Nice. I think this fits the infrequent updates scenario of the app very well.
> The alternative would be to keep a foreground service running all the time, but I've had complaints that people don't like seeing the service notification there [...]
Interesting, to me the periodic "updating location" notifications are way more jarring. Especially since Android allows the user to minimize (only visible when you pull down) or even hide the notification completely.
But yes, I definitely received this complaint a lot, but for me this was a no-go as I don't want people to be able to use it as a stalker tool (e.g. install on victim's phone without their knowledge).
I want to iterate again how polished the app feels, so you definitely have yourself a new free user :)
The way it solves the permanent location sharing feature is really nice and will try it out in a bit harder conditions (mountains with degraded signal).
I don't know if I would pay for it, maybe if it would be possible to pay as a family/group.