Poof. The fog lifts.
Long ago the whole world vanished beneath a soft, shimmering fog. But the fog keeps a secret: it lifts for those who walk. Take one step — your own street, a strange city, a far-off land — and poof, the world is back. Explorers everywhere on earth are wiping along: 250 countries, 4,581 regions and over 13,000 municipalities and districts.
How the world vanished under the fog
A tall tale that feels suspiciously true. Read along — or just head into the fog.
It began in a village almost nobody knows: Hippolytushoef, up in the northern tip of Holland. In a shed by the dike, a handful of dreamers tinkered with an impossible machine — one that could take in the whole world at a single glance.
One grey morning they switched it on. There was a soft… poof. And out rolled a fog. Not ordinary fog — fog that lingered, crept and grew. By dinnertime it covered the whole country. Within a week, the entire globe.
The world wasn’t gone. It just couldn’t be seen anymore. Under the fog everything still lies exactly as it was — your street, the café on the corner, the mountains across the ocean. Waiting to be found again.
And then the riddle. On that very ground — the old island of Wieringen — Vikings wintered a thousand years ago. They buried their silver in the clay and dissolved into the mists of time (that hoard now really sits in a museum). Coincidence, that the fog began right there? Tovin carries an old Norse name for a reason — and a horned helmet…
One thing’s certain: the fog lifts for those who walk. So: lace up. The world has lost itself — and you’re going to find it.
With Tovin at your side — a small, brave little cloud, “the friend” — you bring the world back piece by piece. And you’re not alone: explorers all over the world are walking right alongside you. Continent after continent, country after country, street after street. Poof.
How you set out
No schedules, no targets, no fuss. Just head outside — Tovin and the fog do the rest.
Shoes on, out the door
A stroll, a bike ride, a day trip or a journey far away — it all counts. Wherever you go, the fog doesn’t dare stay.
The fog poofs open
Place by place, the real world comes back into view — automatically, even with the app in your pocket, without eating your battery. Poof!
Collect the world
Every country and region you set foot in is yours for good. In dozens of countries right down to the municipality, district or county: “Poof! Utrecht ✓”. Your world map slowly fills in — your proof you were there.
The whole globe is the playing field
The fog covers every continent — from your own street to the farthest corner across the ocean. You collect 250 countries and territories and 4,581 regions, and in 40 countries it gets properly fine-grained: over 13,000 municipalities, Kreise, arrondissements and counties. The Netherlands down to all 342 municipalities, Germany to 400 Kreise, Japan to 1,742 municipalities, the United States to 3,233 counties.
Treasures lie all over the world
Beneath the fog lie thousands of hidden treasures and info points — about history, forgotten disasters and remarkable places, from the Great Wall to a ruin around the corner. And closer to home: water springs to refill at, riddles out on the street, and neighbourhood trees that only grow tall if the neighbourhood waters them together.
A fresh set of brain teasers, right on the map
Wherever the fog lifts, puzzle pins appear. Walk up to one and the mechanism opens. Four kinds, all deliberately tough — boards that are too easy get thrown out by the generator.
Lasers & mirrors
Two beams, one shared mirror field: turn the mirrors so each beam hits its own target — and not the other one’s. The beam stays hidden while you puzzle, so you really have to think ahead.
Ice slide
The stone slides straight on with every swipe until it hits something. To stop exactly on the target, you sometimes have to slide away from it first.
Rune lock
Coupled rune discs: turn one and its neighbour turns along. Only when every wedge is a single colour does the lock click open.
Colour flow
Connect the coloured pairs without crossing — and fill the entire grid with those paths. One empty cell means it isn’t solved.
Fresh puzzles every day, the same ones for everybody on earth. They’re computed on your iPhone itself — so they work with no signal at all, on top of a mountain, wherever.
On your own, or together — you choose
Tovin is yours alone by default. Want to wipe together? Open a shared world. You can switch whenever you like, and nothing is ever lost.
Your own world
The default: your fog, your map, your treasures. Nobody looks over your shoulder, no account is needed, and everything lives on your iPhone and in your own iCloud. You can play Tovin from start to finish entirely on your own.
Shared worlds
Create up to three worlds with friends, family or colleagues. You wipe at the same map: anything one of you opens is there for everyone — with a counter showing how far you’ve come together. Hide gifts for each other, and see each other live on the map if you both switch it on.
The Community World
One map for the entire world, with moments from travellers everywhere: a photo, a place, a story. No live location, no fog — just what people leave behind. Free for all testers during the beta.
Together the fog lifts faster
Pick a name and your country and watch the globe come back worldwide — area uncovered, municipalities and countries, national and global. Explorers everywhere wipe along; together we bring the world back. Free and always optional.
View the full leaderboard
Tovin remembers every journey
Every walk, ride, drive or flight lands in your trips automatically — with route, distance and time. From a stroll around the corner to a trip across the world: you see exactly where you’ve been.
Your built-in travel passport
Everything you uncover lands in your passport: municipalities, countries, hidden treasures and info points. Follow missions, watch your progress grow — and see exactly what’s still waiting in the fog.
Your patchwork, yours alone
Region by region, town by town, the misty-grey map fills in — every place you set foot is yours for good. Real borders from official mapping agencies all over the world: the Kadaster in the Netherlands, the BKG in Germany, the IGN in France. Below, a shared world in action: one family opening up the Netherlands together.
This is how a shared map grows — sped up a little here.
The Tovin community
All over the world, explorers wipe at the fog together. Pick a name, share your country and watch the globe come back piece by piece — join in, or just watch it grow.
Loading the community…
Try it yourself
Wipe away the fog. Just like in real life.
And this is how it feels in the app: head outside, the fog lifts and you find treasures and stories on the real map.
And then the small stuff
Things that don’t look impressive on a poster, but that you notice every single day.
Your trips, logged by themselves
Every walk, ride or drive shows up in your own logbook automatically, with route and distance. Visible to you alone.
Battery friendly
By default Tovin uses the energy-efficient location updates iOS already provides — no constant GPS drain.
Privacy first
No mandatory account. Your map and routes live on your iPhone and in your own iCloud — we never collect them. What you share with the community is up to you.
No mandatory account. Your map stays yours. You decide what you share.
An app that tracks your location has to be trustworthy. That’s why Tovin keeps your fog-wiping, your routes and your GPS history entirely on your own device and in your own iCloud — we never collect them. The community layer (the leaderboard) only ever sees coarse, opt-in data: your chosen name, your country and your totals — never your route. And sharing your live location with friends in a shared world, just like Find My, is possible too — but only if you turn it on yourself. You stay in control.
Frequently asked questions
Hehe — the laboratory and the fog are an invented adventure, the playful world Tovin is set in. But Hippolytushoef is a real place (a lovely village on the former island of Wieringen), and a real Viking treasure was genuinely dug up there. What else is real: the app reveals the real map of the places you visit, and your data genuinely stays yours. The fiction is for fun; the facts hold up.
Tovin is your companion in the fog — a small, friendly cloud who travels with you and poofs the fog open for you. The name comes from a very old Norse word for “the friend”, and that’s exactly what he is: he’s on your side, points you towards new places, and celebrates every reveal with you. What he actually is? He may not know himself.
Creating an account in Tovin means signing up as an explorer: you begin your own expedition to bring the world out of the fog, and your progress is saved in your own iCloud. No obligation, no email spam — just you, the fog, and a world waiting to be revealed.
Yes, in three ways. (1) A shared world: create up to three with friends, family or colleagues and wipe at the same map — anything one of you opens is there for everyone, with a counter showing how far you’ve come together. (2) The leaderboard: pick a name and your country and you travel along on the national and worldwide rankings. (3) The Community World: one map for the entire world, with moments from travellers. It’s not about beating each other, but about bringing the globe back together.
Absolutely — that’s the default. Your own world is private: your fog, your map, your treasures and puzzles, without an account and without anyone looking over your shoulder. Everything lives on your iPhone and in your own iCloud. Playing together (a shared world, the leaderboard, the Community World) all comes on top, and you switch it on whenever you feel like it. You can swap at any moment; your own map simply stays as it is.
Tovin Logic: every day, fresh puzzle pins appear in the area you’ve already uncovered. Walk up to one and the mechanism opens. There are four kinds — lasers & mirrors, ice slide, rune lock and colour flow — and they’re deliberately tough: the generator throws out any board you could solve on autopilot. Everybody on earth gets the same daily puzzles, they’re computed on your own device, and they work with no signal at all.
We’re building it right now. First comes a private TestFlight beta, then the App Store. Want to hear about it the moment it’s live? Send us a message via the support page — you’ll get a heads-up (and can join the beta if you like).
A one-time €2.49 — then the game is yours, for good. The only extra is the Community World: one shared world map with moments from travellers everywhere, as a separate €1.49 per month subscription you can cancel any time. You never have to take it — clearing mist, collecting municipalities and sharing worlds with friends are all just part of the app. No ads, no tracking. (Free to try in the TestFlight beta for now, Community World included.)
Tovin is the world — the Netherlands is simply one of the countries. Everywhere you go you wipe fog away and collect countries (250 countries and territories) and regions (4,581 worldwide). For 40 countries the app carries an extra, finer map layer as well: over 13,000 municipalities, Kreise, arrondissements, counties and districts. The Netherlands has all 342 municipalities, Germany 400 Kreise, France 333 arrondissements, Japan 1,742 municipalities, the United States 3,233 counties. If your country isn’t in that list yet, you play at region level — and the fine layer follows later.
No. By default Tovin uses iOS’s energy-efficient “significant location changes” (roughly every 500 metres), not continuous GPS. In practice you won’t notice it.
Your fog-wiping, your routes and your GPS history stay on your iPhone and in your own iCloud — we never share those. If you join the leaderboard, you share only your chosen name, country and totals (opt-in, never your route). And if you want to share your live location with friends in a shared world — just like Find My — you can, but only if you turn it on yourself, and you can switch it off anytime. See the privacy policy.
No. Tovin is lovingly built for iPhone (iOS 18 and up) and that’s where it stays — an Android version isn’t on the roadmap. That way we can make it really good instead of half-baked on two platforms.
The fog is waiting for you
Lace up your shoes and become an explorer. From your very first step you wipe at a world map that lies under the fog everywhere — on your own in your private world, or together with whoever you want along. Your fog-wiping and your routes stay yours — in your own iCloud, not with us. Join the leaderboard and you share nothing more than a name and your country. Never your route.