FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Fief
What people ask before planting their first banner.
By really spending time there. The time required depends on the area: 2 h 02 for Luxembourg, 3 h 09 for Moselle, 7 h for Belgium, 29 h 34 for metropolitan France. It adds up from one stay to the next.
Yes. The whole app is free, with no ads and no account.
No. The country and département are worked out on the iPhone, with a built-in atlas. Fief has no account and no position server. Raw positions are erased after 90 days; the counted time stays.
Two things. Fief requests a signed time, sending only a random number: that is its only network call. And iOS loads the base map from Apple Maps, as in any map app. Counting itself works offline, but weekly challenges and time across a restart need the verified time.
No, if you choose “Always” access: your stays count even when the app is closed, through significant location changes and visits detected by iOS. With “While Using”, only time with the app on screen counts.
In the background, Fief doesn't use continuous GPS: it only listens for significant location changes and visits, and iOS wakes it from time to time for a position.
That's what the charter is for. Simulated positions, positions from an accessory and impossible journeys are set aside, flights don't count, changing the phone's time does nothing, and neither does a VPN. Every decision can be read in “Counting details”.
No. The 101 French départements are counted on top of countries and can be turned off in settings. Once off, they stop being counted from that moment; time already earned stays.
Yes. In settings, “Explore a demo fief” replays, in memory, two weeks of trips by a commuter from Thionville. Your real data is neither read nor changed.
Through a link you send yourself, with no server. It only contains nicknames, scores, or a territory and a date. Your friend needs Fief to open it. A challenge never credits time.
Disputed territories follow Natural Earth's division, which shows de facto borders. This choice expresses no political position. Département outlines come from IGN, via Etalab.
iPhone, with iOS 17 or later, in French and English.