What the Network view is
The Network tab draws your people as a graph: a circle (a "node") for each person, lines between the ones you've linked, and color for the tags they share. It runs a gentle physics simulation, so the layout isn't fixed: people who share relationships and tags pull together into clusters, while unconnected people drift to the edges. Give it a second to settle and the groupings in your life appear on their own.
An empty graph is just dots. The Network view gets useful as you add relationships and tags - those are the lines and the colors. If you're just starting, add a handful of links first, then come back here.
Getting around
- Pinch to zoom into a dense cluster, and pan to move across the graph.
- Tap a node to open that person's profile.
- Search and filter by name or tag to collapse the graph down to just the people you care about right now.
The settings button: tuning the layout
Tap the settings (sliders) button to open the force controls. These change how the graph arranges itself - there's no single "right" setup, so it's worth nudging the sliders and watching the graph respond in real time.
- Size. Sets how strongly a node's size reflects the variable you're sizing by, such as recency (how recently someone was added) or importance (their number of notes and connections). Turn it down for evenly sized dots; turn it up to make the standout people much larger. You choose the variable itself in the sizing options below.
- Tags. How strongly people who share tags are drawn together. Turn it up and your tag groups pull into tight, obvious clusters; turn it down for a looser, more even spread.
- Connections. How strongly linked people attract each other, and how much people who aren't linked push apart. Higher values tighten families and friend groups into knots while letting unconnected people drift to the edges. Pushed past the midpoint, it also starts pulling everyone gently toward you at the centre, so the graph reads as "my circle" rather than a set of islands.
Toggles
Below the sliders are quick on/off toggles:
- Avatars - show each person's photo on their node instead of a plain circle. Faces make the graph much faster to scan.
- Labels - show tag names on the graph so you can see what each cluster represents.
- Birthdays - switch on the birthday heatmap (see below).
- Family - switch into family-tree mode (see below).
Sizing nodes by what matters
Alongside the Size slider, you can choose what node size represents. The graph then makes the most relevant people biggest:
- Info. The default. Combines how much you've written about someone with how many people they're linked to. The people you know most about loom largest.
- Recency. Sizes by how recently you added or updated someone, so people who are currently on your mind stand out.
- Birthdays. Sizes by how soon a birthday is coming up.
Birthday mode
Turn on the Birthdays toggle and the graph becomes a heatmap of upcoming birthdays - the nearest birthdays stand out, fading off for ones further away. It's a quick way to see whose card or call you should be planning, laid over the map of how everyone connects. Pair it with birthday reminders so you're nudged in advance, not on the day.
Family-tree mode
Switch on the Family toggle and betterpal stops floating the nodes around and instead lays your family out as a proper tree: generations stacked top to bottom, parents above children, following the parent, child, sibling, and partner links you've recorded.
It's the clearest way to check a family is wired up correctly - and it pairs naturally with Smart Connections, which fills in the relatives you can see should exist but haven't entered yet. If you switch a person into family mode and they have no relatives recorded, betterpal will tell you there's nothing to draw yet rather than show an empty tree.
It isn't only for families. Because betterpal treats a manager as one level up and a direct report as one level down, recording work relationships turns this same view into an org chart - your team laid out in a clean hierarchy, right next to your family trees.
A list can only show you what you typed. The graph shows you what you implied: people who share tags cluster even when you never linked them directly, and that often jogs a memory - "oh, those two should know each other" - that turns into a real relationship.
Common questions
Why do some people sit off on their own?
They have no relationships or shared tags yet, so nothing is pulling them toward the rest. That's usually a prompt: add a tag or a link and they'll join the right cluster.
Will my layout settings stick?
The force sliders and toggles shape how the graph lays out while you're looking at it. The layout itself is a live simulation, not a saved diagram. Your people, relationships, and tags are what's saved, and the graph redraws from those each time you open it.
Does the graph work offline?
Yes. The whole app works offline. Your data lives on your iPhone and the graph renders on-device.
Next up
The Network view shows how people connect. To see where they are, try the Map view.