Help & FAQ.

A group chat is great for "are we still on for Wednesday?" It's terrible for "who actually has a free seat in their car at 6pm?". Promises drift up the screen, two people offer to drive the same kid, and the parent who joined the chat late has no idea what was decided.

SquadCars replaces all that with one shared picture every parent sees the same way. Bookings are confirmed seats. Drivers see their passenger list. Plans don't live in 200 messages. They live on a card you can glance at in five seconds.

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That's exactly when SquadCars is most useful. The trust is there; what's missing is the coordination. Knowing the other parents doesn't stop the chaos when six families are trying to work out who's driving and who's riding for Wednesday's training.

Your squad keeps being your squad. SquadCars just gives it a shared plan so nobody has to play air-traffic controller in the group chat.

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Yes, that's the whole point. Each parent offers their own car in a few taps, and their own children are seated for them. Everyone else sees the spare seats and books them, so no driver has to count seats or answer "is there room?" in the chat.

If your car is full, another parent's car probably has room. If both cars are needed, both cars run. Nobody's left guessing whether to bother offering.

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A booking is a confirmed seat. Once you've tapped to book your child in, that seat is yours. Drivers see your child on their passenger list and the seat shows as taken to everyone else.

If something changes (a car drops out, a driver swaps), the app notifies the affected parents directly. No quiet bumps, no chasing in the chat.

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Only the parents in the same carpool as you. Carpools are private: you can only get in through a link shared by a parent already in one.

Within a carpool, your contact details are shared with the parents who actually need to coordinate with you (the driver of your child's car, or any parents whose child is in your car). Nobody outside the carpool sees anything.

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No. SquadCars doesn't vet drivers or check licences or insurance, and it isn't a taxi or ride-share service. A carpool is private: you can only join with a link from a parent who is already in it, so the drivers are people from your own team or club.

Under our Terms, a parent who offers a car confirms that they hold a valid licence and insurance for carrying other people's children. You choose whether to book your child into a car, and every booking shows who is driving, in which car and when. If you would ask a friend about child seats or insurance before a lift, ask the other parents too.

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Open the app and sign in with Google, Apple or your email address. The email option sends a 6-digit code to your inbox, no password needed.

After signing in, one screen asks for your name and your children's names. Your family's name is filled in from your surname, and you can change it.

Your phone number and home address come later, when a lift needs them: after your first booking or your first offer to drive, the app asks for your phone so the other parent can reach you, and for your address if the car collects from your door or passengers meet at your house. You can skip it, or add them any time under Settings → "My profile".

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So the parents you share a car with can reach you on the day, and so drivers can do door-to-door pickups and directions. Both are optional.

They are only shared with the parents you're sharing a car with: the driver of your child's car or, when you drive, the parents of the children in your car (and those children's own logins). Nobody else in the carpool sees them.

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Tap the account icon in the top-right of the app, then choose "Sign out" at the bottom of the menu.

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You set up your family right after signing up: give it a name (visible to your carpools, e.g. "The Roxburgh Family") and add your children. You can rename it or add more children any time under Settings → "Family & garage".

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On the Family screen, tap "Add a child" and enter their name. Tap a child at any time to edit their name or their notes for drivers: allergies, medical info, a booster seat, pickup quirks, anything a driver picking them up should know. Notes are only visible to parents in carpools your child is in.

To remove a child, tap them and choose "Remove". Any seats booked for them are cancelled and they leave every carpool they were part of.

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Open Settings → "Family & garage" and tap Invite on the Members card. SquadCars gives you a link: share it, show the QR code or copy it. Whoever opens it and signs in joins your family. Only the primary parent can invite.

You never need their email address, which matters, because Sign in with Apple often hides it. The link is for one person and lasts 7 days, and it stops working as soon as it has been used. Share a fresh one if you need to invite someone else.

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Yes. Open Settings → "Family & garage", find the child, and tap "Set up login". You get a QR code and an 8-character code. On their phone or tablet they scan the code with the camera, or type it in, and it connects to that child's profile. The code works once and runs out after 10 minutes, so make a new one when they are ready. If they have their own email, you can send them a sign-in link instead.

A logged-in child sees only their own dashboard: upcoming lifts they are booked into, who is driving them, pickup time, a map link to the driver's address (when pickup is at the driver's place), the driver's phone with a one-tap Call button, and the first names of the other kids in the car. They cannot book themselves, change cars, or see anyone else's family.

To disconnect a login without removing the child, edit the child under Settings → "Family & garage" and tap Disconnect next to "Has their own login". Any parent in the family can do it. Removing the child from your family deletes their login too.

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Each family has one primary parent, who can invite other parents, remove them, and set up child logins. To transfer the role, tap the menu icon next to a parent on the Family screen and choose "Make primary".

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A non-primary parent can leave at any time using the "Leave family" button. The primary parent can remove another parent via the menu next to their name. Cars and bookings made by that parent will stay on the events they created.

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Open the Carpools tab and tap "Create a carpool". Give it a name and optionally a home venue (used as the default location for new events), an icon, a colour, and how many weeks of upcoming events to show.

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Open the carpool, tap "More" and choose "Invite members". You get one link for that carpool. Drop it into your group chat, show the QR code or copy it. Anyone who opens it and signs in joins.

It's the same link every time you open Invite members, so the one already in the chat keeps working. It lasts 90 days and any number of families can use it. If it gets somewhere it shouldn't, tap "New link": the old one stops working and you share the new one. Families who already joined stay in; remove anyone from Members if you need to.

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Tap the link. It opens a page naming the carpool. Sign in if you aren't already (Google, Apple, or a 6-digit code emailed to you), untick any of your children who aren't taking part, and tap "Join carpool". You're in straight away; there's nothing to wait for.

Any account works. The link isn't tied to an email address, so it doesn't matter which one you sign in with.

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Open the carpool, tap "More" and choose "Children", then tick the children who are part of that carpool. Only ticked children show up on event lift lists.

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Open the carpool, tap "More" and choose "View members" to see the families in the carpool and their children.

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Open the carpool, tap "More" and choose "Reports". "Driver stats" shows who has driven most across the carpool, a good way to appreciate the parents who've been helping out and to spot a chance to offer a lift yourself. "Journeys saved" shows how many trips carpooling has saved.

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Open the carpool and tap "More". Choose "Edit carpool" to change its name, description, home venue, icon, colour or how many weeks ahead are shown, or "Leave carpool" to take your family out. Your cars and bookings in that carpool go with you. If yours is the only family left, you'll see "Delete carpool" instead.

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Tap a carpool from the Home screen, or open the Carpools tab and choose one. The Events list shows everything for that carpool, grouped by date.

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On the carpool's event list, tap the filter icon to narrow by All, Driving, Booked or Needs a lift, and the search icon to find an event by name. To look back, tap "More" and turn on "Show past events".

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Open the carpool from the Carpools tab and tap "New event" at the bottom of the screen. If you have nothing coming up, Home offers the same button. Set a name, location, date, start time, duration, optional notes, and direction (Round trip, To event or From event), then tap "Create event".

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When creating an event, turn on "Repeats", choose a frequency (every day, weekdays, weekends or weekly) and pick a "Repeat until" date. SquadCars creates one event for each occurrence through that date. Each event in the series can still be edited or deleted on its own.

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Open the event, tap "More" and choose "Edit event", "Cancel event" or "Delete event". Cancelling tells everyone with a car or a booking and removes those cars and bookings, but the event stays on the list marked cancelled, so nobody who missed the message wonders where it went. "Reinstate event" puts it back (the cars are not restored, so they need offering and booking again). Deleting removes the event entirely. For a recurring event, the edit form has an "Also change future events in this series" switch, cancelling cancels just that one, and deleting asks whether to delete just this one or this and future events.

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Once an event has finished it becomes a read-only archive, useful for seeing who drove and who rode, but bookings and cars are locked.

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Open the event and tap "Drive". The offer opens on a summary of the usual details: your car, how many seats are available (excluding the driver), the direction (Round trip, To event or From event), the pickup time, and whether you will "Meet at mine" or do "Door to door" pickups. If it looks right, tap "Offer car". Tap the summary to change any of it, add notes, or choose which parent is driving. A missing pickup time, or seats all taken by your own children, is flagged before you offer.

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Yes. When you offer your car, or edit it, tap "Add children you've promised a lift" and tick them. They're in your car as soon as you save, and their parents get a message saying so. A parent can take their child out again at any time.

A child who already has a lift for that part of the trip, or whose family said they don't need a lift, is shown dimmed and can't be added. Each child takes one of your seats, so the app adds seats for you if you need them.

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Yes. When you offer your car you can pick one of the vehicles from your family's garage: a short description like "White Audi Q4 RND772J". It then shows on each passenger's lift card so kids know exactly which car to look for at the kerb.

Add and edit your cars under Settings → "Family & garage", in the "Your cars" card. Picking one when you drive is optional. If you haven't added a car yet the app nudges you to, but you can still offer to drive without it.

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When you're the driver, open the event and tap the megaphone on your lift status card. Pick a ready-made message like "On my way", "Running a few minutes late" or "I've arrived", or type your own, then choose who should get it: the passengers' parents, the riding kids, or both.

The message is sent as a notification and also shows in a highlighted box on each recipient's lift card, so it won't be missed even if they don't catch the push. It's for the small day-of updates that used to clog the group chat.

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Tap the megaphone on your lift status card again and choose "Clear current broadcast". It disappears from everyone's lift cards. Sending a new message also replaces the previous one. You can also pick how long a broadcast lasts (30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours or never) and it clears itself automatically when the time is up.

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Yes. Open the megaphone on your lift status card and tap "Attach my location". Use where you are now, or search and drop a pin on the map, then tap "Share location". Everyone in your car gets a "Navigate to the car" button that opens directions straight to you, so kids aren't hunting around the car park after an event.

Sharing a pin is optional, and you can send it with or without a message. Remove it any time from the same place; it also clears itself after an hour and a half.

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"Meet at mine" means passengers come to your home address to be picked up. "Door to door" means you will drive to each passenger's home address, and the app gives you a navigation link for each one.

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On the event page tap "My car" or your lift status card and choose "Edit my car", or tap "More" and choose "Edit my car". You can change the car, seats, pickup time, meeting style, direction and notes. Passengers see the change.

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Your passengers are listed on your lift status card on the event page. Tap one to see their parent's name and phone, their address and any notes for drivers. From there, tap "Call" to ring the parent, "Navigate to pickup" for directions to their address, or "Remove" to drop them from your car.

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Open the event, tap your lift status card and choose "Stop driving". You can add a short reason. Anyone booked in your car is unbooked automatically and their parents are notified straight away, with your reason, so they can pick a different car.

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Yes, any parent in the carpool can take over your car. They open the event, tap "Drive", choose "Take over a car" and pick your car. All passengers and details transfer to the new driver automatically, and every booked family, and you, are notified.

This is handy when plans change last minute: another parent can step in without having to rebook all the passengers.

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Open the event and tap "Find a lift", or your child's lift status card. You'll see every car with seats available. Tap one to book it. Your child's status changes to "Riding with [driver]".

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If the driver has picked a vehicle from their garage, its description (for example "White Audi Q4 RND772J") shows on your child's lift status card, and on the child's own login screen if they have one. No more scanning the car park guessing.

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Drivers can send the families in their car a quick update: "On my way", "Running a few minutes late", "I've arrived" and so on. The latest one shows in a highlighted box on your child's lift card and also arrives as a notification. It shows who sent it and when, and clears when the driver removes it (or after a timeout they set).

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If the driver has shared where they're parked, a "Navigate to the car" button appears on your child's lift card, and on the child's own login screen if they have one. Tap it to open directions straight to the car, which is handy in a busy car park after an event.

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Tap the lift status card again, tap "Switch" next to the booked lift and pick a different car. You'll be moved automatically.

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Tap the lift status card, tap "Manage" and choose "Cancel booking" (or "Cancel both lifts" if both legs are booked). The seat is freed up immediately for someone else.

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Tap the lift status card and choose "No lift needed" (it's behind "Manage" if they're already booked). Use this whether they're skipping the event or just travelling another way. Any active booking or waitlist place is released so the seat is available for another child. Tap the card again later to switch back to needing a lift.

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Open Settings → Preferences → Notifications and pick On or Off. On sends notifications to your phone through the SquadCars app: turning it on the first time asks for permission, and if you decline, your setting stays as it was. They need the SquadCars app on your phone, so if you only use the web you won't get them.

On the web, On can't be chosen. If notifications are already on (chosen on your phone), turning them off on the web asks first, because it also stops them on your phone and only the app can turn them back on.

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Yes. When the driver of your child's lift sends a broadcast, like "Running a few minutes late", it arrives as a notification on your phone and also appears on the lift card. If the app is already open, it also pops up in a bar at the bottom of the screen with a "View" button.

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Under Settings → Preferences → "Event reminders" pick "Both" (24 hours and 1 hour before), "24h", "1h" or "None". Reminders arrive as notifications, so they stop if you turn notifications off.

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Push only works in the SquadCars app on your phone, not in a browser. Check that Notifications are set to Push under Settings → Preferences, and that your phone allows SquadCars to send notifications. If you declined permission earlier, turn it back on in your phone's settings, then reopen the app so it can register your device.

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On the event page tap "More" and choose "Add to calendar". On your phone it opens your calendar app with the event filled in. On the web you choose: open it in Google Calendar, or download a calendar file (.ics) for Apple Calendar, Outlook or any other app.

It saves a copy of the event as it is today. If the event later moves or is cancelled in SquadCars, update or remove the calendar entry yourself.

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On the carpool's event list, tap "More" and turn on "Show past events". Past events are read-only and show the final state: who drove, who rode, and any history of changes.

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On the event page tap "More" and choose "History". You'll see a full chronological log of everything that happened: bookings, cancellations, car offers, driver takeovers and any edits to the event details like location, time or notes.

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Team apps like Spond don't give out a link of their own, but they can write your events into a calendar on your phone, and you can share that calendar as a link. In your team app, send just your team to a calendar that only holds your team's events. Then open the carpool in SquadCars, tap "More", choose "Sync from calendar", paste the calendar's iCal link and tap "Connect calendar". That is a web address that ends in .ics, or starts with webcal:// on an iPhone. A link to an event or to the team app won't work.

Everything in the calendar is added, and new events, matches included, appear by themselves. The sheet has a short guide to getting the link for iPhone, Google and Outlook calendars: tap "How do I get this link?". On an Android phone, Google Calendar's iCal link is on the Google Calendar website, not in its app; the guide says where.

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Anyone with the link can read everything in that calendar, so use one that only holds your team's events, and keep personal events out of it. A calendar's private "secret address" is better than making the calendar public.

SquadCars only reads events. It never changes your calendar. The link itself is kept private: the other parents in the carpool never see it, only which calendar it is.

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Every event in the calendar from today to about four months ahead, trainings and matches alike. SquadCars checks the calendar every hour, and again whenever you open the carpool, open one of its events or pull the list down. The line under the carpool's name says when it was last checked; tap it to check straight away. "Sync now" in the same sheet does the same. Events that last all day, or longer than a day, are left out.

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Keep them out. In the sheet, tap "Keep some events out" and untick the kind of event, a club quiz night for instance. Or open one of those events, tap "More", choose "Delete event" and then "Delete all" with its name. They are removed and don't come back.

A single event you delete on its own stays deleted too. If an unwanted event has cars on it, it is kept until someone decides, so nobody's lift disappears by surprise.

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Its name, day, time and length come from the calendar, so change them in your team app and they follow within the hour, or as soon as you open the carpool or one of its events. An event the calendar has changed in the last two days is marked with when, and what it was before, so you can see it has moved. You can still choose the direction, add notes, offer or book cars as usual, and pin the place on the map: pin it once and every event at that venue shares the pin.

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A moved event updates, and anyone driving or booked on it is told what changed. If the team app marks an event cancelled, it is cancelled here too: it stays on the list marked cancelled, its cars and bookings are removed, and anyone who had one is told. If an event disappears from the calendar without being marked cancelled and nobody has offered a car or booked a seat, it is removed.

If it has cars or bookings it stays, with a note asking someone to cancel it if it really is cancelled. Cancelling it tells everyone.

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Any parent in the carpool can connect a calendar. In a carpool run by a club, the club sets it up from its portal. It runs on the plan of the parent who connected it: if that plan ends, syncing pauses, and another parent can take it over.

To stop, tap "More", choose "Sync from calendar" and then "Stop syncing". The events already added stay as ordinary events and stop updating.

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Open Settings → "My profile". Make your changes and save. They update immediately for everyone in your carpools.

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Open Settings → "Family & garage" and find the "Your cars" card. Add a short description for each vehicle, for example "White Audi Q4 RND772J" or "Silver VW Touran". You can keep several and edit or remove them at any time.

Your cars are shared across the drivers in your family, so either parent can pick one when they offer to drive. The description is only visible to the parents and kids in carpools you've joined, and choosing a car when you drive is always optional.

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Yes. Open Settings → Preferences → Display and use the "Text size" slider: five steps, XS to XL, scaling the whole app.

Your choice is remembered on this device, so each member of the household can pick what suits them.

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Yes. Open Settings → Preferences → Display and pick "5:00 PM" or "17:00" under "Time format". All times in the app switch to match.

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Yes. Under Display you can choose Google, Apple or Waze as your "Maps app". All three are available on every device. Pickup and event navigation links will use whichever you pick.

Note: Waze always navigates in driving mode and doesn't support multi-stop routes, so door-to-door pickup chains may open one leg at a time.

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Under Settings → Preferences → Home screen there's one toggle, "Show lift status on Home", which shows each child's lift status on the Home screen.

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Every family starts with a 90-day free trial: every feature, no card needed.

After that it's a single subscription for your whole family, monthly or yearly. The price, in your local currency, is under Settings → Plan. You're billed once, for the family, not per parent.

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No. One subscription covers the whole family. Add your partner as a member of your family and they share the same plan and the same access to every carpool you've joined.

Each parent can drive, offer cars and book seats independently, but you're only billed once, for the family.

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Nothing disappears. If you haven't subscribed, your account becomes read-only: you can still see every carpool, event and booking, and you can still leave a carpool or edit your profile. You just can't make changes that affect other families, like offering a car or booking a seat.

Subscribing restores everything immediately, for your whole family.

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Open Settings → Plan. You'll see your current plan and how long is left on a trial. In the phone app you'll also see the monthly and yearly options with prices in your local currency; on the web it points you to the app stores.

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Subscriptions are billed through the App Store or Google Play, so changes and cancellations happen in your store account. Settings → Plan → "Manage subscription" takes you straight there.

"Restore purchases" on the same screen re-links an existing subscription after reinstalling or switching devices.

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