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Guide

What Protect Mode does — and doesn't

Protect Mode keeps mountain safety info, including avalanche risk, on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island for as long as it's on. It's a live information feed, not a safety net — this guide draws that line clearly before you rely on it.

Protect ModeLive Activity

The problem

Once you're on a run, checking the app means stopping, taking off a glove, and unlocking your phone — exactly the moments you don't have when conditions change fast. Avalanche risk isn't static either: the same region can read differently an hour later.

What Protect Mode does

Turning it on

Protect Mode start screen with a large green shield START button

Protect Mode, off

Tap Start on the Protect Mode screen. Once it's on, the Live Activity takes over — check your Lock Screen or Dynamic Island for mountain safety info instead of reopening the app.

What it doesn't do

Protect Mode info sheet listing what it does and, in an orange warning box, what it doesn't do

In-app disclaimer

Worth remembering Protect Mode does not protect you from avalanches or any other mountain danger. It only gives you information — it cannot detect every hazard, and its data can be wrong, delayed, or unavailable. You are fully responsible for your own safety and every decision you make on the mountain, at all times.

Alert sounds for critical positions are planned for a future version — right now, Protect Mode is a display, not an alarm. Check it the way you'd glance at any Lock Screen widget: informative, not a replacement for reading the terrain and the bulletin yourself.

Free to download · iPhone & Apple Watch

Download on the App Store