After six weeks of redevelopment with a brand new development team, we are proud to launch the new and improved TripAid app and website.
While the app may look familiar, the location sharing has been completely rebuilt from the ground up to ensure pupil and teacher locations are shared consistently and reliably, while using dramatically less battery life. Final testing has shown a significant improvement in both areas.
The website has a new look, and the school’s EVC has an important new feature. For the first time, EVCs can select a trip and tap the location icon to view the live locations of all users on that trip directly from their computer. This allows the EVC to act as a second pair of eyes from school, whether a student has gone missing, or the group is running late and arrival times need to be estimated.
If you’ve ever stood in a crowded museum or on a busy high street, counting heads and coming up one short, you’ll know the feeling. It’s not panic – not yet – but it’s close. That moment was what led me to build TripAid in the first place. I’m a teacher, and I built this because I needed it.
The reality of school trips hasn’t changed. You’re juggling a clipboard, thirty students, a parent volunteer who’s wandered off, and a phone that’s about to die. Back at school, your EVC has no clear picture of what’s happening on the ground. If something goes wrong, the first instinct is to call – which means sharing personal numbers, or using the school’s main line, which nobody answers quickly enough.
TripAid was designed to solve exactly those problems. And with this relaunch, we think we’ve finally got it right.
What’s changed in TripAid 2.0
Location sharing is now consistent and reliable.
No more gaps. No more wondering whether the map is up to date. When a student’s location is being shared, you can trust what you’re seeing.
Battery life is dramatically better.
The technical rebuild has significantly reduced battery drain, so the app runs throughout a full day out without exhausting students’ phones before lunchtime.
EVCs now have their own live location view.
For the first time, the coordinator back at school can log in to the website, open a trip and see exactly where every user is on a live map. If a student goes missing, the EVC becomes a genuine second pair of eyes, without anyone needing to stop, call and explain.
Built by a teacher, for teachers
Beyond the new features, TripAid remains what it always was: a GDPR-compliant school trip safeguarding app built around how schools actually work. No phone numbers are ever shared through the app. When a trip ends, user access is removed and data is handled in line with our privacy policy. It was designed by a teacher, for teachers, which means safeguarding and privacy concerns were built in from day one, not bolted on later.
To get started, visit www.tripaid.co.uk or use the Get in Touch form at the bottom of the page to book a consultation and find out whether TripAid is the right fit for your school.
I built this for teachers like me. I hope it helps.
Tim Lister
Founder, TripAid
