Setting Up the Spacetalk App as a Family Safety App on Android

It's 3.20 pm and your meeting has just run over. Across town, the school bell has gone. You don't need a phone call right now. You just need to know they made it out the gate and started for home.

You can set up the Spacetalk as your family safety app on Android in one sitting. Download it from Google Play and set up your family. Then add Places and Routes for the trips your kids make every week. The steps below follow the order that saves you the most time.

Before you start, have these ready:

• The Spacetalk App, downloaded from Google Play onto your Android phone.
• Your kid's Spacetalk Watch, charged and switched on.
• An active Spacetalk Watch Plan or Spacetalk Mobile Plan, which gives you the App at no extra cost.
• The mobile numbers of any adults you want to invite, such as a partner or co-parent.

Most parents don't want to stare at a map all day. You want the App to flag the moments that matter, so you can stop sending "are you there yet?" texts. Setting up your Space first means every alert after that lands with the right people.

Creating Your First Space on Android

Your Spacetalk App already starts you off with a Space called Family. Fill that one first. Create extra Spaces only when you need a separate group with different sharing rules.

Think of a Space as a room with its own guest list. Each Space has its own members, and each member has sharing settings specific to that Space. That means you can share live location in your Family Space and keep the Saturday netball carpool Space to chat only.

To create a new Space:

• Open the Spaces screen and tap the blue + button in the bottom-right corner.

• Tap Create new Space.
• Type a name everyone will recognise, such as "Nan and Pop", and tap Continue.

• Tap Add Member to bring people in now, or skip this step and add them later.

From Add Member, you can:

• Invite Adults: send an invite to a partner or co-parent who uses the Spacetalk App on their own phone.
• Add a Kid: create a profile for your kid and choose what they share.
• Add a Senior or Dependent: add an ageing parent you help look after.
• Pair a Watch: connect your kid's Spacetalk Watch straight to their profile.

You manage everything from the App, and your kid only uses their Watch. They can use the features you've switched on, but they can't add a contact or join a new Space from their wrist.

Your Trusted Contacts list stays yours to build, and you can change what your kid shares at any time. Spacetalk's help centre has the full guide to creating a Space.

Turning On Places, Routes and Check-Ins

Places tell you when your kids arrive at or leave somewhere familiar. Routes let you know when they start a regular trip and give you a gentle nudge if they wander off it.

Check-Ins give you a quick emoji read on how they're feeling. Together, these features turn the Spacetalk App into a family safety app on Android that works quietly in the background.

1. Set up a Place

• Tap the + button in the bottom-right corner, then tap Add Place.

• Pick a suggested place or tap Add a Place to create your own.

• Drag the map to drop a pin, or type the address under Place address.

• Stretch the radius to cover the whole location. For school, match it to the entire campus so an alert means they've actually left the grounds.

• Add a name and an icon. Emojis work too, so "🏫 School" is fair game.

• Choose which Space members trigger arrive and leave alerts, or flip the top switch to hear about everyone.

• Tap Save Place.

Want a time-based reminder as well?

Tap Add notification, pick the time and days, then add a custom title. This helps if your kid walks to school on their own and needs to arrive before the bell. To remove a Place later, swipe it left and tap the bin icon.

2. Set up a Route for regular journeys

• From your Space, tap + and select Add Route.

• Search for the start address and tap to select it. Repeat for the end point.
• Tap the icon that matches how they usually travel, then tap Set up Route.

• Move the Deviation Allowance slider to set how far they can stray before the App nudges you. The map above the slider shows the allowance.

• Give it a clear name, like "Walk to school 🎒".
• Turn on notifications for all members, or toggle on only the kids who use that route.

• Tap Save Route.

Once you save it, the App alerts you when they set off and shows their location in real time until they arrive. On a Spacetalk Watch, that location updates over the watch's own 4G connection, so it never relies on your kid carrying a paired phone.

3. Send a Check-In

Check-Ins are quick "How are you feeling?" emoji requests. Your kid answers with a tap on their Watch, and their answers build a feelings history you can look back on in the App. It's a gentle way to open a conversation after a tricky day, without the twenty questions at pick-up.

Inviting the Rest of the Family to Join

The fastest way to connect everyone is the guided Set up your Family flow. It adds everyone in one pass, and Spacetalk picks the right account type in the background based on each person's age and device.

How each person joins depends on their device:

• Kids with a Spacetalk Watch: you pair the watch to their profile. With a Spacetalk Watch SIM, the app adds their number automatically once you activate it. With a different SIM, you type the number in yourself.
• Anyone with a mobile: they receive an SMS invite to join your family on their own phone.

Walk through the setup:

• On the Let's set up your family screen, tap Get Started.

• Tap Add a Kid for each kid, enter their details, then tap Continue.
• Tap Add a Senior or Dependent if you help look after an ageing parent, then tap Continue.

• Tap Invite Family Members to bring in a partner, co-parent, carer or grandparent.

• Keep the Space name "Family" or tap it to rename it.
• Choose what you share and who can see your location or message you.
• Work through the checklist items, such as Pair Watch, or tap I'll do it later.

Life gets busy. If you close the App halfway through, a "Welcome back" prompt picks up right where you left off.

Once everyone's in, conversations follow two separate paths. When your kid messages you from their Watch, the message lands in your App inside the Space you set up.

Completing Your Family Safety Setup on Android

A few final checks make sure your family safety app on Android works the moment you need it:

• Location permission: In Android Settings, open Apps > Spacetalk > Permissions > Location and choose "Allow all the time" so your location keeps sharing when the app is closed.
• Notifications: Keep Spacetalk notifications switched on so Place and Route alerts reach you straight away.
• Battery usage: Set the app to "Unrestricted" under battery settings so Android doesn't pause it in the background.
• School Mode: Set class hours from the app. Your kid's watch goes quiet during lessons, while SOS and location awareness stay live.
• SOS contacts: Choose the three emergency contacts who receive your kid's exact location when they press SOS.

That's it. You now have a family safety app on Android that tells you the moments that matter and stays out of the way the rest of the time. Your kids get room to explore. You get peace of mind.

Still choosing a watch?

The Spacetalk Adventurer 2 Essential Bundle combines the watch with a Spacetalk Watch SIM plan and the App, and bundles are on sale right now. You can also compare current Watch Plans, or look at the Spacetalk Loop for younger kids taking their first steps toward independence.

Frequently Asked Questions