AUTOMATIC RESIDENCY DAY COUNTING
Prove where you were.
One day too many in the wrong state can make you its tax resident, and the burden of proof is on you. SpyglassBeacon counts your days in every state and country automatically, tracks the Schengen 90/180 and UK clocks, warns you before you cross a threshold, and keeps the audit-ready record.
COUNT
Every day, every state and country, automatic
Motion-aware background tracking builds your day-by-day ledger. No check-ins, no spreadsheets, under 1% battery a day.
WARN
Know before you cross 183
Live counts against every line you track: state 183-day thresholds, the Schengen 90/180 window, the UK tax year. Beacon alerts you before you cross one, even with the app closed.
PROVE
A record that holds up
Export a day-by-day report (the “any part of a day” standard residency audits actually use) as a PDF for your CPA.
SEE IT WORKING
The real app, on a made-up year
Two fictional people. A Florida retiree who summers in Westchester and is closing in on New York's 183. A London consultant nearly out of Schengen days, whose New York work trips are adding up toward the Substantial Presence Test. These are screenshots of the app itself, not mockups.
WHO IT'S FOR
Anyone whose day count decides their taxes
Snowbirds and state movers
Splitting the year between two states? The count decides which one taxes your income.
Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico relocators
Moving to a no-tax state or Puerto Rico only works if you can prove where you spent your days. Beacon is your evidence.
Remote workers
Work from anywhere, without accidentally becoming a resident of somewhere expensive.
US expats and two-clock travelers
The FEIE's 330 foreign days, the Schengen 90/180 window, and the UK's April tax year, all counted automatically.
Anyone facing an audit
New York alone runs thousands of residency audits a year. The day count is the whole case.
CPAs and advisors
Your client runs the app and sends you the record. How it works for professionals
PRIVATE BY ARCHITECTURE
Your location history never leaves your phone.
Beacon stores your day ledger on your device. There is no account, no cloud copy, and nothing for us to sell or lose. The only thing that ever leaves your phone is a report you choose to share.
Pause tracking or delete your entire history at any time, in one tap, from Settings.
DAY COUNTER APP
A day counter app that doesn't need you to count
Most "day counter" apps are really date-math calculators: you type in a start date and an end date and it tells you the number of days between them, or you log each day yourself. That works for a countdown to a wedding. It falls apart for tax residency, where the number that matters is a live, running tally of days you've actually been present in a specific state or country, reconstructed correctly under rules like "any part of a day counts." And it has to hold up if a tax authority asks for the record.
No manual entry
Background location tracking builds the day-by-day ledger as you travel; you don't log trips or dates by hand.
Counts against the actual rules
Not a generic day-span calculator. It applies state 183-day tests, the federal Substantial Presence Test, the Schengen 90/180 window, and more, per jurisdiction.
Warns before you cross a line
A plain day counter tells you a number after the fact. Beacon alerts you before a threshold, while you can still change your plans.
Exports a record, not just a number
A day-by-day PDF, timestamped, in the format residency audits actually look at.
Best day counter app for tax residency: how it compares
"Best" depends entirely on what you're counting. If you need a running, provable tally of days present in a state or country for tax residency, that's the job SpyglassBeacon is built for. If you just want to count down to a date, a generic app is the better pick. Here's an honest side-by-side:
| App type | Platform | Tracking | Applies residency rules | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SpyglassBeacon | iPhone (iOS) | Automatic, background GPS | Yes: state 183-day, Schengen 90/180, UK, FEIE 330, Canada citizenship | Tax residency, audit proof |
| Generic countdown apps (Countdown, Days Until) | iOS & Android | Manual, you set the date | No | Weddings, trips, sobriety and other milestones |
| Date-math calculators (TimeAndDate) | Web | Manual, two dates | No | One-off "days between" math |
| Spreadsheet / travel log | Any | Manual, every day by hand | Only if you build it | DIY tracking if you're diligent |
Honest notes. SpyglassBeacon is iPhone only right now, so if you need a day counter on Android, a generic countdown app from the Play Store is your best bet today. And if you're counting days sober, days since a milestone, or down to an event, a simple countdown app does that better and for free. SpyglassBeacon earns its place for one specific job: proving how many days you actually spent in a state or country when a tax authority can ask.
QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
Updated 2026-09-25
What is SpyglassBeacon?
How is this different from a regular day counter app?
Is there a day counter app for Android?
What does it cost?
Does my location data leave my phone?
Does it work outside the US?
Start counting today.
Free for 14 days with no card, then $29.99 a year. Counting starts the day you install.