AlcoLog can start and end your sessions automatically based on where you are. Save your local pub as a venue, switch on Start session on arrival, and the timer kicks off the next time you walk through the door. This tutorial walks through adding a venue, setting the rules, and managing your home location separately. The drink-tagging side of the same screen is also covered.
# Step 1. Open the Locations Manager
Tap the Settings tab, then tap the Locations Manager card. The screen opens with three sections: Drink Location Tagging, Location Triggers, and My Saved Locations.
The first time you visit, expand the How locations work info card at the top. It explains the difference between drink tagging (free), location triggers (Pro), and home location rules (Pro).
# Step 2. Add a saved location
Tap + Add Location. A picker opens showing your current location at the top, plus nearby venues from Apple Maps and any free-text address you type. Pick the right one and tap Save.
The location lands in the My Saved Locations list at the bottom of the screen. Free users get 10 slots, Pro gets 20, Premium 50. The slot count is shown next to the section header.
To rename a location (the auto-detected name often includes a postcode or franchise number), tap the row to open its detail sheet, then edit the Friendly name field at the top.
42 High St · 18m away ●
# Step 3. Switch on the trigger toggles (Pro)
Back on the Locations Manager, toggle Start session on arrival and End session on departure in the Location Triggers section. Both toggles are independent: you can have arrivals start a session without ending one on departure (useful if you want to manually wrap up).
Triggers fire when iOS detects you’ve crossed the geofence around any saved venue. AlcoLog uses iOS’s native geofencing, which is power-efficient and runs in the background without keeping the app open.
Free users see these toggles locked with a Pro badge. Tap the badge for an in-app upgrade prompt.
# Step 4. Set per-location rules (optional)
For finer control, tap a saved location to open its detail sheet. Inside, expand the Advanced rules section. You can set arrive and leave rules independently, with a day-of-week and time-of-day window.
For example: Start a session when I arrive at The Crown, between 17:00 and 23:30, Wednesday to Sunday. Outside that window, the venue is just a saved location for drink tagging; no session is auto-started.
# Step 5. Set your home location separately
In the location’s detail sheet there’s a Use as home toggle (Pro). Switch it on, and that venue becomes your home. Only one location can be home at a time.
The home location uses different rules: leave home can start a session (handy if you tend to drink out rather than at home), and arrive home can end one. The 3-minute exit debounce stops a quick walk to the bin from triggering anything.
The home is excluded from the blanket trigger toggles in Step 3, so even if you’ve enabled Start session on arrival, walking through your front door doesn’t start one.
That’s the whole geofencing system. Tag drinks with venue (free), automate session start and stop (Pro), and treat home differently with two custom rules.
# What’s next
Once your common venues are saved, the next tutorial covers building your favourite drinks list so logging a drink at one of those venues is two taps. Beyond that, alerts and notifications cover what fires while you’re at a saved venue.