Messaging provides a private conversation between a family and the coach assigned to them. It keeps messages, unread indicators and conversation settings together in one place.

Messaging is a Premium coach feature and is being introduced gradually. A family can use it only when the assigned coach has active Premium or Founding Member entitlement and the practice is included in the independent messaging rollout.

• Families with a current coach relationship.
• Premium and Founding Member coaches communicating with families currently assigned to them.

When messaging is available, you can:

• open your conversation inbox;
• read older messages;
• send a new message;
• share photos, for example of a baby's room setup;
• send voice notes of up to two minutes;
• see which conversations have unread messages;
• mark a conversation as unread to come back to it later;
• pause your own participation or phone alerts;
• report a conversation or a particular message; and
• let coaches turn messaging on or off across all their families.

There is one conversation for each coach assignment. If a family later works with a coach through a new assignment, it is treated as a separate conversation.

Messaging carries a Beta label while we keep improving it. The label appears next to Messages in your inbox and above the name in each conversation.

The inbox also has a Send feedback button, so you can tell us when something looks wrong or share an idea without leaving Messages:

• In the phone app, it opens the usual feedback form, already labelled

“Messaging beta feedback”. Add what happened or what you would like to see,

  then send. **Back to messages** returns you to your inbox.
* **In the coach portal**, the feedback form opens on top of your inbox, so
  you do not lose your place. Close it when you are done.

The label on the first line is there to tell our team the feedback is about messaging. Keep it, and write your feedback underneath; the form asks you to add something before it can be sent. Screenshots and short videos can be attached in the same way as any other feedback.

1. Open Messages or the chat area from your family or coach workspace.
2. Choose the person or family you want to contact.
3. Read the conversation. Older messages can be loaded when needed.
4. Enter your message and send it.

Messages that fail to send remain available for retry. Retrying the same failed message is designed not to create a duplicate. In the phone app, Discard removes a failed message you no longer want to send, for example one whose photos are no longer available. In the coach portal, if photos in your message turn out to have been sent already, they are taken out of the message and the conversation refreshes; your text and any photos you added since stay so you can send them. A voice note that turns out to have been sent already, or to have lapsed, stays in the composer: if it is not in the conversation, Try again uploads the recording afresh.

Opening and reading a conversation updates its unread state. A missed phone alert does not remove the message; the conversation will reload when you next open the app.

When messages are unread, the home-screen menu button shows the total waiting count. Open the menu to see the same count beside Messages, then open the conversation to clear it by reading through the latest message. Counts above 99 are shown as 99+.

On a compatible installed phone app, the badge on the app icon counts unread messages only, for coaches as well as families. Unseen family activity is deliberately left out: an active practice logs activity continuously, so a combined badge would sit permanently above zero and a new message would not stand out. Coaches still see unseen activity on the coach bell and in the home menu inside the app. iPhone and iPad show the familiar red numbered badge. Android uses the same total, but the phone's launcher decides whether to show a number or only a notification dot. Badge display requires notification permission.

If you have read a message but want to come back to it later, you can mark the conversation as unread. This works for families and coaches, in the phone app and in the coach portal.

1. Open the conversation.
2. Tap the envelope button, Mark as unread, at the top of the

conversation. In the phone app it sits next to the settings button; in the

  coach portal it sits next to **Conversation options**.
- The conversation closes, and it now shows as unread (**1**) in your
  inbox.

Things to know:

• It stays until you open it. Opening the conversation again clears it.
• It counts once. A marked conversation counts as one unread in your

inbox, on the Messages badge and on the app icon. If messages are

  already waiting, the count stays the number of waiting messages.
* **Your own reply is fine.** You can mark a conversation even when the last
  message is yours, for example after writing "I'll get back to you at
  lunch".
* **Only you see it.** The other person is never told and gets no alert.
  Messaging still has no read receipts.
* **It needs a message.** The button appears once the conversation has at
  least one message.
* **If it does not work**, the conversation stays open with a short message.
  Check your connection and try again.

Coaches do not have to leave a family to message them. While you are viewing a family's own screens - their home, analysis, reminders, questionnaires, sleep plans, allergen ladders or any tracker - a message button appears in the bottom corner. It carries a count when that family has messages waiting for you.

1. Open the family as usual.
2. Tap the message button.
3. Read and reply in the conversation.
4. Use Back to family to return to the exact screen you left.

The button appears only where you can already message that family. It is absent for a family whose conversation is unavailable, and for former families whose history has been removed.

While you are in the conversation you can use Tag activity to attach a specific log you have just been reading, so you can ask about the nap or feed you were looking at without describing it.

Coaches often support families in other time zones, and with many clients it is easy to forget which parent goes with which baby. Messaging helps with both:

• Baby names. Each conversation in your Messages inbox shows the family's

babies under the family name, for example “Mia, Leo”. When a family has more

  than three, the rest are counted, for example "Mia, Leo, Ava +2". The same
  names appear at the top of the conversation.
* **The family's local time.** When the family's clock is different from
  yours, the top of the conversation shows their time now, for example
  "11:57 AM for them · Los Angeles · 3 h behind you". Each message then also
  shows the time it was for the family, for example "2:57 PM · 11:57 AM their
  time". Nothing extra appears when you share the same clock.
* **View logs.** Opens the family's own screens straight from the
  conversation. In the coach portal they open in the built-in coach app. The
  button is not shown when you opened the conversation from the family's
  screens, because **Back to family** already takes you there.

The family's time comes from the phone they most recently logged from, so it follows them when they travel. If a family has never logged anything, it comes from the time zone in their settings; if neither is known, no time is shown. Families do not see these additions, and they never appear in phone alerts.

Families and coaches can add photos to a message, for example to show a room setup, a cot or a feeding position. Add photo appears in any conversation where you can send messages.

1. Open the conversation.
2. Tap Add photo and choose up to four photos.
3. Wait until each photo has finished checking. You can remove one before

sending with its cross.

1. Add a message if you like, then send. A message can be photos only.

Tap a photo in the conversation to see it larger. Photos are resized before they are sent, and location and camera details are removed.

Things to know:

• Removing a photo. You can remove a photo you sent: open it and choose
  • *Remove photo. It disappears for both of you and shows “Photo removed”. Messages themselves cannot be edited or removed. * **Photos expire. Each photo is kept for 90 days after it is sent, then

shows “Photo expired”. Save anything you want to keep. When support ends,

  photos are removed with the rest of the conversation, which may be sooner.
* **Alerts stay private.** Phone alerts never show a photo. The inbox shows
  "Photo" or "2 photos" for a message without text.
* **If a photo cannot be added**, check your connection and try again. An
  upload that takes longer than a minute stops and shows "Not added". A
  photo's preview appears once it has been prepared. Older versions of the
  app show a photo-only message as an empty bubble until the app updates.
* **If a photo in the conversation does not load**, the app tries again on
  its own a couple of times before showing "Photo unavailable".

Families and coaches can send short voice notes. Voice note appears in any conversation where you can send messages. In the phone app, recording needs app version 4.18 or later; older versions can still play notes.

1. Open the conversation, with the message box empty.
2. Hold Voice note and speak, then let go. Or tap it once to start, and

tap Stop when you are done.

1. Listen back if you like, then send it. You can also throw it away.

The first time, your phone or browser asks to use the microphone.

Things to know:

• Two minutes at most. Recording stops by itself at two minutes, and a

note shorter than a second is not kept.

• On its own. A voice note is sent as its own message, without text or

photos.

• Listening. Tap Play on a note. If your device is too old to play a

note, it says what to update.

• Removing and expiry. You can remove a voice note you sent, even on a

device that cannot play it. Notes are

  kept for 90 days after they are sent, then show "Voice note expired". When
  support ends, they are removed with the rest of the conversation.
* **Alerts stay private.** Phone alerts never play or describe a note. The
  inbox shows "Voice note".
* **If recording does not start**, check that microphone access is allowed
  for Littles Baby Tracker in your phone's settings, or for the site in your
  browser. While the microphone is opening you can choose **Cancel**. If
  your device cannot record in one format, the next attempt uses another
  when it has one; otherwise just try again.
* **If a voice note cannot be added**, check your connection and choose
  **Try again**; the recording is kept. A slow connection gets a few
  minutes for a two-minute note.

Coaches can tell families when they usually reply, and when they are away. This is an information notice, not an automatic reply: it never adds a message to the conversation, never sends an alert, and never stops a family from sending.

For coaches:

1. Open Messages. Next to Messaging for all families you will find
   • *Messaging hours, with a short summary of your current setting. - Choose **Edit.
2. Turn on Hours notice.
3. Choose your time zone. It starts as your device's time zone.
4. Pick the days you work and a time range for each. The first time you set

this up, Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00 is filled in for you. To work up

  to midnight, set the end to 00:00.
- Optionally set **Away until**, the date you are back. Families only see
  it while **Hours notice** is on; the editor reminds you if it is off.
- Optionally add a short note for families, up to 280 characters.
- Choose **Save**.

The same setting is available in the mobile app and the coach portal. Changing it in one changes it in both, and an open family conversation updates straight away. Edit always opens your latest saved hours. If they change on another device while the editor is open, Save does not overwrite them: the editor shows the latest hours with a message, and you make your change again. If your hours cannot be loaded, press Edit again to retry.

What families see: while you are outside your hours, the family's conversation shows a note above the message box, for example: “Theresa usually replies Mon–Fri, 9 AM–5 PM (Toronto time). Next: today 2–10 PM your time. You can still send a message.” While you are away, it says when you are back, for example “Theresa is away until Tue, Sep 29.” Your note appears underneath. Your city and “your time” are shown only when the family's clock differs from yours. The notice disappears when your hours begin.

The notice describes your usual hours; it is not a promise to reply by a particular time. Families never see anything when the notice is off.

Each participant manages their own settings. Messaging starts on for both the family and coach in every new conversation, including direct assignments. Existing conversations with an untouched off default are enabled too. A saved choice to pause messaging stays in place; either person can pause at any time.

Message notifications start on for both the family and coach. They remain inactive while chat is paused or otherwise unavailable, and they still require notification permission on a compatible phone. Either person can turn off only their own message notifications at any time.

Messages shows a Message notifications panel at the top of your inbox with the current state and, where relevant, a button to turn them on:

• Off - your phone has not been asked yet. Use Turn on to allow them.
• On - alerts will arrive for new messages.
• Partly on - permission is allowed but you have switched message alerts

off in one or more conversations. Open that conversation's settings.

• Blocked on this phone - notifications for Littles Baby Tracker are off

in your phone's own settings. The app cannot ask again; allow them there

  first.

The phone also asks once on its own, the first time you open Messages while your message notifications are on.

Message notifications are independent of family activity notifications. You never have to turn on activity alerts to receive message alerts, and turning activity alerts off does not stop message alerts.

1. Open the conversation settings.
2. Turn your chat participation on or off.
3. If phone alerts are available, choose whether you want them.

Turning your own chat off stops new messages in that conversation but does not delete the history. Phone alerts can be changed separately, and turning chat back on does not override a phone-alert choice you changed yourself.

Coaches also have one setting for every family conversation:

1. Open Messages from the coach side menu or coach admin portal.
2. Use Messaging for all families at the top of the inbox.

Turning this off makes all current and future family conversations read-only, hides their unread messaging count and stops chat phone alerts. It does not delete history or change a family's own conversation choice. Messaging starts on by default for coaches, including those receiving access for the first time. You can turn it off at any time. A previously saved choice stays in place. This preference does not itself grant feature access or enable a family who has paused their conversation.

The mobile app and coach admin portal show the same saved setting. Changing it in either place changes messaging everywhere for that coach.

Use the report option in a conversation or on a message. Choose the most suitable category and add details if useful. Reporting preserves the conversation for review.

If the conversation is disabled during review, both participants can still see retained history but cannot send new messages until it is reopened.

When a coach relationship ends:

• neither participant can send new messages;
• the former coach loses access to the conversation;
• the family can normally read retained history until the expiry date shown in the app; and
• retained conversation content is removed after six calendar months.

Pausing chat in settings is not the same as ending the coach relationship and does not start this history period.

Phone alerts are optional and require a compatible version of the mobile app plus notification permission. Each alert shows who sent the message and the beginning of it. A message with no text shows Photo (or, for example, 2 photos) or Voice note instead. The app adds no baby names or other details from your records; the preview is only the sender's own words.

• To stop alerts for one conversation, turn off Message notifications in that conversation's settings.
• Your phone decides whether previews appear on the lock screen. On an iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications > Show Previews. On Android, check the phone's lock-screen notification settings.
• While the app is open on your screen, the alert may just say New message.

• If messaging is missing, the coach may be on Standard or the account/practice may not yet be included in the gradual rollout.
• If a conversation is read-only, check the explanation shown in the thread. Coach-wide messaging, a participant's conversation setting, owner moderation or the support relationship may be responsible.
• If sending fails, keep the failed message and use retry.
• If Add photo is missing, messaging is read-only in that conversation,

or you are offline.

• If Voice note is missing, your phone app may need updating, the

message box may already hold text or photos, or messaging is read-only.

  In a browser, the device may not support recording.
* If phone alerts do not arrive, check both the conversation setting and your phone's notification permission.
* If alerts arrive without the message preview, check your phone's lock-screen preview settings.
* If unread counts look out of date, refresh the inbox.
* If a conversation you marked as unread no longer shows as unread, it was
  opened again, perhaps on another device. Mark it again.

• Family caseload and support
• Family activity alerts for coaches
• Notifications and automatic refresh