When Vicinity detects that you and a friend are within the proximity radius, both of you receive a notification at roughly the same time. Here's exactly what happens.
What the notification looks like
The notification shows the friend's name and a message like "[Name] is nearby." Tapping it opens Vicinity directly to that friend's profile so you can reach out.
What triggers the alert
Alerts fire when you and a friend come within approximately 1–2 miles of each other. The exact radius can vary based on GPS conditions. Vicinity is designed to alert once per encounter — it won't repeatedly notify you every few minutes while you remain nearby.
Do you have to be active in the app?
No. As long as you've granted Always Allow location permission and notifications are enabled, Vicinity runs in the background and will alert you even when the app is closed. This is by design — the whole point is to catch spontaneous moments when you happen to be near a friend.
- Both you and your friend receive the alert simultaneously — it's always a two-way notification.
- If an alert doesn't fire when expected, check that both parties have location set to Always Allow.