How to Handle Time Zones in an LDR
Time zones in a long distance relationship are a design problem, not a willpower problem. Overlap windows, async rituals and systems that survive a 12-hour gap.
time zonescommunication
Distalove
How far apart you are, right on your home screen
Pair two phones with a single code. The distance becomes one warm number, next to their local time, their weather and which way to look — without opening anything.
Download on iOS
iPhone only for now · Android coming soon
Distalove
💌
💞 to Anna
1,450.9 km
Partner: just now
🕙 10:41 AM · ⛅ 18°C
💞 together 2 y 1 mo🗓️ 12 d until we meet
Thinking of youSent 💞
Hold to draw a note
9:41
How it works
Two phones, one code, and the distance is on your screen.
Install Distalove
Get it on your iPhone. No sign-up and no password: you only choose the name your partner will see.
Share your code
One of you taps “Create a pair” and sends the six-character code. The other taps “I have a code” and types it in.
See the distance on your widget
Add the Distalove widget to your home screen or lock screen. The distance between you is there at a glance, without opening anything.
Made for the days between visits
The distance, their time and their weather, little signs that you are thinking of each other, and the dates that matter to you both.
Widgets that live on your screen
Home screen and lock screen widgets on iPhone. Choose what each one shows: the distance, the days you have been together, or the countdown to your next meeting.
One tap, and their phone lights up
Some days you have nothing to say and still want them to know you are there. Pick a hug, a kiss, a fist bump — whatever fits the moment — and it arrives on their phone straight away, no message to write.
Notes and doodles
Short letters and little drawings you make with your finger. Days together with milestones worth celebrating, and a countdown to the next time you are in the same place.
Coming soon
Games for two are on their way
Something new to do together when a message is not enough. It is coming in an app update.
Distance, never a map
Distalove shows how far away your partner is and which way to look — never an address, never a pin. It is a product for feeling close, not for keeping tabs on someone.
What your partner sees
- How far apart you are
- A compass arrow pointing your way
- Your local time and weather
- When the distance was last updated
What they never see
- Your address
- A map or a pin
- Where you have been: each new position replaces the last one
Pause any time
One switch in Settings stops sharing your location. Your partner keeps seeing the last known distance.
No ads, no trackers
No ads and no advertising trackers. We never sell your data. Export or delete it from Settings.
To be precise: the distance is calculated on the phone, so your partner’s copy of the app receives your coordinates to do that maths. Nobody outside your pair can read them. Read the details in our Privacy Policy
From the blog
Practical ideas for the time zones, the visits and everything in between.
Why a Visit Countdown Keeps Couples Close
A visit countdown is not decoration. Anticipation research explains why a shared number on your screen changes how long distance couples feel day to day.
countdownvisitspsychology
How to Build Trust Across the Distance
55% of long distance partners worry about cheating. Here is why monitoring makes it worse, and the habits that build real trust when you cannot see each other.
trustjealousyrelationship advice
Long Distance Date Night Ideas
25 long distance date night ideas sorted by effort and by what each one actually gives you — from five-minute rituals to evenings worth clearing a Saturday for.
date ideasactivities
Long Distance Communication Without Burnout
Talking more is not the same as feeling closer. How to design a long distance communication rhythm you can hold for years instead of abandoning in six weeks.
communicationburnout
Couple Widgets: Your Partner on Screen
Couple widgets put your partner on your home screen — distance, days together, next visit. Why ambient presence beats another messaging app for long distance.
couple widgetswidgetsapps
Questions, answered
Can my partner see exactly where I am?
No. Distalove shows the distance between you, a compass arrow pointing your way, your local time and your weather — never your address, a map or a pin.
To be precise about how it works: the distance is calculated on the phone, so your partner’s copy of the app receives your coordinates. Nobody outside your pair can read them. You can pause sharing in Settings at any time.
Will it drain my battery?
Distalove does not stream your location. It sends a new position only when you have moved far enough to change the number on screen — about 20 m when you are within 100 m of each other, up to 2 km when you are more than 100 km apart — and lets iOS pause location updates while you are not moving.
If you allow location only while using the app, the distance updates only when it is open. With “Always”, your widgets stay fresh in the background. In Low Power Mode, iOS limits background updates.
Is Distalove on Android?
Not yet. Distalove is available on iPhone today, and the Android version is coming soon.
How much does it cost, and do we both have to pay?
Distalove is free to download, and the distance, widgets, days together and the countdown to your next meeting are free. The free plan includes 3 messages or doodles and 3 affections a day; the count starts again each day in your time zone.
Distalove Pro removes these limits. You can choose a weekly, monthly or yearly subscription, or pay once for lifetime access; the app shows the price in your local currency.
Only one of you needs to pay: when one partner has Pro, the other gets it too for as long as you are paired.
What happens if we break up?
Either of you can end it in Settings → Data → “Break the pair”. You stop seeing the distance, the shared chat is deleted, and your name and settings stay, so you can connect with someone new using a new code.
Pro stays with whoever paid for it; the other partner’s access ends. To remove everything from our servers, use “Delete all my data” in the same place.
Do we need to create an account?
No sign-up and no password. Distalove creates an anonymous account for your phone automatically. If you want to move to a new phone later, you can add a recovery email — it is optional and used only to restore your pair and data.
Keep them one glance away
Pair your phones in a minute and see the distance between you on your home screen and lock screen.
Download on iOSiPhone only for now · Android coming soon