Fair questions
Everything people ask before they try SideCar.
When does the public beta open?+
Soon. SideCar is in private testing right now, and the public beta opens the moment we're happy with stability. Everything on the site already exists and works; we're polishing, not promising. Drop your email in any notify box and you'll get one email the day it opens. Questions in the meantime? beta@sidecarapp.ai reaches a human.
Is it safe to connect my Gmail?+
You grant access through Google's own sign-in, scoped to reading mail. SideCar reads order and shipping emails to build your tracking list, and that's the job. Disconnect any account at any time and access ends immediately. We don't sell data or run ads; the subscription is the business model.
How is this different from Siri or Apple Intelligence?+
Siri answers questions. SideCar runs errands. It puts a live, traffic-aware countdown on your lock screen, watches your inbox for deliveries, and turns a photo of a schedule into calendar events. Also, and we say this with love: SideCar features have a release date in the past.
Does it actually learn my schedule, or is that just marketing?+
It actually learns. After the first scan or two, SideCar remembers your name on the sheet (nicknames and initials included), your department and the color it uses, your shift supervisor, and your usual hours, then applies all of that to the next photo on its own. Correct it once ('that's not my supervisor, Dana is') and the fix sticks. It treats what it remembers as a starting point, not gospel, so when your real schedule changes it follows the new photo instead of forcing last week's answer. Everything it learns about you lives on your phone.
What do I need to run it?+
An iPhone running a recent version of iOS. Departure countdowns use Live Activities on the lock screen and Dynamic Island. Android isn't supported yet.
How will the beta deal work?+
Simple ledger: the beta will be free, and every month you spend testing adds one free month of the full release to your account. Beta for four months, and your first four months after launch cost nothing. There's no cap and no fine print beyond 'be in the beta that month.' You'll also get a direct feedback line into the app, and yes, we actually read it and ship from it.
Can I cancel easily?+
One tap from settings, no retention maze, no 'are you sure' guilt trip. And the beta will be free, so there's nothing to cancel until launch.
Why a subscription at all?+
Live traffic routing, push notifications, email parsing, and AI calls are ongoing server costs that scale with every user. A one-time price would mean cutting corners on exactly the parts that make SideCar useful. $4.99/month keeps it fast, private, and ad-free.
