FAQ & Answers for Parents

Spacetalk helps families stay connected as kids start doing more on their own.

There are three parts that work together. A 4G smartwatch your kid wears, the free Spacetalk App on your phone, and a Watch SIM plan that keeps the watch connected.

Your kid can call, message and video call the people you've approved. Nobody else can reach them. You can see where they are, know when they've arrived somewhere, and hear from them at the press of a button.

There's no social media and no internet browser. Just a simple way for your kid to explore, and a simple way for you to stay close.

For most primary-school kids, yes. A watch gives your kid the part that matters — being able to reach you — without everything else a phone brings with it.

There's no browser, no app store and no social media on a Spacetalk watch. Only the contacts you've approved can call or message. And it stays strapped to the wrist rather than left on a bus seat.

Most families move to a phone somewhere around the start of high school, when schoolwork and group chats need a bigger screen. A watch gives you a few calmer years before that decision arrives.

Spacetalk suggests the Loop from age 4 and the Adventurer 2 from age 5. In practice, the right moment is less about age and more about what your kid is starting to do on their own.

A few signs they're ready:

They walk, ride or catch the bus without an adult, even part of the way.

They can put it on, charge it and hold on to it.

You find yourself asking other adults whether they've arrived yet.

They're asking for a phone, and you'd rather they waited.

If any of those sound familiar, a watch will earn its place.

Yes, wherever there's mobile coverage. GPS works out where the watch is, and the mobile network is what brings that to your phone. So coverage matters more than the watch itself.

Before you buy, check coverage along the routes that actually matter — the school run, the bus route, the sports ground, the grandparents' place. Check them address by address rather than by town.

In a coverage blackspot, the app shows the last place the watch checked in from, with the time it was sent. It picks up again as soon as the watch is back in range.

It's worth agreeing a simple backup with your kid too. Stay put, find a known adult, or use the phone at the school office.

Spacetalk Watch SIM plans are built for use in Australia, so the watch won't call, message or share location while you're overseas. It picks up again as soon as you're home and back on Australian coverage.

If you're travelling, let your kid know the watch will be a clock for the trip, and agree a simple backup together. Your phone, a meeting point at the hotel, or a contact card tucked into their bag.

Start at the Spacetalk Help Centre, which covers most setup and day-to-day questions, and raise a support case from there if you need a hand.

You'll get to an answer faster if your first message includes a few things:

Your watch model and its IMEI, found in Settings then Information on the watch, or on the box.

The email on your account and your kid's Space name.

What you're seeing, with a screenshot if there's an error on screen.

Anything you've already tried, like a restart or a re-pair.

If a case has already been closed and the issue is still there, reopen the same case rather than starting a new one.

That's exactly what it's for. A Spacetalk watch works on its own — it has its own SIM and its own number, so your kid doesn't need a phone anywhere nearby.

They can call and video call the people you've approved, send short messages and voice notes, and hold the SOS button if they need an adult. You can see where they are and know when they've arrived.

What they can't do matters just as much. No browser, no app store, no social media, no messages from people you haven't approved.

It means your kid can be reachable years before they're ready for everything that comes with a phone.

Everything on a Spacetalk watch is built around the same idea — your kid gets to go, and you get to stay close.

Approved contacts only. You add every contact from your own phone, and nobody else can call or message your kid.

Live location and arrival alerts. You're told when they get to school or home, instead of wondering.

SOS. Holding the button calls up to three trusted contacts in order and sends their location to your app.

School Mode. The watch becomes a plain, silent clock during the hours you set.

No browser, no app store, no social media. There's nothing to install and nowhere to wander.

All of it is managed from your phone in the Spacetalk App, and none of it can be changed on the watch.

You manage the whole watch from your own phone, and your kid can't change any of it.

Contacts. You add every person your kid can call or message.

Buddy requests. Your kid can ask to add a friend's watch, and both parents approve before it goes ahead.

School Mode. Set the days and hours the watch goes quiet.

Location alerts. Choose the places you want to hear about, and get told on arrival and departure.

Watch settings. Alarms, preset messages, rewards and the watch background.

The control that's easiest to overlook is the one you don't have to set. There's no app store on the watch, so nothing new can ever be added to it.

The Loop is our entry-level 4G kids smartwatch, made for younger kids who are just starting to do things on their own.

It calls and video calls approved contacts, shares live location with your app, and has an SOS button and School Mode. There's no social media on it at all.

It has a longer battery than the Adventurer 2, which makes charging a twice-weekly job rather than a nightly one — helpful when your kid is still learning to look after a device.

Loop suits school drop-off, walking home, after-school care, and anywhere you'd like to stay in touch without handing over a phone.

Both watches do the things that matter most. Calls and video calls to approved contacts, live location, an SOS button and School Mode. Neither has social media or a browser.

The difference is what sits on top.

Loop is the simpler of the two, with a longer battery and a smaller case, which suits younger or smaller wrists.

Adventurer 2 has a sharper AMOLED screen with Gorilla Glass, a better camera for video calls, and heart rate and step tracking. Its battery is shorter, so it charges nightly.

If your kid is younger and this is their first wearable, Loop is the easier starting point. If they're a bit older and want a camera they'll actually use, Adventurer 2 is the better fit.

Everything you need to get started the same day.

The Adventurer 2 watch and band strap

A charging dock and USB-C cable, plus a spare cable

A screen protector

A Spacetalk Mobile SIM, already installed

A getting started guide and a SIM number card

Keep the SIM number card somewhere safe. The number on it is what you enter when you activate the plan in the Spacetalk App, and the box carries the IMEI you'll need later if you ever reset the watch.

Extra strap colours are available separately, in case your kid wants to change things up.

Yes. Both watches have a camera, used for photos and for video calling the contacts you've approved. The Adventurer 2 has the sharper of the two.

A camera does two useful things on a kids watch. It makes video calls possible, which younger kids often find much easier than talking on the phone. And it lets your kid show you something rather than explain it — a scraped knee, the right bus stop, which door of the school they're waiting at.

Photos can't go anywhere except to an approved contact. There's no social media, no browser and no app store on the watch.

Spacetalk watches come in Frost and Dusk, and the Adventurer 2 has a range of replacement strap colours available separately, including Arctic, Candy, Cherry, Flamingo, Lemon, Lilac and Teal.

Letting your kid choose the strap matters more than it sounds. A watch they picked is a watch they'll wear, and a watch that's worn is the one that's there when they need it.

You can also change the watch background yourself in the Spacetalk App, so the look can change without buying anything new. A bright strap won't make the watch any more distracting at school — School Mode takes care of that by showing a plain clock during class.

Loop is the smaller of the two watches and the easier fit for younger kids. If your kid is around seven or under, start there.

It's worth measuring their wrist with a tape or a strip of paper before you buy, and looking at the case size rather than just the strap, since a wide case sits high on a narrow wrist however snugly it's fastened.

Fit matters more than comfort alone. A loose watch slides around, reads location less reliably against the skin, and tends to come off — and a watch that's off the wrist can't do its job. Getting the fit right is the best way to make sure your kid keeps it on.

It's built for everyday life — the playground, the walk home, weekend sport.

The Adventurer 2 has a Gorilla Glass screen and comes with a screen protector, and both watches are splashproof, so rain, handwashing and a water fight are all fine. Straps are replaceable, which helps, because the strap usually wears out before the watch does.

The Adventurer 2 also tracks steps and heart rate, which suits a kid in weekend sport.

Two things to know. The watch comes off before swimming, the bath and the shower. And it's worth checking your club's and school's rules on wearing a watch during play.

Yes, and with Android too. You manage the watch through the Spacetalk App rather than through your phone's own settings, so it doesn't matter what either parent carries.

The app is free on the App Store and Google Play, and the watch has its own SIM, so it doesn't depend on your handset at all.

That helps in separated and blended families. Two parents on different phones can both sit in the same Space, both see location, and both receive SOS alerts.

A Spacetalk watch works on its own, anywhere there's coverage, which is why it needs its own SIM and its own Watch SIM plan rather than sharing yours.

That's what makes the watch useful. Your kid is reachable at school, on the bus or at the park with no phone nearby.

The plan is what powers calling, messaging, live location, arrival alerts and SOS. Without an active plan, the watch keeps telling the time and everything else pauses.

The watch keeps telling the time, and the rest goes quiet. Calls, messages, live location, arrival alerts and SOS all pause, because each one runs over the plan.

The part worth planning around is SOS. If a plan lapses without anyone noticing, your kid is wearing a watch that can't call for help. Keeping auto-recharge on, and checking the payment card hasn't expired, is the simplest way to avoid that.

If you're pausing on purpose, for a long trip or while a watch waits for a younger sibling, let your kid know it's just a clock for now.

Starting up again is simple. Reactivate in the Membership section of the Spacetalk App, and there's no need to pair the watch again.

Watch SIM plans recharge automatically, with no lock-in, and you can cancel any time in the Spacetalk App under Membership.

Cancel before the recharge date rather than after it, since a plan that's already renewed runs to the end of the period you've paid for.

Two things worth knowing. If you bought a subscription through the App Store or Google Play, cancel that one in your store account rather than in the Spacetalk App, as deleting the app doesn't cancel it. And a Spacetalk Mobile phone service is separate from a watch plan, so cancelling one doesn't cancel the other.

There are two separate things you can cancel, and it's worth knowing which one you mean.

Your Watch SIM plan keeps the watch connected. Cancel it in the Spacetalk App under Membership, and calling, messaging, location and SOS stop at the end of the period you've paid for. The watch still tells the time.

Your Spacetalk account is your family profile and the information held in the app. That's separate, and can be closed on its own.

There's no lock-in on a Watch SIM plan, so you can stop and start again as your family's situation changes.

Direct from us at spacetalk.co, and from retailers including Telstra, JB Hi-Fi and Costco.

spacetalk.co carries the full range, along with the bundles, straps and accessories retailers don't always stock.

If you're buying elsewhere, check the seller is an authorised Australian retailer. Imported kids watches often arrive without Australian warranty or local support, and may not work properly on Australian networks.

Spacetalk Mobile is our family mobile service, for the phones in your household rather than the watches.

Plans are month-to-month with no lock-in, and include unlimited calls and texts to standard Australian numbers. You can move data between family members when someone runs short, and bank what you don't use for later months.

Safety features come with the plan rather than as an extra. Places alerts so you know when someone arrives, SOS to trusted contacts, and check-ins.

It all sits in the same Spacetalk App as your kid's watch, so watch-wearing kids and phone-carrying teenagers are in one place.

Two simple ways to make one plan stretch across a family.

Data gifting lets someone pass part of their monthly data to another family member who has run short. There's a cap per transfer, so nobody can hand over their whole month by accident.

Data banking saves what you don't use, so a quiet month builds a little cushion for a busier one.

Between them, they take the sting out of the person in your house who always runs out first.

Spacetalk watches come with a Spacetalk Mobile SIM already installed, and they're set up to run on Spacetalk Mobile. A third-party SIM can be used, though additional fees apply.

In practice the watch and the plan work best together, so it's worth treating the plan as part of the decision rather than something to swap later.

If moving between providers matters to you, that's good to know before you buy rather than after.

Spacetalk Adventurer 2 and Loop watches come with a physical SIM already installed, so there's nothing to set up before your kid can use the watch.

An eSIM is a SIM built into a device and activated with a code instead of a card. Spacetalk Mobile phone plans include one.

A physical SIM has one quiet advantage on a kids watch. It can be moved or replaced without going back through an activation, which helps when a watch is handed down to a younger sibling.

Changing the number is handled by Spacetalk as a request on your account, rather than something you change on the watch.

Nothing else changes. The watch keeps its pairing, its Space, its contacts and its settings.

Do let the school and anyone who calls the watch directly know the new number, since the old one won't reach your kid anymore.

One thing to check first. If the reason is unwanted calls, remember only approved contacts can reach the watch, so it's usually a contact that needs removing rather than a new number.

Yes. You can bring an existing Australian mobile number across when you activate the plan, so choose to transfer at that point rather than afterwards.

You'll need the number you're transferring, your current provider's account details, photo ID for the identity check, and your Spacetalk Mobile SIM number.

One important thing. Keep the old service active until the transfer finishes, because cancelling it first can mean losing the number.

If the wrong number gets transferred, let us know straight away. It's much easier to sort out early.

On a Spacetalk watch, you already do. You add every contact from your own phone, and only those people can call or message your kid. Nobody else gets through.

It works differently from a phone, where anyone with the number can call. On the watch, the approved list isn't a setting you switch on. It's simply how the watch works, and your kid can't change it.

That means no unknown numbers, no spam calls, no message requests, and no way for a stranger to start a conversation.

Your kid can still ask to add a friend's watch through Buddies, and both parents approve before it goes ahead.

Yes, and it already has one. Every Adventurer 2 and Loop arrives with a Spacetalk Mobile SIM installed, so there's nothing to buy separately.

What you will do is activate it. Open the Spacetalk App, go to Membership, then Activate SIM. Have photo ID and the SIM number card from the box handy. Choose a new number or bring one across, then pick your plan.

Once the plan is active, the watch can call, message, share location and send SOS alerts.

It takes about twenty minutes, and it's easiest the night before rather than on a school morning.

1. Download the Spacetalk App from the App Store or Google Play, and enter your phone number and email.

2. Create your profile, then allow location and notifications. Location awareness and family alerts need these to work.

3. Activate the SIM under Membership, then Activate SIM. You'll need photo ID and the SIM number card from the box, and you can choose a new number or bring one across.

4. Charge the watch fully, since a flat watch can't be paired.

5. Pair it. In your Family Space, tap the plus icon, choose Pair a watch, create your kid's profile, then scan the QR code shown on the watch.

Then set up contacts, up to three SOS contacts and a School Mode schedule before you hand it over.

Almost always it's one of three things, and they're quick to check.

The SIM isn't activated yet. Pairing needs an active plan, and this is the most common reason by far.

The watch is flat or switched off. Keep it on charge and next to your phone while you pair.

Location and Bluetooth permissions haven't been granted to the Spacetalk App. On Android especially, pairing won't finish without location permission.

If it's still not connecting, restart both the watch and your phone, make sure the app is up to date, then try the QR code again.

A factory reset isn't the place to start. It clears everything and rarely helps.

The SIM is already in the watch when it arrives, so most families won't need to touch it.

If you do need to reseat one, the Adventurer 2's tray is on the back of the watch and the Loop uses a pinhole. Line the cut corner up with the tray and slide it in with the metal contacts facing up.

To activate, open the Spacetalk App, go to Membership, then Activate SIM. You'll need photo ID, the SIM number card from the box, and a payment method.

If the watch says there's no SIM, switch it off, reseat the SIM, then switch it back on. A SIM the wrong way up won't read.

You add contacts in the Spacetalk App, not on the watch. Open the app, choose your kid's profile and their watch, then add the person's name and number.

There are three kinds worth knowing apart.

Chat contacts are the people your kid can call, video call and message.

SOS contacts are up to three numbers the watch calls in order when the button is held.

Buddies are friends' watches your kid asks to add, which go live once both parents approve.

Keep the list short. Five to eight people usually covers both parents, a grandparent, a neighbour and after-school care.

If a new contact hasn't appeared yet, the watch needs to be on and in coverage to pick it up. Switch it on, wait a few minutes, then restart it.

You can add up to three SOS contacts in the Spacetalk App, and the watch calls them in order until someone answers. Set them during setup rather than later, so the button works the first time it's needed.

Choosing the three is worth a moment's thought.

Someone who answers their phone during the day, meaning whoever is most reachable at 3pm rather than whoever feels most senior.

A second adult nearby who can actually get there.

A grandparent, neighbour or family friend as the backstop.

Let all three know they're on the list, so a call from an unfamiliar number isn't declined. Then practise it once as a drill, with everyone warned it's a test.

You don't have to. The watch runs on its own mobile plan, which is what keeps it working at school, at the park and on the bus with no phone nearby.

You can add home WiFi from the watch settings if you'd like. It uses a little less mobile data and helps the watch place itself more accurately indoors, which cuts down on false arrival alerts at home.

Home networks with a simple password work. Networks that open a login page in a browser, like most school, cafe and shopping centre WiFi, won't, because there's no browser on the watch.

Give it a fresh start, so the new wearer isn't carrying the last one's contacts and messages.

1. Charge the watch fully first.

2. Note the IMEI from Settings then Information on the watch, or from the box.

3. Factory reset it. Swipe down, Settings, Factory Reset, then enter the last four digits of the IMEI.

4. In the Spacetalk App, remove the older kid's profile.

5. Create the younger kid's profile and pair the watch again.

6. Set it up fresh, with contacts, SOS contacts, a School Mode schedule for the new school year, and a background they choose.

Check the strap while you're there. One sized for a ten-year-old won't fit a five-year-old, and a watch that slides around tends to come off.

It's designed to be picked up quickly. Press and hold the power button on the back to switch it on. Swipe down from the top for settings, and swipe sideways to move between calls, messages, camera and steps. The home screen shows the time.

Day to day, your kid can call and video call approved contacts, send messages and voice notes, take photos, and hold the SOS button if they need an adult.

The Adventurer 2 adds a few extras. Heart rate and steps, Awards you send from your app, Feelings so your kid can tap how their day is going, and Funny Sounds.

Yes, to the contacts you've approved. Your kid can type a short message, send a voice note, or tap a preset like "On my way".

Preset messages are worth setting up properly. A six-year-old won't type a reply on a small screen, but they'll happily tap one. "On my way", "Finished" and "Can you pick me up?" cover most of what a younger kid needs to say.

Buddies extends messaging to friends' watches, once both parents have approved the connection.

What's deliberately missing matters too. No group chats with strangers, no message requests, and no inbox your kid can't control.

Calls run over the watch's own plan, and only with the contacts you've approved. Nobody else can call in, and your kid can't dial out to an unknown number.

To make a video call, your kid taps the video icon and picks a contact. The camera and speaker do the rest.

Video calling often suits younger kids better than voice. They can show you where they are instead of trying to explain it, which takes the pressure off when they're flustered.

Call quality comes down to coverage, so a watch indoors at school may hold a voice call more comfortably than a video one.

Both watches charge magnetically. The Adventurer 2 uses the dock in the box with its USB-C cable, and the Loop uses a magnetic cable. Line the connector up with the contacts on the back of the watch, and plug it into any standard USB power.

The Loop lasts longer between charges than the Adventurer 2, which suits younger kids still learning the habit.

What works for most families is charging at the same moment every day. A dock by the bed, or on the kitchen bench during dinner or homework, so a forgotten charge gets caught before morning.

Expect a shorter day after lots of video calls, since they use more power than anything else.

A day or more on the Adventurer 2, and around three days on the Loop, depending on how the watch is used.

Video calls use the most power, followed by frequent location updates and patchy coverage, where the watch works harder to hold a signal.

On a normal school day, both watches comfortably cover drop-off to pick-up with location on.

The simplest habit is charging at the same time each day rather than trying to squeeze more from the settings.

Buddies is how your kid adds a friend's watch, with both parents saying yes first.

Your kid opens Buddies on their watch and picks a friend's watch nearby. You get a notification that they've asked. The other parent gets the same prompt in their app, and either of you can approve or decline. If you both approve, a shared Space is created.

It's a small thing that matters a lot. Your kid gets to build their own friendship list, which is what makes the watch feel like theirs, and no contact is ever added without a parent on both sides agreeing.

Chat runs between the watch and the adults in your kid's Space who use the Spacetalk App. SMS is an ordinary text message to or from an approved mobile number.

Chat does more, but SMS is what reaches someone who doesn't have the app. That matters when you're adding a grandparent who'd rather not install anything — they can still be an approved contact and message your kid.

Your kid doesn't have to choose. Both simply appear as messages on the watch.

Not games as such, and that's deliberate. There's no app store, no browser and no social media, which is a big part of why schools are comfortable with a watch where they're not with a phone.

There are a few light touches so it still feels fun to wear. Funny Sounds, Awards you send from your app when your kid has done something well, and Feelings, where they tap how their day is going and it shows up on your phone.

Alongside that, your kid can call and video call, message, take photos, and check their steps and heart rate.

You can change the background behind the time in the Spacetalk App, under your kid's watch settings, alongside alarms, rewards and preset messages. Change it as often as you like.

It's worth letting your kid pick. It's one of the few parts of the watch they get to choose, and that small bit of ownership is often what makes it feel like theirs rather than something handed to them.

Rewards let you set small tasks for your kid and tick them off from the Spacetalk App, so the watch becomes a gentle nudge rather than another thing you have to remind them about.

Families tend to use it for morning routines like teeth, bag, shoes and lunchbox, for chores with a visible tally, and for habits like reading time.

It works well because a kid without a phone has nowhere else to see a list. On the wrist, it's right there at a glance.

It suits younger kids best. Somewhere around ten, most kids stop needing it, and that's fine.

Preset messages are short phrases you set up in advance, so your kid can reply with one tap instead of typing.

They matter more than they sound. A younger kid won't type a reply on a small screen, and without presets the watch ends up feeling one-way. With them, you get an answer.

The ones worth setting: "On my way" and "I've arrived", which replace most check-in calls. "Yes" and "No", for when you've asked something direct. "Call me", so your kid can ask for a call without starting one. And "Finished", so you know when to collect them.

Set them with your kid. A preset they chose is one they'll actually use.

The IMEI is the watch's unique 15-digit number. You'll find it in Settings, then Information on the watch, printed on the box, and in the Spacetalk App under the watch's device information.

Take a photo of it when you first set the watch up. You'll need it if you ever reset the watch, raise a support case, report a watch lost, or make an insurance claim.

It's much easier to record now than to find later.

The Spacetalk App is the free app you use to run your kid's watch from your own phone. It's on iOS and Android.

From the app you can see live location and get arrival alerts, set the places and routes you want to hear about, approve contacts and Buddy requests, schedule School Mode, receive SOS alerts, and change watch settings like alarms, preset messages and the background.

It organises people into Spaces, which are secure groups for the different parts of family life, so a grandparent can sit in one and a sports parent in another.

Everything lives on your phone rather than on the watch, so your kid can't change it.

A Space is the group that holds one kid and the adults who look after them.

Adults invited into a Space can see that kid's location and receive their SOS alerts. Adults outside it can't. It's how one family's information stays separate from another's.

Families use Spaces in different ways. One per kid keeps a younger kid's location visible to a grandparent without sharing an older sibling's. Two parents in separate households can both sit in the same kid's Space.

Removing someone takes their access away straight away, which is worth doing whenever your care arrangements change.

Yes. Both parents can be added to the same kid's Space, see the same location, receive the same SOS alerts, and manage the watch — from an iPhone or an Android phone.

It's worth setting up properly from the start, because the watch is often the one thing that travels between both homes.

Add both parents to the Space at setup rather than later.

Put both in the SOS contact list, with a third adult nearby as backup.

Agree who looks after the Watch SIM plan, so it doesn't lapse unnoticed.

Keep a charger at both houses. A flat watch is the most common reason location goes quiet.

It works best when both households treat it the same way, as something that's there for your kid.

Only the adults you've added to your kid's Space. Nobody else using Spacetalk can see your kid, and your kid's location isn't shared with other users.

There's also no social feed, no browser and no app store on the watch, so there's no way for a stranger to make contact in the first place.

The one thing worth reviewing now and then is who's still in the Space. When care arrangements change, removing someone takes their access away immediately.

Yes. The app shows the places your kid's watch checked in from through the day, each with the time it was sent.

Read it as a series of check-ins rather than a continuous line. The map joins the points together, so a straight line between two of them is drawn rather than walked. A gap usually means no coverage or a flat battery rather than anything else. And indoors, positions can wander a little, so a kid sitting in one classroom may show up across a block.

It's genuinely useful for confirming your kid took the usual route home, or working out where a watch was last seen if it goes missing.

Nine times out of ten the code has been sent and the phone has filtered it.

Check your spam and blocked folders in your messaging app first, since codes from a short number often land there.

Check any message filtering or SMS blocker you have switched on.

Make sure the number on your account is the one you're holding, with the right country code.

Check you have mobile signal, since a phone on WiFi alone won't receive a text.

Clear space if your messages are full, which can stop new ones arriving.

Try not to request code after code, as repeated requests can trigger a short wait. If nothing arrives after all that, raise a support case with your account email and phone number.

In two steps. The watch works out where it is using GPS, then sends that to your app over its mobile connection.

Both parts are needed, which is why the watch has its own SIM. GPS on its own can work out a position but can't pass it on.

What you see in the app is the last place the watch checked in from, with the time it was sent. You can ask for an update whenever you like, and set alerts so you're told on arrival rather than having to look.

Location uses very little data, so it won't eat through a plan.

Outdoors with a clear sky, within a few metres. Indoors, in a shopping centre or under cover, it's less precise, so expect "at the school" rather than "in room 4B".

If a position looks wrong, check the time on it first. The pin shows where the watch last checked in, which might be a few minutes ago, and that explains most surprises.

In a spot with no coverage, the watch holds its last position until it's back in range.

The most useful thing you can do is set an arrival alert for school or home. Being told they've arrived is easier than watching a map.

A safe zone is a place you draw on the map — home, school, Grandma's — and the app lets you know when your kid arrives or leaves.

It's the feature that quietly removes the "are they there yet?" question from your day.

Set them for the places on your weekly routine. School, so you're told at 9am instead of wondering. Home, for the afternoon walk. After-school care, sport, a grandparent's house.

Draw the zone around the property and a bit of the street rather than the building itself. Too tight and you'll get alerts as your kid crosses the playground. Start wide, then tighten after a week.

Routes go a step further, following the path between two places so you hear if the journey changes.

No. A watch needs power and coverage to check in, so when it's off or flat the app shows the last place it reported from, along with the time.

That timestamp is the thing to look at before you act. A position from 40 minutes ago is where they were, not where they are.

A few habits help. Charge at the same moment every day so it becomes automatic. Keep an eye on the battery in the app. And agree a simple backup with your kid for the days the watch is flat — find a known adult, stay where they are, or use the phone at the school office.

Yes. Devices sold in Australia have to meet the exposure limits set by ARPANSA, and a Spacetalk watch is designed to be worn through the school day.

The things worth managing day to day are simpler than most parents expect.

Keep the strap clean and dry, and wear it loose enough to slide a little. Sweat and soap under a silicone strap can irritate skin after sport or a hot day.

Take it off before swimming, the bath and the shower.

Charge it overnight outside the bedroom, so notifications and light don't interrupt sleep.

Check the fit every so often as your kid grows.

A routine that works well: on for the school day and the walk, School Mode during class, off for water, and charging outside the bedroom at night.

The watch is deliberately small and closed, which is what keeps it simple to protect.

Only the contacts you've approved can call or message. There's no browser, no app store and no social media, so there's nothing for a stranger to reach your kid through.

Location is only visible to the adults in your kid's Space, and nobody else.

Two things are worth doing on your side. Use a strong, unique password on your Spacetalk account, since that's what controls the watch. And keep the box somewhere sensible, as a factory reset uses the last four digits of the IMEI printed on it.

SOS is the button on the side of the watch. Your kid holds it down, and the watch calls the trusted contacts you've set, one after another, until someone answers. At the same time, your app gets an alert with their location.

You can set up to three contacts, and the order matters, so put the person most likely to answer at 3pm first.

Two things make it work when it counts. Tell all three they're on the list, so an unfamiliar number isn't declined. And practise it once as a drill, with everyone warned it's a test, because a button your kid has never pressed is one they won't think to press.

It's worth teaching your kid both routes — the watch button calls the people who love them, and 000 calls an ambulance.

Usually coverage. A watch searching for signal uses far more power than one sitting on full bars, which is why the same watch can last all day one week and half a day the next.

Things to try, in order:

Lower how often the watch updates its location in the Spacetalk App. This is the biggest single change you can make.

Check coverage where the watch spends its day, since a large school building can be a quiet spot for signal.

Turn the screen brightness down.

Keep video calls for when they're needed, as they use the most power.

Make sure the watch software is up to date.

If the battery suddenly halves after being fine, or the watch gets hot while charging, that's worth raising with us rather than adjusting settings.

Start with the plan. If the Watch SIM plan has lapsed, calls, messages, location and SOS all pause. Check it in the Spacetalk App under Membership.

If the plan is active, work through these:

1. Check there's mobile coverage where the watch is.

2. Keep the watch on and charging while you go through the rest.

3. Update the Spacetalk App.

4. Restart the watch by holding the power button on the back and choosing Restart.

5. Reseat the SIM if the watch has been dropped recently.

A factory reset isn't the step here. If it's still not connecting, raise a support case with the watch's IMEI.

Check the time on the pin first. The app shows the last place the watch checked in from, so a position from a few minutes ago isn't a live one. That explains most of these.

Then work through the rest:

Does the watch have signal and battery? No coverage means no check-in.

Is your kid indoors? Positions drift inside school buildings, shopping centres and car parks.

Is School Mode limiting updates at that time of day?

Try asking for a fresh update in the app rather than waiting for the next one.

What normal looks like is "at the school" rather than "in room 4B". Outdoors, it's much tighter.

This is usually a safe zone drawn a little too tightly. Indoors, a position can wander by tens of metres, so a watch sitting on the kitchen bench can look like it's stepping outside and back in.

Four things to try:

1. Widen the zone so it covers the property and a margin of street, rather than the building itself.

2. Move the pin onto the building rather than the street address marker, which can sit on the kerb.

3. Check for zones that overlap, as a position drifting between two can set both off.

4. Check the watch isn't sitting right on the edge of a zone all day, like a classroom at the far side of a school.

Nine times out of ten it's the contacts, not the battery.

Check the charger is sitting squarely on the contacts, and that the charging symbol actually appears on screen. The magnet holds it roughly in place, not exactly.

Wipe the contacts on the watch and the charger with a dry cloth. Sweat, sunscreen and playground dust build up.

Try a different USB power source, since some laptop ports don't deliver enough power.

Give it fifteen minutes before judging, as a very flat battery shows nothing at first.

If it still won't charge on a clean, well-seated charger, raise a support case with the IMEI.

Video needs a good connection at both ends at the same time, so it's usually coverage rather than a fault. Indoors at school, or in a quiet spot for signal, a video call may not get through when a voice call will.

That difference is the clearest sign it's the connection. If voice works and video doesn't, there's nothing wrong with the watch.

Worth checking: both people are approved contacts, the watch has signal, and a restart of the watch and then the app.

When it matters most, use voice. It gets through in more places.

A restart fixes most things. Press and hold the power button on the back and choose Restart.

Try that first for an unresponsive screen, a watch that won't connect, or an app that won't sync.

A factory reset is a bigger step, and it clears contacts, settings, School Mode schedules and pairing, so you'll set the watch up again afterwards. Swipe down from the top of the watch screen, press Settings, scroll to Factory Reset, and enter the last four digits of the IMEI.

Save that for handing the watch to a new kid, or when support asks. And keep the box somewhere sensible, since the IMEI is printed on it.

Updates install over the watch's own connection, and they need charge and a steady signal to finish.

Keep the watch on the charger and near your phone while one runs, and let it restart on its own. Updating on a weekend morning is easier than the night before a school day.

Update the Spacetalk App too, since the watch and the app work best on the same version.

If the watch isn't responding afterwards, restart it first, then unpair and pair again. A factory reset clears your settings and is rarely what's needed.

Three things fix most problems. Charge it, restart it, and keep the app up to date.

A little routine care goes a long way:

Dry the watch and its charging contacts after rain or handwashing.

Replace the strap when it starts to fray, rather than waiting for it to give way at school.

Keep the screen protector on.

Take it off before swimming.

If something isn't working, charge it, restart it, update the app, then check the plan is active and the watch has coverage. If it's still not right, raise a support case with the IMEI.

Spacetalk watches are splashproof rather than waterproof. Rain, a spilled drink, washing hands and a wet playground are all fine. Swimming, the bath and the shower aren't.

Worth knowing: liquid damage isn't covered by the warranty, so this one is worth getting right early.

The easiest way to say it to your kid is the way they'll remember it. The watch stays on in the rain and comes off at the pool.

And dry the watch and its charging contacts before it goes back on the dock.

Our limited warranty covers defects in materials and workmanship — one year on watches and the accessories in the box, and six months on accessories bought separately.

What it doesn't cover is accidental damage. Drops, cracked screens, liquid damage, scratches and normal wear all sit outside it, as does loss.

A few small things go a long way. Keep the screen protector on, since a cracked screen is the most common damage. Take the watch off before swimming. Replace a fraying strap before it gives way. And check whether your home contents insurance covers portable items.

Start by raising a repair order with Spacetalk rather than posting the watch back unannounced. Have the IMEI and your proof of purchase handy.

Before you send it, remove the SIM, note down your settings, and expect to pair the watch again when it comes back.

If it's a defect within the warranty period, it's covered. Accidental damage and liquid damage are repaired at a cost.

It's also worth pausing the Watch SIM plan while the watch is away, so you're not paying for a service you can't use.

Start with the last known location in the app, which shows where the watch checked in from and when.

Then:

Find the IMEI, from the box or your records, since it identifies that exact watch.

Pause or cancel the Watch SIM plan so the service isn't used.

Let us know, and report it to police if it was stolen.

Loss and theft sit outside the warranty, though it's worth checking whether your home contents insurance covers a kid's device.

The one thing worth doing before it ever happens is saving the IMEI somewhere that isn't the watch.

Almost always this means the Watch SIM plan is inactive, expired or unpaid, rather than anything wrong with the watch. Without an active plan, the watch keeps telling the time and the rest pauses.

Check in this order:

1. Plan status in the Spacetalk App under Membership.

2. Your payment method, since an expired card is the usual cause of a failed recharge.

3. Whether an identity check is still outstanding, as Australian mobile services require one.

Once the plan is active again, calling, messaging, location and SOS come straight back.

School Mode turns the watch into a plain, silent clock during class, so it's welcome at school rather than a distraction.

You choose the days and hours it runs, and which features stay on. Location can keep working so you still know your kid arrived, while calls, messages and everything else stay quiet.

It's set from your phone, not the watch, so your kid can't switch it off.

It's the reason many schools are comfortable with a watch where a phone isn't allowed. There's nothing to play with, nothing to buzz, and nothing to see but the time.

In the Spacetalk App. Open Profile, choose your kid, select their watch, then School mode. Switch it on and set the days and times it should run. Two small pencil icons appear on the watch face while it's active.

Set the hours to match the real school day, including the walk there and back if you'd rather the watch stay quiet for the whole trip.

To turn it off, switch the toggle off or edit the schedule so it no longer covers that time.

No. School Mode is set by you in the Spacetalk App, and there's no way to switch it off from the watch. Your kid sees two small pencil icons on the clock face and that's it.

That's often the reassurance a school is looking for before they'll allow a watch, so it's worth mentioning when you speak to them.

If a school says a watch was active during class, check the schedule covers the full timetable including recess and lunch, and that the watch is on the latest software.

Most Australian schools allow a watch in School Mode where a phone isn't permitted, because in School Mode there's nothing to do on it. No calls, no messages, no games, no notifications. Just the time.

It's worth checking your school's written policy before the first day, and asking a few specific things:

Is a watch allowed if it can't call or message during class?

Can it stay on the wrist in School Mode, or does it need to be handed in?

What's the position during exams?

If the answer is that it must be handed in, ask whether it can still be worn to and from school. That covers the journey, which is usually the part you're thinking about.

Plenty of schools hold devices at the front office and return them at the end of the day, which still leaves the watch doing its job on the walk to and from school.

A few things make the conversation easier:

Ask for the policy in writing before you buy, and ask specifically whether School Mode changes it.

Set School Mode to match the school day, including recess and lunch. A watch that visibly can't do anything in class is a much easier ask.

Get any medical or additional needs exemption documented at the start of the year.

Label the watch, since a front-office drawer holds a lot of identical ones.

If your school does hold watches every day, it's worth deciding deliberately that the watch is there for the journey.

It doesn't need to. The watch runs on its own mobile plan, so it keeps working at school without joining any network.

Most school WiFi opens a login page in a browser, and there's no browser on the watch, so it can't join those networks. That's by design rather than a limitation.

Home WiFi with a simple password can be added if you'd like, which helps a little with indoor accuracy.

Yes, always. A kid who knows how the watch works wears it happily and uses it properly. A kid who finds out later learns something you didn't mean to teach them.

Being open is also what keeps it working as they get older. Location sharing that was agreed tends to survive into the teenage years. Location sharing that was discovered rarely does.

One sentence usually does it. "This is so you can reach me, and so I can find you if something goes wrong — not so I can check up on you."

Then behave that way. Don't bring up the map in an argument, and review it together as your kid grows.

Set the rules before it goes on the wrist, and practise before it's needed.

Before it arrives. Agree together where it charges overnight, when it's used, and who goes on the contact list.

Day one. Set it up fully, with contacts, up to three SOS contacts and a School Mode schedule. Let your kid choose the strap and background.

Day one. Practise. One call to each contact, and one SOS drill with everyone warned it's a test.

Days two to three. Wear it at home and on a short, familiar trip.

Days four to five. First solo use on a route they know, with an arrival alert set.

End of the week. Talk about what worked and what was annoying, and change it.

Two things worth saying out loud: the SOS button calls people who can help, and 000 calls an ambulance. And it comes off before you swim.

Tell the school in week one, and let your contacts know to expect calls from a new number.

It's usually one of four things, and none of them are the technology.

It doesn't fit comfortably. A loose or heavy watch comes off first, and a different strap often solves it outright.

It's flat when they reach for it. Move charging to a fixed daily moment, like dinner or homework, rather than leaving it to overnight.

It feels babyish. Around ten to twelve this can happen. Letting your kid pick the strap colour and watch background genuinely helps.

It has no job. Give it one. They call when they leave a friend's house, or message when they're walking home.

If none of that shifts it, your kid may simply have outgrown it, and that's a fair outcome. It usually means they're ready for a first phone, with the same rules attached.

Less about age, more about what they can already do.

A few signs worth looking for:

They keep track of their things.

They tell you when something goes wrong, rather than hiding it.

They follow the rules you've agreed even when you're not there.

They can explain a route back to you, in order.

A staged handover works better than a single leap. Walk it together, then let them lead while you follow, then let them go the last block alone, then the whole way with a check-in on arrival.

A watch fits into that middle stage well. Your kid goes on their own, and you get an arrival alert instead of walking behind them.

Three things take most of the load off a busy week.

One place where everyone's location lives, rather than a tracking app, a school app and two group chats.

Arrival alerts instead of check-in texts, so you're told when someone gets there.

A way for a kid with no phone to reach an adult, and preset messages so replying takes one tap.

The Spacetalk App organises this into Spaces, so the grandparent Space and the sports Space stay separate. Family members on Spacetalk Mobile plans get Places alerts and check-ins too, which means watch-wearing kids and phone-carrying teenagers all sit in the same place.