Embertrail

First steps

Start with a little care.

The Android preview opens first to invited testers. A shared postcard doesn't grant install access on its own.

Preview access is being prepared.

There's no tester install link here yet. When access opens, your invitation will name the eligible Google account and the correct installation.

  1. Check your invitation.

    Use the Google account on the tester list. Open the Play opt-in link you were sent, join the test, then follow its installation steps. The app may not appear in Play search during testing.

    This website can't check whether your account is eligible.

  2. Protect an existing journey.

    If you already use an Embertrail preview, keep it installed and contact the developer before switching versions. A matching app name isn't enough to keep your save. Don't uninstall or clear data to fix a signing or install mismatch.

    Before changing phones or uninstalling, use Backup & restore in Help or Privacy to save a portable journey file outside the app. You can review the file before restoring; it replaces the current journey, and step syncing pauses until you reconnect. There's no automatic cloud restore.

  3. Try the demonstration.

    The current build needs Android 14 or newer. Explore the demonstration first. Its simulated steps don't move your real journey or earn companions and looks.

  4. Connect a step source when ready.

    Allow Steps read and write access in Health Connect for phone reports and, if you use one, measured steps from the Wear OS companion. Health Connect can combine reports from your health apps, so the total isn't necessarily phone-only.

    Once a watch is connected, Health Connect combines phone and watch coverage using your source priority, so a walk is counted once. Separate daily totals are never added together, so today's number can differ from the progress added to your journey.

  5. Walk, then check in.

    Your first 6,000 steps each day fill the home ring; steps beyond that become Companion Steps toward your next companion. Reports can arrive late or be corrected. Motion cues can animate your traveler, but only measured steps are saved.

    If step access stops working, your saved journey stays on the device. Check Health Connect in Android settings instead of clearing the app.

Read how steps, diagnostics and postcards are handled.