We suggest you set your Buddy monitor and Dote app up at home where you have a private wifi connection with a strong signal. Your device won't work on an unsecured, public wifi network.
Setup will take a few minutes. If you get interrupted (baby comes first) you can come back to this setup guide and continue or find parts of the setup in the 3-line menu.
Before you start setting up your Dote app, decide who will be the owner of your 'village'. The 'owner' account has the greatest functionality and permissions and is the only one who can invite other trusted caregivers into your 'village', add children, add devices, set virtual boundaries and a few other things.
Create the owner account first, then after setting things up, invite other parents, grandparents and caregivers to join your village and have access. Do not try to connect the same device from two separate accounts (in different villages) as it won't work.
Step 1: Download the app 
Download the Dote App from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Minimum requirements: iOS 13 and Android 9.0.
For best functionality: iOS 15 and Android 12.0 or above.
Next, the App will prompt you through the following steps:
Step 2: Create an account
You can do this using your email address or your Google or Apple account login.
Your account security is via your phone/device security. If you want to use your email address to create your account and login, we will send a One-Time-Passcode for you to use. If using your Apple or Google account, security is via that account or your phone security, for example face ID or phone passcode.
Please follow the instructions on the screens, read and accept the terms and privacy policy and create your app account.
Step 3: Create your child's profile
If your baby isn't born yet you can still create a profile by adding their due date and then update their name and photo later.
It's important to create a profile for your child as our integrated system (the Buddy monitor, our Routine Tracker 'Dote Diary' and our AI parenting assistant 'Dottie') need to know about your child to understand, learn and offer personalised guidance.
If you don't create your child's profile, your child will simply be called MyChild, but without the app knowing your child's age, it won't be able to offer tailored answers to your parenting questions.
This is how your child's data is kept secure
Step 4: Add your monitor
Pairing your monitor may take a few minutes, please be patient. If the setup process gets interrupted, please fully close (eg swipe up) the app and restart it to refresh.
Please ensure you set this up at home and you have a private, strong WiFi signal.
Also, ensure your Buddy monitor is on (connected to power via a dock) and fully charged (the light will be flashing green while charging and turn to a flashing yellow/lime green light when fully charged).
On the app home screen, you should see 'tap to add' or 'add new', you can also access this under the 3-line more menu (bottom left) and 'add device'.
If asked, please allow Dote to access your camera and microphone, find bluetooth devices and send notifications.
a) Pairing the Buddy monitor via Bluetooth. To connect your monitor to your app, either scan the QR code on the monitor when prompted or use Bluetooth, where you should see your monitor listed (name: Dote-{Device_ID}) which you can select.
We use Bluetooth to find your monitor, so if it is not being found, ensure it is turned on and fully charged. Then go to your phone settings and turn Bluetooth off for a few seconds, then back on. Fully close and reopen the Dote app to refresh it and start the device pairing process again, from 'add new'.
b) Connect to WiFi. Choose your WiFi network from the list and enter your WiFi router's password. It needs to be correct, so copy and paste it from your phone's WiFi settings.
If your network doesn't appear after 1 minute (please be patient, it can take a little while) try clicking 'Retry' – again please be patient.
If it says 'no WiFi networks found' it could be for a few reasons.
Here's what to try:
Ensure you have internet signal to your phone and that the WiFi network you want to use is connected to the internet and has a strong signal. Move closer to the router for set-up and double-check the password is correct.
To try again, fully close and relaunch the app to refresh your connection. Then if prompted to 'add new' on the home screen follow that. If there is a rectangle on your home screen saying 'Device not connected / offline' or you can see the monitor's name but no video feed yet, this means your device is connected via Bluetooth, and you just need to connect to your WiFi network.
From the home screen, click 'open', then the cog icon top right. Then click Monitor at the top. Tap WiFi Settings and you should be able to choose your WiFi network. If it isn't there, try clicking 'refresh' - do give it a minute.
If it is still not showing, try turning WiFi off (in your phone settings) and back on. You could also try turning your router off and on??
If you are having any other trouble connecting, please go here to check out our FAQs or type your issue in the search bar above.
Once connected (you should see a solid blue light), assign the monitor to the child you wish to assign it to. If it says 'My Child' you need to update this basic profile by adding your child's information.
You can only assign your monitor to one child, as your Buddy monitor will learn more and more about your child's patterns and routines. You can assign more than one monitor to one child if you wish to have one in the car and one in the nursery for example. Give your monitor a name eg your child's name and monitor or Buddy (eg Elodie's Buddy). You can always edit this later if you wish.
If the setup process gets interrupted, please fully close (eg swipe up) the app and restart it.
Step 5: Add a trusted caregiver eg the other parent
You need to invite them to your village, so they can access the monitor, routine tracker and Dottie too.
Click the 3 lines bottom left, choose Settings, then Manage Adults then click on the + 'send invite'.
Enter their name and email if you wish to invite them via email. Choose their role; you can choose between parent or carer. You can click on 'compare roles' to see what your new adult will have access to.
Choose which child they can have access to. Choose which monitor they can have access to. You can also go back to this and edit what the adults in your village have access to, if you add another monitor or child later.
Review your selections then click share invitation link and you can copy or share the link via your phone's system settings for example, via WhatsApp.
Go here for more on Managing Adults in your Village
Step 6: See the video feed and explore monitoring
Go to the home screen (click home on the bottom navigation bar from anywhere else. You'll see the live video feed of your monitor, but no audio.
Tap on 'open' or on the monitor tile (the image of what your monitor is seeing) on the home screen to see the live video feed and hear the audio, plus access all the monitor features, such as zoom, mute and pic-in-pic.
Go here for an explanation of all the monitoring features and settings.
App overview:
Here is a quick rundown of all the buttons and features on the monitor view screen - clockwise from top right.
Settings – here you'll find settings you can change so you receive the notifications you want. More info here.
Full screen – expand video feed to full screen
Picture-in-picture – allows you to see and hear the video feed while using the Dote or another app or when phone is locked.
Sound – you can have the sound from the monitor on, or muted.
Play calming sounds – choose from several options such as white noise or nature sounds, play on a loop, add to favourites (appear at the top) or stop.
Location modes – change your location when you take your monitor to a different environment. More info here.
Digital zoom – tap to zoom in (x2) or out.
Temperature and humidity readings – quickly see what the sensors are picking up. More info here.
Push to talk – (aka 2-way audio) hold down the button and speak into your phone to talk to your baby through the monitor.
Menus:
More menu (3 lines that look like a hamburger) – find settings (under which you'll find managing children, adults and more), add device and access our help centre.
Home screen – takes you back to the home screen from anywhere in the app.
Alerts – shows your notifications history from latest at the top.
Diary – routine tracker (Dote Diary). More info here.
Dottie – is our AI-powered chatbot, tap and ask her a question! More info here.
Getting help in the app
These icons will give you more explanation about where you are in the app. If you see this icon, tap on it for more guidance.
Follow any links (underlined text) to open the relevant page in the help centre if you're getting stuck.
More information:
Monitoring features and functions
Notifications
Detection Settings
Nighttime hours
Location modes
Adding & managing monitors
Adding & managing children
Adding & managing adults / sharing your village
App security
Dote Diary
Dottie