In the Name of Parks (δ»₯ε ¬εδΉε / Puiston nimessΓ€) turns visiting parks into a slow collection ritual. You walk in the real city; when you come close to a park you haven't collected yet, the app gives you one gentle nudge. Tap to collect it, and the park becomes a pixel-art card with a short poem in Chinese, Finnish, and English. There are no streaks, no followers, and no feed β just you, the city, and the parks.
What do I need?
An iPhone running iOS 17 or later
That's it. No account, no sign-up, no login.
Optional: an iCloud account if you want your collection to sync across devices
How do I set it up?
Open the app β you land straight on the map. No onboarding maze.
Allow location "While Using the App" when asked. This is how the app knows you're near a park.
Allow notifications (optional, but recommended) so the proximity nudge can reach you.
Go for a walk.
No login, by design. If you're signed into iCloud on your iPhone, sync just works. If you're not, the app works fully offline β your collection simply stays on this device.
Collecting Parks
How does the proximity nudge work?
While you're using the app, it checks β on your device β whether you're within about 500 meters of a park you haven't collected. The first time you enter that circle, you get one local notification, something like "π³ Esplanadi is just ahead." Each park nudges you once, ever. No repeats, no nagging.
How do I collect a park?
When you're near (or inside) the park, open the app.
Tap the park's pin on the map.
Tap Collect. The card flips open with its pixel scene and poem.
The collection is stamped with the date, time, and the coordinate where you were standing β so your map of memories stays accurate.
Can I collect a park from home?
No β that's the point. You have to actually be there. Park locations and the 500 m circle are approximate, so standing at the edge of a large park is fine.
What if the park's location seems wrong?
Coordinates are placed at the approximate center of each park and verified against Apple Maps, but parks are big and city data is imperfect. If something is clearly off, email us β we read every report and fix the catalog in updates.
Cards, Rarity & Poems
What's on a card?
Catalog number and category β urban, forest, island, national, or wetland
A hand-pixelled scene β legendary and rare parks get bespoke art keyed to their identity
The park's name in Finnish and Chinese
A short poem in Chinese, Finnish, and English β three parallel poems, not translations
Facts β founding year, area, and a description of what makes this park feel like this park
What do the stars mean?
β Common β neighborhood parks, the everyday green
β β Rare β parks with real cultural weight (Esplanadi, Seurasaari, the cherry park)
β β β Legendary β the ones worth a pilgrimage: Suomenlinna, Keskuspuisto, Nuuksio, Vallisaari
Some legendary parks are islands β you'll need a ferry. That's not a bug; that's the adventure.
The Dex
What is the Dex?
The Dex (εΎι΄) is your field guide: a scrollable grid of every park in the catalog. Collected parks show their full-color card; uncollected ones wait as dark slate cards with a gold "?".
Can I filter it?
Yes β filter by category (urban / forest / island / national / wetland) and by rarity (β / β β / β β β ). The progress bar at the top shows how much of the city you've collected.
Can I see where I collected a park?
Open any collected card to see the date and the spot where you stood when you collected it.
Sharing & Stickers
How do I share a card?
Open a collected card in the Dex.
Tap Share. The app renders a tall postcard image (1080Γ1920) of the card.
Save it to Photos or share it anywhere via the system share sheet.
Sharing is a postcard, not a status post. There are no likes to count.
What about the iMessage stickers?
An iMessage sticker pack of the hero parks installs together with the app. In Messages, tap the + (or the app drawer), find In the Name of Parks, and drop pixel parks onto your conversations.
iCloud Sync
How does sync work?
If your iPhone is signed into iCloud, your collection syncs automatically to your private CloudKit database β the same mechanism Apple's own apps use. Install the app on a new device with the same iCloud account, and your collection appears.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no app-level account at all. iCloud sync uses your existing system-level Apple ID; the developer never sees your identity or your data.
Does the app work offline?
Yes, fully. The park catalog ships inside the app. Without iCloud, everything still works β your collection just lives on that one device.
My collection isn't syncing
Check you're signed into iCloud: Settings β [your name].
Check iCloud Drive is on and the app is allowed under Settings β [your name] β iCloud.
Give it a few minutes β CloudKit can lag, especially on first sync.
Notifications
What notifications does the app send?
Only one kind: the proximity nudge when you first come within ~500 m of an uncollected park. These are local notifications fired by your device β there is no push server, and the app will never message you for re-engagement, streaks, or news.
I didn't get a nudge near a park
Make sure the app has location permission: Settings β Privacy & Security β Location Services β In the Name of Parks β While Using the App, with Precise Location on.
Make sure notifications are allowed: Settings β Notifications β In the Name of Parks.
The nudge fires when the app is in use β if it stayed closed for the whole walk, open it near the park and the pin will be right there.
Each park only nudges once. If you dismissed it earlier, it won't repeat β but you can still collect the park any time you're there.
Privacy & Data
Where does my data live?
On your iPhone (SwiftData) and, if you use iCloud, in your own private iCloud database. The developer runs no server and cannot see your location, your collection, or anything else. See the full Privacy Policy.
How do I delete my data?
In the app:Me β Settings β Data β Delete all data removes every collected park from this device and your private iCloud, permanently.
iCloud:iOS Settings β [your name] β iCloud β Manage Account Storage also lets you remove the app's iCloud data.
Local only: deleting the app removes all local data.
One caveat of having no server: we cannot recover lost data. If you delete your collection, it's truly gone.
A note on walking
You are responsible for your own safety. Don't use the app while driving, don't enter private or unsafe areas to collect a park, and treat distances as approximate. See the Terms of Service.
Need More Help?
Found a park we missed? A poem that reads oddly? A bug?