Build your first travel record

Borderly is an iPhone app for keeping track of stays and country days. It is useful for frequent travelers who want an editable record, evidence they can inspect, and estimates for selected day-count rules. It requires iOS 18 or later. There is no Borderly sign-in screen.

Start with manual entry or photos

Automatic location collection and Calendar reconstruction are not connected in this version, even though some screens describe them. You can build a record with manual trips or photo reconstruction. The troubleshooting guide explains these current limits.

Complete the four welcome pages

1. Open Borderly. A short opening animation leads to the welcome pages.
2. Tap Continue on the introduction.
3. Choose your home country. Tap the country row to search the full list, or use a suggested country. This can be changed later in You → Home country.
4. Optionally turn on Add a passport now, choose the issuing country, and enter the expiry date printed in the passport. Leave the switch off to skip it.
5. On the location page, optionally open See how location access works. Choose Allow while using Borderly or Not now—use manual entry. Location access is not required to finish onboarding.
6. Tap Open my dashboard. Borderly remembers that onboarding is complete. A notification permission prompt may follow: local notifications are enabled by default, and the app requests permission at this point.

No counters are selected automatically. A new installation starts with an empty travel history; the records in these screenshots are examples.

The opening welcome page. The country and optional passport steps follow. Real iPhone simulator capture · fictional sample data. Tap to enlarge.

Add your first stay

1. In Today, tap Add today manually or scroll to Add a trip manually. You can also use Timeline → +.
2. Choose the country and optionally enter a city.
3. Set Arrival and Departure. For one day, choose the same date for both. Check the departure carefully: the initial form defaults to seven days after today.
4. Tap Save. The button reads Locating… while Borderly looks up a map position.
5. Once the lookup succeeds, the sheet closes and your trip appears in Timeline. A Manual day is added for each date, including arrival and departure.

The map lookup may need a connection. If it fails, the form stays open with an error; check the city, try the country alone, and save again. No trip is added on that failure.

Continue with adding and editing trips, or rebuild older travel from photos.

Choose one counter

In Today → Choose a country or rule, search for a country and open its Days in… tracker. Tap Add active counter. It shows recorded non-transit days for the calendar year. The free plan allows one active counter; Pro removes that limit.

A source-linked visa or tax preset may ask for personal facts and history before providing a result. Follow set up counters to understand those questions.

Permissions you actually need

Permission	When it is useful
Photos	Required only to scan the photos you allow for travel reconstruction. Selected-photo access works with a smaller set.
Notifications	Optional local reminders for counter states.
Location	Optional permission controls exist, but granting access does not currently create location-based days.
Calendar	Optional permission control only; there is no implemented event-import journey.
Face ID	The setting can request biometric authentication, but an enforced app lock is unfinished.

You do not need to grant all permissions to use Borderly. See settings and permissions for the exact behavior.