Home AwayFor trips, big and small
One handoff for everything at home.
Going away? Home Away puts the plants, the pets, the house and the mail into one handoff for your sitter. One trip plan, one card, one sitter mode. They check in with photos; you come home to a report.
Coming to iPhone and Android. Your home stays on your phone: no account, no ads.
Today
Pets Feed Biscuit, fresh water, short walk.
Plants Big Fig: check soil first.
Mail Bring in the mail; a package is due.
House Trash goes out tonight.
How it works
1. Choose what needs looking after
Plants, pets, the house, the mail: switch on the ones you need. Each gets its own simple page, written in your words.
2. Plan the trip
Enter your dates. Pets set how often someone needs to come by; plants and mail fit into those visits. Reminders help you prep.
3. Hand it over
Send a packet your sitter opens in the free app, print a one-page Home Away Card, or stick QR tags on the pots. A text version works for everyone.
Plants
A clear rule for every plant (water, check soil first, skip unless, do not touch), from a library of 42 common houseplants. Each library plant shows what the ASPCA plant lists say for cats and dogs. “Not on ASPCA lists” does not mean safe.
Pets
Feeding, treats, walks or litter, quirks, hiding spots, the vet and the emergency vet. Medicines are written exactly as you enter them; Home Away does not give dosing advice. If a plant the ASPCA lists as toxic to your pet is in the home, the app says so.
House and mail
Getting in, Wi-Fi, trash day, the water shutoff and who to call. Where the mailbox is, which packages are coming, and a link to USPS Hold Mail.
Remembers everything for next time
Repeat a trip
Copy last time’s trip onto new dates, or save a template like “Weekend away”. Keep your regular sitters; the handoff is addressed to them. Their details stay on your phone.
Routines and seasons
A standing routine for every pet, plant and chore, an “everyday at home” list, and your own winter schedule (water less, pause a task). Trips follow your routines. Seasonal numbers are always yours; the app does not make them up.
Notes, history and the med log
Keep the sitter’s useful notes so they show up in every future handoff. See each pet’s and plant’s history across trips, and a med log of every dose your sitter ticked. A simple supply count warns if a medicine may run out before you’re back. It is counting, not medical advice.
Dog walking
A walk plan for each dog: times, the usual route, the harness and where it hangs, who to avoid, pulling, potty and what to do after. Your sitter taps Start walk, logs pee and poop, and can choose to record the route while the walk screen is open (never in the background). You see the time, the distance and a simple route drawing, made on the phone with no map service. A regular dog walker while you’re home? Set the days once and get a weekly summary.
Ask for help
Pick your dates and what needs looking after, and get a short note with the visits and roughly how long each takes, to send to a friend, a neighbour or a sitter you pay. No prices, no marketplace, and never your codes. Turn it into a trip when someone says yes.
Door and alarm codes stay on your phone
Codes are kept in your phone’s secure storage (the iOS Keychain or Android Keystore), on this device only. They are never printed on the card, never in the text version, never in templates, requests, care history or the med log, and left out of data exports unless you tick the box.
If you want your sitter to have a code in the app, switch that one code on and set a sitter PIN. The code travels locked with the PIN; you tell the sitter the PIN another way. A short PIN keeps codes from casual eyes; it is not bank-grade protection.
A calm sitter mode
- Large type: today’s visits, grouped into pets, plants, house and mail.
- Check in with a photo and a timestamp. Location details are removed from photos.
- “It looks like…” help for small worries; for a pet that is unwell it points to the vet you listed.
- Start walk: a big timer, pee and poop, a note and a photo. Recording the route is optional and only while the walk screen is open.
- Send the report back in one tap. Sitter mode is always free.
Welcome home
Import the sitter’s report to see every visit, what the pets got, which plants were watered, the mail and packages brought in, and anything that needs a look.
Free
$0
- Up to 8 plants and pets in total
- House and mail, free
- 1 upcoming trip at a time (past trips never count)
- Home Away Card PDF, QR tags, text version, reports
- Repeat trips, routines, everyday at home, kept sitter notes and care history
- Dog walks, walk plans and optional route recording
- Med log and help requests as text; 1 trip template and 2 saved sitters
- Sitter mode, always free and unlimited
Unlock
$4.99
- Unlimited plants, pets and trips
- More trip templates and saved sitters
- Your own seasonal schedules
- Recurring dog walker schedules with a weekly summary
- PDFs of the med log and help requests
- One payment. No subscription, no account
- Restore on a new phone from Settings
US price; the store shows your local price.
Support
Questions or a bug?
Purchases
Use Settings → Restore purchase on a new phone. Refunds are handled by Apple (reportaproblem.apple.com) or Google Play (order history).
Your data
Everything is stored on your phone. Settings → Export my data makes a zip; Delete all data removes it, codes included.
Opening a packet
Tap the .homeaway file in Messages, Mail or Files and choose Home Away. Or open the app and use “Open the packet”. Older .plantsit files from Plant Sit Card open too.