How To Use The Tripaid App
How to use the TripAid app on school trips
Before your trip
Before your first trip, take a couple of minutes to configure your device settings so TripAid works exactly as it should throughout the visit.
Location settings
Open your device settings and set TripAid's location access to "Always". This ensures your location is visible to teachers or students on your trip at all times while the app is running.
Notifications
Enable notifications for TripAid and set the banner style to "Persistent" rather than "Temporary". This means any messages you receive will remain visible in your notifications until you have read them, so nothing gets missed during the trip.
Joining your trip
To log in to your trip, enter your school name, your name and the unique login code provided by your school. If your school name returns multiple results, check the postcode carefully to make sure you select the correct school before proceeding.
Pre trip Page
Once the trip start time has elapsed, any teacher can begin the trip from the pre-trip page. Before pressing "Begin Trip", check the register carefully to confirm that all teachers and students are correctly logged in and showing on the list. Once "Begin Trip" is pressed, the login codes become invalid and no new users can join via a code, so it is important to make sure the register is correct before you start. We recommend pressing "Begin Trip" only when all users are present at the start location. This gives any students who have not yet logged in the chance to do so, and allows everyone to open the app and confirm their location is showing correctly on the map before the trip gets underway. If a student joins late or needs to be added during the trip, individual students can be added or removed at any time by following the instructions in the app.
During the trip
Once the "Begin Trip" button has been pressed, all users must open the app to activate location tracking. Any user who has not yet opened the app after the trip has begun will appear as "Offline" until they do so.
Location settings
All users must have their TripAid location setting set to "Always" for location tracking to function correctly. Be aware that if the app runs in the background over an extended period, such as across multiple days, the device's battery saving settings may automatically restrict location tracking. Check and reset location settings daily on longer trips.
A practical tip for free time
When the group is together and in sight of teachers, location can be set to "Whilst Using the App". When students are given free time and move out of sight, switch location settings to "Always" before releasing them.
To manage this efficiently, assign each teacher 8–10 students to check individually that their location setting has been switched correctly before free time begins. Once confirmed, students can be released.
Keeping the app open
The app must remain open in the background at all times for location tracking to update on the map. If a user fully closes the app by swiping it away from their open apps list, their location will stop updating. They will however still be able to send and receive messages until the app is reopened.
Map
The map displays each user's name and the time their location was last updated, giving teachers a clear at-a-glance view of where everyone is during the trip. Location updates are triggered by movement of approximately 100 metres or more. This means a user who appears not to have updated their location for several hours has not necessarily moved, they may simply be stationary, for example in a hotel room or at a fixed activity location. If you are concerned about a student's location or welfare, always use the in-app messaging function to contact them directly rather than relying solely on their last known map position.
Chats
To start a new conversation, select one or more users from the list and press "Message". This creates a new chat thread in your "Chats" area, which you can return to at any time during the trip. Teacher Announcements A "Teacher Announcements" chat is automatically created for every trip and includes all users in the group. Only teachers can send messages in this chat; students can read announcements but cannot reply directly. This channel is designed for teachers to share important information with the whole group quickly, such as meeting points, itinerary updates or safety reminders. Student replies If a student needs to respond or ask a question, they can start a new individual or group chat with any teacher or combination of teachers directly from the map page.
Editing The Trip
Any teacher can edit the trip name, start time or end time at any time during the visit. To do this, open the menu by tapping the three lines in the top left corner of the map screen, then select "Edit Trip". Whenever the trip name or end time is changed, TripAid automatically sends a notification to all users on the trip and a separate notification to the school's EVC, keeping everyone informed and ensuring all changes are fully logged and transparent.