Gentle Ride Help

Help & support

Gentle Ride coaches you to drive more smoothly, so your passengers ride more comfortably. It listens to your phone's motion sensors and gives a gentle alert when braking, acceleration or a lift-off jolt gets abrupt. No GPS, no account and no connection to your car.

How to use it

Place the phone. Lay it on your car's wireless charging pad, pushed fully into the slot, or use a firm dash mount. Any orientation works: flat, upright, portrait or landscape.
Tap Start. The screen stays on while Gentle Ride is monitoring. In the web app, tap Allow when Safari asks for motion access.
Drive normally. The dashboard says GETTING READY at first. Your first turn, or pulling away from a stop, shows Gentle Ride which way the car faces. After that it monitors on its own and remembers the direction for next time.
Tap Stop when you arrive. You'll see a smoothness score out of 100 and a timeline of events. Past trips are in Trip History.

What the alerts mean

Radar sound (the default): silent when you're driving smoothly. As braking or acceleration gets more abrupt it starts ticking, then ticks faster and higher. Ease off until it goes quiet.
Other sounds: a soft beep, chime, ukulele strum or a voice saying "Smooth it out!" plays once per event. Pick one in Settings → Alerts.
Screen flash: RED for abrupt braking, abrupt acceleration and lift-off jolts; AMBER for jerky changes and on/off pedal pumping. You can turn it off.

Gentle Ride looks for abrupt braking, sudden "lift-off" slowing in electric cars with regenerative braking, jerky changes, heavy acceleration, and speeding up and slowing down over and over.

Tips

Silent switch: the iPhone app plays alerts even with the silent switch on. In the web app, the default "Mix into the music" setting is muted by the silent switch. Turn the switch off, or choose "Take over" under Settings → Fine-tune → With music playing.
Volume: alerts follow your phone's volume, so turn it up with the side buttons. Use Play sample in Settings to check the level. Music and navigation keep playing.
Vent mounts vibrate. Clips on air vents bounce over every bump, which adds noise. The charging pad or a firm dash mount works much better.
Grippy case: on a charging pad, a slick case can let the phone slide or spin. If it moves, Gentle Ride re-learns the direction automatically.
Too many or too few alerts? Under Settings → How strict? choose Relaxed, Balanced or Strict. Strict suits very sensitive passengers.
Keep it in front. Leave Gentle Ride open on screen. If you switch apps or lock the phone, monitoring pauses.

Questions

Why didn't it beep?

Very hard braking never alerts. That's on purpose: in an emergency you should brake as hard as you need without a distraction. These stops are listed in the trip but don't lower your score.
It may still be getting ready. Alerts start after it has learned which way the car faces.
Normal driving is meant to stay quiet. Try Strict if you want alerts sooner.
Check the volume, the silent switch (web app), and that Sound isn't set to "No sound".
Beep, chime and voice wait a few seconds between alerts. You can change "Wait between beeps" in Fine-tune.
If the phone is shaking a lot, jolt alerts pause until it settles. A firmer mount helps.

Why does it say "Getting ready"?

Gentle Ride works out which way is forward from how the car moves, so you can put the phone in any position. It needs one turn or one pull-away from a stop. Just keep driving normally. It remembers the direction for next time and keeps checking it, so if you move the phone it re-learns on its own.

Why does the screen stay on? What about battery?

iPhone pauses motion sensors for apps in the background or when the screen locks, so Gentle Ride keeps the screen on while it's monitoring. That uses more battery, so charge while you drive: the wireless pad or a cable is ideal. The screen can lock normally again once you tap Stop.

Does it work in the background?

No. Gentle Ride only monitors while it's open on screen. If you switch to another app, monitoring pauses until you come back.

Does it use GPS, the internet or my car's data?

No. It only uses the phone's motion sensors. It doesn't need a signal, doesn't connect to your car, and you don't need an account.

What about my privacy?

Gentle Ride doesn't collect any data. Your trips stay on your phone, and a trip only leaves the phone if you tap Share and send it somewhere. It never records your location. Read the full privacy policy.

How do I delete trips?

In the iPhone app, open Trip History and swipe left on a trip. In the web app, open Trips, tap a trip, then tap Delete trip. Deleting the app removes everything.

What does the score mean?

The smoothness score (0–100) counts abrupt events, adjusted for how long you drove. It's a habit tracker to help you see progress. It isn't a medical measure, and it can't tell how any particular passenger will feel.

Which cars does it work with?

Any car. It's especially handy in electric cars with strong regenerative braking, where lifting off the pedal too quickly can jolt passengers.

Can I try it without driving?

Yes. The web app has a "Try a demo drive" button that plays a simulated city drive, so you can hear the alerts and see a trip summary.

Contact

Found a bug or have an idea? Email support@gentleride.app. It helps to include your iPhone model, iOS version and what happened. If a trip went wrong, you can attach its file from the trip's Share button.