App
The Birdhouse app and iPhone widgets: checking on a parent at a glance
The short version
- The Birdhouse app runs on the web today at app.birdhouse.sg/app, on any phone or computer. The iPhone app is coming to the App Store and adds push notifications and widgets.
- The app opens on one question: is Mum OK? It shows a status, when and where she last moved, whether she is at home or out, and today’s movement against a usual day.
- There are three iPhone widgets: Birdhouse (status, including on the Lock Screen), Today (today’s activity hour by hour against a usual day) and Homes (every home you look after, most urgent first).
- iPhone decides when widgets refresh, so a widget can be some minutes behind. For anything urgent, rely on push alerts, which are sent the moment Birdhouse raises them.
Where the app runs today
Birdhouse is one app, used by families and caregivers. It runs today as a web app at app.birdhouse.sg/app: open it in Safari, Chrome or any browser, sign in, and you see the same homes, alerts, insights and assistant as everyone else with access. The native iPhone app is coming to the App Store. It adds two things a browser cannot do well: push notifications and widgets.
Push notifications on Android are not available yet. Android users can use the web app, and get alerts on Telegram through @BirdhouseHomeBot and by email.
What the app shows
The home screen answers one question for each home you look after: is everything all right? The status is one of these:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| All good | Moving around as usual |
| No activity for N hours | No movement for a while. You may want to give them a call. |
| An open alert | Something needs checking, such as “Door opened late at night”. Open the alert to see what happened. |
| SOS! | The SOS button was pressed, with the time |
| Hub offline | Birdhouse cannot see activity until the hub is back. Check its power and Wi-Fi. |
| Waiting for first activity | A new setup: movement shows up once the sensors notice someone |
Under the status you see when and where they last moved (“Last activity 12 minutes ago, Kitchen”), whether they are At home or Out and since when, a line for today (“34 movements · first at 07:12, last at 13:40”), movement by hour, and recent activity room by room. Alerts that need checking have an I’ve checked button with an optional note for the family.
The other tabs are Insights (charts of the routine, see daily insights and reports), the Assistant for questions in your own words, and Settings. From a home you can also manage sensors and rooms, alert settings, and people.
Sharing with the family
Invite people with a link that works once, for 7 days. Choose a role: Owner decides everything, Managers change alerts and sensors and invite people, Viewers see activity and get alerts. You can also choose how much detail someone sees. Full shows activity, times and alerts. Summary shows only alerts and whether someone is home, with no activity times. For homes with more than one resident, you can share only some people or sensors.
The iPhone widgets
Once the iPhone app is installed and you are signed in, three widgets are available:
| Widget | Sizes | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Birdhouse | Small, medium and large on the Home Screen. Circular, rectangular and inline on the Lock Screen. | How they are right now and when they last moved. The medium size adds today’s hours as a small chart. The large size adds three numbers and the latest alert. |
| Today | Small | Today’s activity hour by hour, against a usual day. Tapping it opens Insights. |
| Homes | Medium and large | Every home you look after, most urgent first. For families with more than one home. |
On the Lock Screen, the circular widget is a ring that fills as today’s activity approaches a usual day. When something is wrong, it shows the status symbol instead. Single-home widgets show your most urgent home, and tapping a widget opens that home in the app.
Widgets follow the same rules as the app. SOS comes first, then a hub offline, then a new home waiting for its first activity, then no activity for 4 hours (10 hours at night). An open alert shows its title instead of “All good”, so a widget never looks reassuring while something is waiting to be checked.
Why widgets are not the alarm
It is tempting to treat a Lock Screen widget as a live feed. It is not, and no iPhone widget is. iPhone decides when widgets refresh. Birdhouse asks for fresh data about every 15 minutes, and redraws the widget when you open the app, but iOS spreads widget updates out to save battery and may wait longer. A widget can therefore be some minutes behind.
Push alerts are the instant channel. They are sent the moment Birdhouse raises an alert or an SOS is pressed, and urgent ones arrive as Time Sensitive notifications that break through Focus. Use the widget for reassurance when you glance at your phone, and rely on push, Telegram or email for anything you need to act on.
Privacy on a Lock Screen
- Widgets cannot do anything except show numbers. They use a read-only token that can fetch the widget summary and nothing else. Signing out revokes it.
- They follow your access. If you have Summary access, the widget shows status but not activity. If monitoring is paused, it says so.
- Lock Screen widgets are visible to anyone holding your phone. They show a first name and a status. If that is more than you want on display, keep Birdhouse on the Home Screen only.
Adding a widget
- Install the Birdhouse iPhone app when it is available, sign in, and allow notifications when asked.
- Touch and hold an empty area of the Home Screen until the apps jiggle, then tap the add button.
- Search for Birdhouse, choose Birdhouse, Today or Homes, pick a size and add it.
- For the Lock Screen, touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customise, and add the Birdhouse widget.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Birdhouse app on the App Store?
Not yet. The iPhone app is coming to the App Store. Today the same app runs in any browser at app.birdhouse.sg/app, and alerts arrive on Telegram and by email.
Are there widgets for Android?
No. Widgets are part of the iPhone app. On Android, use the web app and get alerts on Telegram (@BirdhouseHomeBot) or by email.
Why does my widget show an older “last activity” than the app?
iPhone decides when widgets refresh, so they can be some minutes behind. Opening the app shows the latest data and redraws the widgets. For anything urgent, rely on push alerts.
Do I need the app to get alerts?
No. Alerts also go to Telegram through @BirdhouseHomeBot and by email. The iPhone app adds push notifications and widgets.
Sources and further reading
- Apple Developer: Keeping a widget up to date (how iOS schedules widget refreshes)
- Birdhouse privacy policy
This guide describes Birdhouse as it works on 2 November 2026. Birdhouse is not an emergency response service and never calls emergency services for you. In a life-threatening emergency, call 995. Questions or corrections: info@birdhouse.sg.