'd be the person loudly asking their phone "Where am I?" in a parking lot. And after the three seconds of silence while Siri thinks about it, there's a solid chance she'll hear "Where am I" as "Wear a mime" and start reading you a Wikipedia article. Hereish just puts the answer on your screen. No performance required.

Can't I just make a Shortcut for this?

Yes, actually. We even wrote a tutorial explaining exactly how to do it. It's free and it works. The catch is that Shortcuts can't update a widget in the background, can't show on your lock screen, can't run on your Apple Watch, and can't appear in CarPlay or StandBy. But if tapping a button every time you want to know what town you're in sounds reasonable, go for it. Or you could pay $2.

Learn more: Shortcut tutorial

Why does this app exist?

Someone was driving through Connecticut and genuinely could not figure out what town they were in. If you've ever driven through New England, you know. One minute you're in Sudbury, then you're in Wayland, then you're in something called Natick, and there's no sign anywhere. Turns out this is a more common problem than you'd think. So now there's a $2 app for it.

Why does it need 'Always' location permission?

Fair question. Hereish uses Significant Location Change monitoring, which is an iOS feature that wakes the app briefly when you've moved roughly 500 meters. It checks what town you're in now, updates the cache, and goes back to sleep. This is what keeps your widgets current without you opening the app. If you only grant "While Using" permission, widgets can still work, but they'll be less reliable because iOS can't wake the app in the background to refresh the data. We recommend "Always" for the best experience, but it's your call.

Learn more: Widget limitations

Does it track me?

No. Zero data leaves your device. There are no servers, no accounts, no analytics SDKs, and no way for us to see where you are or where you've been. Your location is processed entirely on your iPhone using Apple's built-in geocoding, cached locally so widgets can read it, and that's it. We couldn't track you even if we wanted to.

Learn more: Privacy policy

Why is my widget showing the wrong town?

Two things could be happening. First, iOS controls when widgets refresh, and it budgets those refreshes to save battery. Hereish asks for updates roughly every 5 minutes, but iOS sometimes says no. If you've just crossed a town line, the widget might need a minute or two to catch up. Second, the town name comes from Apple's reverse geocoding data, and sometimes Apple's map data has different ideas about where town boundaries are. Both of these are outside our control. We're honest about that.

Why is the widget not updating at all?

Start with the basics: make sure location permission is set to "Always" in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Hereish. Then check that Background App Refresh is turned on in Settings > General > Background App Refresh. If both of those are set and it's still not updating, try tapping the refresh button on the home screen widget, or just open the app briefly. That'll force a fresh location check and kick the widgets back to life.

Learn more: Widget limitations

Is this really worth $2?

It's the price of a mediocre coffee. But unlike that coffee, Hereish will work tomorrow too. And the day after that. No subscription, no ads, no in-app purchases. Just a town name on your screen, forever, for less than the cost of whatever you almost bought at a gas station last week.

What about Apple Watch?

Yes. Hereish runs on Apple Watch with complications for multiple watch faces. Your current town, right on your wrist. The Watch gets its location from your iPhone when paired, or uses its own GPS if you leave your phone behind.

Learn more: Watch complications

What iOS version do I need?

iOS 17 or later for iPhone and iPad. watchOS 10 or later for Apple Watch. The CarPlay widget requires iOS 26 or later, because that's when Apple added CarPlay widget support.