ShalomHarbor

BedsideHarbor

Support for BedsideHarbor

Need help? Email info@shalomharbor.com and tell us what you see on each screen. Include your support details, so we can find your household:

  1. On your phone, go to Settings › Household, and under Help, tap Copy support details. That copies your app versions and your Support ID.
  2. Tap Email info@shalomharbor.com, or open your own email, and paste the details into the message.

What you need

  • A monitor: an iPhone or iPad running iOS 17 or later. It stays by the bed on a charger, with its screen facing the bed.
  • A stand or a gooseneck arm to hold it on its side, and a small wired charger. Both are recommended, not required (see below).
  • Control: your own iPhone or iPad, also on iOS 17 or later, on the same home WiFi.

Set up

  1. On each device, open BedsideHarbor and choose what it’s for: Monitor for the one by the bed, Control for yours.
  2. On your phone, choose Start a new household (first phone in the home), then Add a monitor. A pairing code appears.
  3. Hold the code up to the bedside phone’s top camera, about 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16 inches) away, so the code fills the box on its screen.
  4. On your phone, enter the name of the person in the bed. Alerts use it, as in “Dad: sitting up in bed”.
  5. Aim the bedside phone so the pillow is in view, with room above it for sitting up. We recommend laying it on its side, on a stand or a gooseneck arm: it usually sees more of the bed. Upright in a charging cradle works too. Either way, the picture stays level by itself, with nothing to set.
  6. Choose Start monitoring. Alerts start 30 seconds later, so you can step out of view.

To let another caregiver get alerts too, choose Add a caregiver on your phone. On theirs, they open BedsideHarbor, choose Control, then Join with a code from another caregiver’s phone, and scan your code. Anyone who scans this code joins your household, so show it only to people you trust.

Keep it running all night

  • Keep the bedside phone plugged in. A wired, slow (5 W) charger and no case keep it cooler than a wireless charging cradle.
  • You don’t need to change Auto-Lock or brightness. BedsideHarbor keeps the screen awake and dims it itself.
  • Use a dim, warm night light. The camera needs some light to see, and it shouldn’t shine into the lens.
  • If the BedsideHarbor app on the bedside phone gets closed, every caregiver’s phone is alerted.

The bedside clock

The bedside phone can show a large, dim clock. On your phone, go to Settings › People, choose the person, and under Bedside clock turn on Show a clock on the monitor. You can also choose its Colors, Show the day and date, and set its Screen brightness.

The clock turns itself right side up however the phone is mounted: upright, on either side or upside down. There’s nothing to set.

Optional: keep the bedside phone in BedsideHarbor (Guided Access)

Most families don’t need this. Guided Access is an iPhone and iPad feature that keeps one app on screen, so a bump of the buttons can’t close BedsideHarbor or lock the bedside phone. It’s a convenience, not a safety feature. Without it, you’re alerted if the app is closed.

The trade-off: while Guided Access is on, every change on the bedside phone needs its passcode, including installing app updates. If you forget the passcode, the only way out is to restart the phone.

To turn it on, on the bedside phone:

  1. Go to Settings › Accessibility › Guided Access and turn it on.
  2. Choose Passcode Settings, then Set Guided Access Passcode. Pick one you’ll remember.
  3. Open BedsideHarbor, triple-click the side button (or the Home button), and tap Start.

To end it, triple-click the side button (or the Home button) again, enter the passcode, and tap End.

If the screen stops responding, restart the phone. On an iPhone, press and release Volume Up, then Volume Down, then hold the side button until the Apple logo appears. On an iPad with a Home button, hold the top button and the Home button together until the Apple logo appears. Then open BedsideHarbor again.

You can see whether Guided Access is on for each monitor on your phone, in Settings › People › that person.

Beta testing

BedsideHarbor is in limited beta testing now, through Apple’s TestFlight app, and it’s free while you test. To join, email info@shalomharbor.com.

Reply messages

A reply message is a short recording in your own voice that plays on the bedside phone when you answer an alert, for example: “Dad, it’s me. Stay in bed, I’m on my way.” It’s recorded ahead of time. You can’t talk live through the bedside phone.

  1. On your phone, go to Settings › This phone › Reply messages.
  2. Record a message, up to 15 seconds, for Sitting up, and another for Light on if you like. You can also add Words to show on the bedside screen.
  3. Choose when each one plays: Ask each time, Always or Never. With Ask each time, the alert offers I’m on it + play my message beside I’m on it, on the lock screen and Apple Watch too.

To play it again, choose Play message on that person’s row. The bedside phone plays it through its speaker, even with the silent switch on, and shows your name or your words. Other caregivers see that you played it. If the bedside phone’s volume is below half, your phone reminds you to turn it up.

Privacy

Nothing BedsideHarbor sees or hears leaves your own devices. Read the privacy policy.