How to use Watchful

A private baby monitor from two Apple devices on your home Wi-Fi. Setup takes under a minute.

What you need: two Apple devices (iPhone or iPad, iOS 17 or later) on the same Wi-Fi network. One becomes the camera in the child's room; the other is the viewer you keep with you. No account, no sign-in.

1. Set up the camera (the device in the room)

Open Watchful and tap Camera.Place this device where it can see the crib. Plug it in for overnight use.
Allow Camera, Microphone, and Local Network when asked.These are what let it capture and stream to your viewer. Nothing leaves your Wi-Fi.
Leave it running. A red “Camera & microphone on” bar stays at the top while it's live.After 10 seconds the screen dims to spare the dark room — tap once to wake it. The recording bar always stays visible.

2. Set up the viewer (the device you keep)

Open Watchful and tap Viewer.
Your camera appears in the list automatically. Tap it.The live video and audio open right away — there's nothing to approve on the other device.
That's it — you're watching. Lock the phone and keep it in your pocket; the audio keeps playing.

3. While it's running

Hear the room: audio plays automatically. Tap the speaker button to mute/unmute.
Talk back: tap “Talk to the room” on the viewer to speak to your child. Your microphone is off until you tap it, and clearly marked when live.
Picture-in-Picture: tap the PiP button to shrink the video into a corner and use other apps.
Who's watching & blocking: the camera shows “Someone is watching” whenever a viewer is connected. Tap Block there to disconnect a viewer and stop it reconnecting.
Battery & heat: the viewer shows the camera's battery, and warns you if it drops below 20% unplugged.
Wi-Fi hiccup: if the connection blips, the viewer holds the last frame, says “Reconnecting…”, and recovers on its own — it never goes to a silent black screen.

Troubleshooting

The viewer can't find or connect to the camera

First, make sure both devices are on the exact same Wi-Fi network (not one on Wi-Fi and one on cellular, and not two different networks).

Some networks — guest Wi-Fi, hotels, and many offices — have “client isolation” that blocks devices from talking to each other directly. Watchful streams device-to-device, so it can't work on those. Use your home Wi-Fi, or turn on Personal Hotspot on one device and connect the other to it.

If the camera doesn't appear in the list but you're on the same network, use QR pairing: tap the QR button on the camera to show a code, then tap Scan QR on the viewer.

If a connection attempt doesn't succeed within about 15 seconds, the viewer shows a “Couldn't connect” screen with Retry and Scan QR — it won't spin forever.

No sound / the sound is quiet

Check the speaker button on the viewer isn't muted, and raise the device volume. Audio also keeps playing when the viewer is locked or in another app.

No video when the app is in the background

That's expected. iOS pauses video when an app is backgrounded, but audio keeps playing — the most important part of a monitor. Keep the viewer app in the foreground (or use Picture-in-Picture) if you want the picture too.

Can I use an old phone as the camera?

Yes — any iPhone or iPad on iOS 17 or newer works. Note that iOS requires an active Wi-Fi (or hotspot) connection; a device with no SIM still works as long as it's on your Wi-Fi.

Privacy

Video and audio stream directly between your two devices, encrypted, and never touch a server — the app's App Store label is “Data Not Collected.” See the Privacy Policy.

Still stuck?

Email amin@benarieb.com and I'll help.