Using the app as a parent

Getting the app

When your center creates your account, you receive an email called "Your Hi Kiddo account". It contains your email address, a password, and links to download the Hi Kiddo app.

The first time you open the app, a short welcome tour explains what it does. Tap Next to go through it, or Skip, then Get Started.

How to sign in

1. Type the Email Address your center registered for you.
2. Type the Password from the welcome email.
3. Leave Remember me ticked if you want the app to fill in your email next time.
4. Tap Sign In.

When your phone asks whether Hi Kiddo may send notifications, allow it, so you hear about arrivals, reports and messages.

To choose your own password, go to Profile and tap Change Password. The new one needs at least 8 characters, upper- and lowercase letters and a number. See Profile and account.

If you forgot your password

1. On the sign-in screen, tap Forgot password?
2. Enter your email address and tap Send Reset Code.
3. Open the email and copy the code into 6-Digit Code. Tap Resend Code if it doesn't arrive.
4. Choose a New Password (at least 8 characters), repeat it in Confirm Password and tap Reset Password.
5. Tap Back to Sign In and sign in with your new password.

Signing in with your fingerprint or face

If your phone supports it, turn on Biometric Login in Profile. Sign in once with your password; after that, the sign-in screen offers Sign in with biometrics.

Finding your way around

The bar at the bottom of the screen has five tabs: Home, Reports, Messages, Gallery and Profile (your photo or initials). On a phone they show as icons; press and hold one to see its name. A red number on Messages counts your unread messages.

If you have more than one child, tap your child's name at the top of Reports or Gallery, or the child picker on Home, and pick another child in Select Child. The screens then show that child.

Your Home screen

Home greets you with your child's name. The bell shows your unread notifications, and Daily Report opens your reports.

Under Activity Timeline, Today shows your child's day as it happens:

• A summary: whether your child is here (for example "Here since 8:15"), went home, is absent or hasn't arrived, plus meals, nappy changes, sleep and activities.
• Every entry of the day, grouped into Morning, Afternoon and Evening, with the name of the team member who recorded it.
• New photos; tap one to see it full screen.
• The daily report once it is sent; tap Read to open it.

Further down, Notifications lists the latest ones; See all opens the full list. Pull the screen down to refresh.

Arrivals, departures and absences

The team checks your child in and out. You don't need to do anything: you see it on Home and get a notification, for example "Emma arrived" or "Emma went home", with who picked them up. If your child is marked absent you are told too, and if that was a mistake you receive a correction. See Attendance.

How to read daily reports

1. Tap Reports. You see the reports the team has sent for your child, newest first.
2. Tap a report to open Daily Report: your child's mood, the Summary, the Activities of the day and the Photos and videos, with the name of the person who wrote it.

When a report is sent you get a notification like "Emma's daily report is ready"; tapping it opens the report. See Daily reports.

Photos and messages

Photos shared by the team are in Gallery. See Photo gallery.

To write to the team, use Messages. See Messaging.

How to check the calendar

1. Go to Profile and tap Calendar.
2. Tap a day to see its events. Days when the center is closed show a banner such as "Public holiday · closed" or "The center is closed".
3. Tap an event to see Event Details: date, time, location, classroom and description.
4. Under RSVP, tap Attending, Maybe or Decline to answer.

See Calendar events and Closures.

How to see your invoices

1. Go to Profile and tap Invoices & Payments.
2. At the top you see your totals: Pending, Paid this month and Overdue. Below is All Invoices.
3. Tap an invoice to see its Details, Items, Subtotal, Tax, Total and Notes, and when and how it was paid.
4. Tap Download PDF to open the invoice as a PDF.

For questions about a payment, contact your center. See Invoices.

Documents and center info

In Profile, Documents lists what your center shares, such as house rules, menus and policies. Tap one to open it.

Center info shows the opening hours, the address with Directions, the phone number with Call, and the email address.

How to invite family members

You can let another parent, a grandparent or a nanny follow your children.

1. Go to Profile and tap Family.
2. Tap Invite someone.
3. Enter their name and Email, and choose Who is it?
4. Under Access, choose Full access (everything you see, including invoices, and they can invite others) or Limited access (the day, photos, calendar and documents, no invoices).
5. If you have several children, choose For which children?
6. Tap Send the invitation. They receive an email explaining how to sign in.

To stop sharing, tap the remove icon next to someone you invited and confirm with Remove. See Family sharing.

Notifications

You get a notification on your phone when:

• your child arrives or goes home, or is marked absent (and when one of these is corrected);
• the team logs a meal, nap, change or activity;
• the daily report is ready;
• new photos of your child are shared;
• someone sends you a message;
• a new event is added for the center or your child's classroom;
• the center adds an incident report about your child;
• the center announces a closure, shares a document or sends a message to all families.

Open the list with the bell on Home, or Profile then Notifications. Tapping a notification marks it read and opens what it is about. Tap Mark all read to clear them all.

Settings and language

In Profile, tap Language to switch between English, Français, العربية and Español on this phone. To sign out, tap Sign Out and confirm.

Reporting a bug

1. In Profile, tap Report a Bug.
2. Fill in a Title and a Description of what happened.
3. Choose a Priority, and add a screenshot with Gallery or Camera if it helps.
4. Tap Submit Report. Information about your phone is added automatically.

Troubleshooting

• "Incorrect email or password": use the email your center registered, or reset your password with Forgot password?
• "Your account has been disabled" or you are signed out suddenly: contact your center.
• A message says the center's access to Hi Kiddo is suspended: you can't sign in until it is restored. Contact the center, at the phone number shown when there is one.
• No Messages tab: your center has turned messaging off.
• "No children found": your account isn't linked to a child yet. Ask your center.
• Invoices are empty: with Limited access you don't see invoices; ask the person who invited you.