SideBell · User Guide

One app, two devices, each playing one role

中文 · English

The caregiver sets up both devices; the patient only has to tap a cell. The two chapters are independent — read the one for whichever device is in your hands. Set up the patient side first, so the connection comes up while you are setting up the second device.

SideBell is a care assistance calling tool. It cannot replace emergency medical alert services. In an emergency, call your local emergency number. It works over Bluetooth, so its range is limited; it cannot send calls when the app is closed or the device runs out of battery.

Contents

Before you start
Chapter 1 · Patient side (the one beside the bed)
Chapter 2 · Caregiver side (the one you carry)
Two rules
If something is wrong

Before you start

Two Apple devices — one beside the bed (an iPad works best; the cells are large and easy to hit), one carried by the caregiver (usually an iPhone).
SideBell installed on both. It is the same app; each device picks its role after installation.
They cannot be too far apart. Only testing in your own home will tell you the real range — walls and floors both matter. Once you are set up, walk around and try it from the places you actually use.

Not needed: internet, Wi-Fi, an account, a subscription — and no pairing in iOS Settings → Bluetooth. SideBell finds the other device by itself.

Chapter 1 · Patient side

The device beside the patient. Once set up it stays on, and the patient only taps cells.

1Confirm the notice, allow Bluetooth

Open SideBell. The two role cards at the bottom are greyed out and will not respond.

The notice screen with an unchecked checkbox and an orange warning, above two greyed-out role cards — The orange line reads “Please confirm the notice above before choosing a role.”

Tick “I understand the notice above” first. Only then do the cards become tappable. Tapping a card before that does nothing — it is not frozen.

The moment you tick it, the Bluetooth request appears.

iOS asking whether to allow SideBell to find Bluetooth devices — Tap **Allow**. Bluetooth is the only way calls travel; “Don’t Allow” makes the app unusable.

The patient side needs only this one permission. The caregiver side also asks for notifications.

2Choose the role

The notice screen after ticking, with the checkbox and warning gone and both role cards now blue — Blue cards can be tapped. The checkbox and the orange line collapse away — that whole block disappearing is normal.

Choose Patient. If you pick the wrong one, you can switch it later in Settings.

3The main screen

Patient main screen with a green Connected indicator and two large cells, Discomfort and Water — This is where the patient side stays. Leave it running.

The connection state is in the top-left corner. The screenshot above shows it once both devices are ready. At this point in your own setup the caregiver side does not exist yet, so it will read Not connected in orange — that is expected. It turns green once the second device is done.

One tap sends a call. There is no confirmation step. If sending a call took two taps or a long press, someone who can only use Eye Tracking could not call for help.

4Add the items this home needs

Only Discomfort and Water are there by default. Turn over, suction, bathroom, air conditioning, just want to talk — every household needs something different, and you can add your own.

Opening Settings takes two taps

Tapping Settings in the top-right corner once turns it into an orange Tap again. A second tap within three seconds actually opens it.

The top-right button on the patient screen showing the orange Tap again label — If the second tap does not come within three seconds, it reverts to “Settings”.

This exists to block accidental activation by Eye Tracking — a patient who lands in Settings by mistake may not be able to get back out on their own.

Edit call items

“Discomfort” is always first and cannot be removed. It is the urgent call, and the caregiver’s alert behaves differently for it — see Two rules.

Adding an item

New item dialog asking what should the patient be able to ask for, with Turn over typed in — Tap `+`, type a name, tap **Add**.

Edit call items list now showing Discomfort, Water and Turn over — The list after adding.

Name items the way the patient would say them. These words are read aloud by the caregiver’s phone — “Turn over” beats “Reposition”, “Can’t breathe well” beats “Respiratory distress”.

Reordering and removing

Edit mode with red minus buttons beside Water and Turn over and drag handles on the right — Tap **Edit** in the top-left to drag items into order or remove them. “Discomfort” has no minus button because it cannot be removed.

After adding

Patient main screen with three cells, Discomfort and Water on the top row and Turn over below — Changes apply right away — no restart needed.

Start with three or four cells. The more cells there are, the smaller each one gets, and that is a real barrier for someone with limited hand control or using Eye Tracking. Live with it for a while before deciding what else is genuinely needed.

5After a cell is tapped

One of three states appears under the cell:

A clock icon and the word Waiting under the Discomfort cell — **Waiting** — sent, awaiting the caregiver.

A green check and the word Acknowledged under the Discomfort cell — **Acknowledged** — the caregiver tapped “Got it”.

An orange cross and the words No response under the Water cell — **No response** — three minutes passed with nobody tapping “Got it”.

“No response” does not mean “not delivered”. The call may well have reached the caregiver’s phone and set off the alert — they were simply asleep or out of the room. What it means for the patient is the same either way: this route is not working right now, try another way to get help.

For someone who cannot ask a second time, knowing whether they were heard matters as much as the call itself. The state is written on the cell; nobody has to be asked.

6Leaving it running beside the bed

Once everything works, the bedside device stays on. Three things are worth doing first.

Keep it plugged in

A flat battery means the whole system is offline, and the patient cannot go and charge it. Keep the bedside device on a charger permanently rather than treating it as a tablet someone picks up and carries off.

Turn on Guided Access

This locks the iPad into SideBell, so the patient cannot leave the screen by accident.

iOS Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access, switch it on
Go back to SideBell and triple-click the side button (or the Home button)
Tap Start

Triple-click again and enter the passcode to end it.

The app cannot turn this on for you — iOS provides no API for it, so it has to be set on the device by hand. That is exactly why it belongs in a guide rather than as a switch inside the app.

Do not swipe the app away

Swiping SideBell out of the app switcher stops it working entirely, and the patient has no way to reopen it. That is an iOS rule, not a flaw in this app. With Guided Access on, it essentially cannot happen by accident.

You do not need to change Auto-Lock. The patient side disables it automatically — if the screen went dark, a patient using only Eye Tracking could not wake the device (eye tracking does not work on the lock screen). The whole system would be offline with no way for them to bring it back.

Chapter 2 · Caregiver side

The device the caregiver carries, usually a phone. This is where calls ring.

1Confirm the notice, allow Bluetooth

Same as the patient side: tick “I understand the notice above” before the role cards become tappable.

The notice screen on iPhone with an orange line asking to confirm the notice above — Until it is ticked, the cards do not respond.

iOS on iPhone asking whether to allow SideBell to find Bluetooth devices — It appears the moment you tick. Tap **Allow**.

2Choose the role

Choose Caregiver.

3Allow notifications

Once the call list opens, iOS asks a second time. The caregiver side needs this one extra permission.

iOS asking whether to allow SideBell to send notifications — Tap **Allow**.

Notifications must be allowed. When the phone is locked and in a pocket, notifications are how a call surfaces. Without them, you only see calls if the app happens to be open.

4Check that they are connected

No pairing, no codes, and nothing to find in iOS Settings → Bluetooth (it is not listed there, and that is correct). With both apps open and the devices close enough, they connect on their own.

Caregiver call list with an orange Not connected indicator — Before connecting

Caregiver call list with a green Connected indicator — After connecting. It usually takes a few seconds.

Check the patient side too — its top-left corner should have turned green as well. Both devices green means it is genuinely working. If it is still orange after a minute, see If something is wrong.

5When a call arrives

The phone raises an alarm and says the item name aloud, so you know what is needed without looking at the screen.

While the phone is not in use

A Discomfort notification on the iPhone lock screen, sent from the patient iPad, with a silent-mode icon in the status bar — Locked screen: the notification appears on the lock screen.

A Discomfort notification banner at the top of the iPhone home screen — Elsewhere: it drops down as a banner.

The ring switch does not silence SideBell’s alert. The status bar in the left screenshot shows the silent-mode icon, and the call came through anyway.

Responding

Caregiver side showing a Water call with a blue Got it button on the right — Tap the blue **Got it**.

After tapping Got it, a green check with the time — The patient side shows **Acknowledged** at the same moment.

What the list looks like

Caregiver list showing Discomfort acknowledged, Water no response, and Discomfort acknowledged, with red warning icons beside the urgent items — Every call carries its own state and time. **“Discomfort” has a red warning icon**, so urgent calls are distinguishable at a glance.

Two rules

	Discomfort the urgent call	Every other item
The caregiver’s alert	Repeats until someone taps “Got it” or three minutes pass	Sounds once
Three minutes with no answer	Becomes “No response”	Also becomes “No response”

Only “Discomfort” repeats; the three-minute deadline applies to every call. In the “No response” screenshot above, the cell is “Water”.

If something is wrong

It keeps saying “Not connected”

Is SideBell open on both devices? Swiping the app away from the app switcher stops it working.
Is Bluetooth on for both? Check iOS Control Centre.
Too far apart? Put the devices side by side first to confirm they connect, then move them apart to find the range that actually works in your home.
Did both pick the same role? Two Caregiver devices will never connect. Check the Role row in Settings.

It stays on “Waiting”

The call went out, but the caregiver has not tapped “Got it” yet. After three minutes it becomes “No response”.

“Don’t Allow” was tapped by mistake

iOS only asks once, and the app will never prompt again. Open iOS Settings, scroll down to SideBell, and turn Bluetooth on — plus Notifications on the caregiver side.

Changing devices or swapping roles

Tap the red Switch role in Settings. Switching roles stops the current connection, so check both devices again afterwards.

Caregiver settings screen listing Role, Support the developer and Switch role — Caregiver settings. The patient side has no “Support the developer” entry — there is nothing purchase-related on the patient side at all.

Still stuck?

Email shinren.pan@gmail.com, or read the source on GitHub. “Support the developer” inside the app is an optional tip that unlocks nothing.

SideBell cannot replace emergency medical alert services; in an emergency, call your local emergency number. Before relying on it, test it together with the person you care for, in the places you will actually use it.