Questions and answers

Price

What does Moonside cost?

The Baby phone is always free. The Parent phone is free for 3 days after you first pair, then a one-time purchase of €5.99, $5.99 or £4.99, shown by the App Store or Google Play in your own currency. There is no subscription and it is not per child. Pricing

Do both phones need to pay?

No. Only the Parent phone, the one you listen with, is paid for, once. The Baby phone in the nursery is free, whether it is an iPhone, an iPad or an Android phone.

Both parents want to listen on their own phones. Is that two purchases?

On iPhone, Family Sharing covers the other iPhones in your family group. A Parent phone on a different store account, for example an Android phone next to an iPhone, needs its own unlock. The Baby phone is free in every case.

Is there a free trial?

Yes: the first 3 days after the two phones are first paired. The clock starts at pairing, not at install, so you can try a real night before paying. The app tells you the evening before the trial ends; it never goes quiet unannounced.

Can I restore my purchase on a new phone?

Yes. Restore purchase is in Settings; it uses the store account the purchase was made with.

Phones and networks

Can I pair an iPhone with an Android phone?

Yes. iPhone, iPad and Android work together in any combination, and the pair still needs only one purchase. What differs between the two

Does Moonside work over mobile data, or only on the same Wi-Fi?

Both. On the same Wi-Fi the phones connect over the local network. On different networks they connect over the internet, directly when possible and through our encrypted relay when not. A whole night of audio is in the order of 170 MB with the normal filter and about 460 MB with Hear Everything.

What is the range?

There is none in the usual sense. Moonside works wherever both phones have a network connection, from the next room to another country. It is still a baby monitor: stay within reach, as with any monitor.

What does the Baby phone need?

A working microphone, a charger and a network connection. An old phone that is not signed in to any store account works fine, because the Baby phone is free. Plug it in: monitoring all night drains a battery, and Moonside warns you when it runs low.

Does monitoring continue with the screen locked?

Yes, on both phones. The Baby phone keeps listening with the screen locked, and the Parent phone keeps playing the sound and delivering alerts with the app in the background. On Android, allow Moonside to be left out of battery optimisation when it asks; some phones otherwise stop apps overnight to save battery.

Can both parents listen at the same time?

Yes. More than one Parent phone can be connected to the same Baby phone at the same time.

Can I use a tablet?

Yes, an iPad works as either phone. The app is for iPhone and iPad on iOS or iPadOS 16.4 or later, and for Android phones.

When things go wrong

What happens if the connection drops?

If the Parent phone hears nothing from the Baby phone for about 30 seconds, it sounds an alarm and shows a notification, then reconnects by itself as soon as it can. Why it is built that way

Will the alarm wake me if my phone is on silent or in a sleep focus?

On iPhone the alerts are time-sensitive notifications, which break through a sleep focus. Keep the volume up: the alarm is a sound. On Android, keep notifications allowed and the phone out of battery optimisation.

The Baby phone's battery is running low. Will I know?

Yes. The Parent phone shows the Baby phone's battery and warns you when it runs low, so you can plug it in before it goes dark.

Something did not work last night. How do I get help?

Open History on the phone, tap Send Log and send it to [email protected]. The log holds the night's events and technical details, no sound. Support and Send Log

Sound and features

Does Moonside have video?

No. Moonside is audio only, on purpose: no camera in your child's room and no video feed to keep checking. A level meter shows how loud the room is.

Can I talk to my baby through it?

Yes. Turn on Talk to Baby and hold the button to speak in the nursery. Nothing is transmitted unless you hold the button.

Which soothing sounds are there?

White noise, ocean waves and a music box, played on the Baby phone so a dropped connection does not interrupt them. You can also record a short message in your own voice and play it, or have it play by itself when the room gets loud.

Does it tell me what the sound was?

When the Baby device is an iPhone or iPad, the sound is identified on that device as crying, coughing, fussing or other noise, and a short clip is kept so you can play it back. With an Android phone in the nursery, the history records that a loud sound happened and when.

Is there an Apple Watch app?

Yes. It shows the monitor's status and the latest sound alert. Live audio plays on the iPhone, not on the Watch.

Privacy

Does Moonside record or store my baby's audio?

We never store audio. Live audio is encrypted end to end between your paired phones. On an iPhone or iPad in the nursery, short sound clips are kept on your own devices for 36 hours so you can play back what was heard; they can be switched off. Privacy and safety

Do I need an account?

No. There is no sign-up, no email address and no password. The two phones are paired in person by scanning a QR code or typing an 8-character code.

What does Moonside send to its servers?

The handshake that introduces the two phones, the encrypted audio when a relay is needed, an anonymous purchase record, and, unless you switch them off in Settings, a short technical report after each session and a crash report if the app crashes. Never audio in a form anyone could listen to, never your name or email. Privacy policy

Good to know

Is Moonside a medical device?

No. Moonside is a baby monitor. It does not replace adult supervision and is not a medical or breathing monitor.

Which languages is the app in?

The app's own screens are in English. This website is in English and Dutch.