How can we help?

What is TakeCareHQ?#

TakeCareHQ is a family care coordination app for the people and pets you love. It's used to track medications, feeding schedules, exercise, vet visits, and any other recurring care tasks — across the whole family, on every device, in real time.

Each family is a shared workspace. Everyone in the family sees the same schedule, and when one person taps "done" on their phone, every other family device updates within seconds.

How do I sign up?#

Download the app, tap Get started, choose your plan, enter your payment details, and you're in. The first 7 days are free — you won't be charged anything until the trial ends.

How long is the free trial?#

Every new account gets a 7-day free trial. You can use every feature during the trial. We don't charge your card until day 8, and you can cancel any time before then with no charge.

If you cancel before the trial ends, you'll still have access until the trial period is over.

How do I join a family that already uses TakeCareHQ?#

Ask the family Owner for their invite code (it's a 6-character code visible in their Settings page). On the welcome screen, tap I have an invite code, enter the code, and you'll join their family as a Member.

Members don't need their own subscription — the family Owner's subscription covers everyone in the family.

What's the difference between an invite code and a referral code?#

They're two different things and they look similar, so it's easy to confuse them:

• Invite code — joins someone else's family. Members use the same subscription as the Owner. No new account is created.
• Referral code — used during sign-up to create a NEW family with a discount. See Referrals below for the details.

How much does TakeCareHQ cost?#

We offer two plans:

• Monthly — billed every month at the monthly rate
• Yearly — billed once a year, at a lower per-month effective rate

See the home page for current pricing. Both plans give you the same features. The yearly plan is the most cost-effective if you know you'll use TakeCareHQ for at least 6 months.

Who pays for the family — the Owner or each member?#

Only the Owner pays. The subscription is attached to the family group, not to individual members. Once the Owner has an active subscription, every Member they invite has full access for free.

How many family members can I add?#

There's no hard limit. Add as many family members as you like — siblings, partners, caregivers, neighbours. Everyone in the family group sees the same schedule and can mark tasks done.

How do I cancel?#

Open Settings → tap Cancel subscription. The Owner is the only person who can cancel. After cancellation:

• You keep access until the end of the current billing period (or end of trial)
• No further charges
• Your data stays on the device. You can re-subscribe later and pick up where you left off.

What payment methods do you accept?#

All major credit and debit cards via Stripe — Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported on devices where they're available.

Where do I get receipts and invoices?#

Stripe automatically emails a receipt to the address you signed up with after every successful payment. If you need an older invoice or can't find one, contact support@takecarehq.com.

Can I get a refund?#

If something is genuinely broken or you were charged in error, yes — email support@takecarehq.com within 14 days of the charge and we'll work it out. We don't offer refunds for "I forgot to cancel" cases, but you should never be surprised by a charge — we send a reminder before billing you.

How do referrals work?#

Every TakeCareHQ account has a unique referral code (you can find yours in Settings). When a friend signs up using your code, both of you get one month of TakeCareHQ free — but the timing is different for each side. Read on for the details.

What does my friend get when they use my code?#

Your friend's first paid month is free, regardless of which plan they pick:

• If they choose the monthly plan, their first month after the 7-day trial is $0.
• If they choose the yearly plan, the equivalent of one month's value is taken off their first yearly invoice.

The discount is applied automatically at checkout — they'll see it on the Stripe payment page before they confirm. They don't have to do anything special after entering the code.

What do I get when someone uses my code?#

When your friend becomes a paying customer — meaning their second month bills successfully, after the trial AND the free month — you get a credit on your account worth one month of your current plan rate.

• If you're on the monthly plan, your next monthly invoice is $0.
• If you're on the yearly plan, the equivalent of one month is taken off your next yearly renewal.

You'll get a confirmation email when the credit is applied, and the credit shows up automatically on your next invoice from Stripe.

When exactly does my reward arrive? It hasn't shown up yet.#

This is the most common question, so let's walk through the timeline:

1. Day 0 — your friend signs up with your code. Nothing happens to your account yet.
2. Days 1–7 — your friend is in their free trial. Still nothing on your side.
3. Day 8 — your friend's trial ends. Their first month is FREE because of your code, so no money changes hands. Still nothing on your side.
4. Day ~38 (one month later) — your friend is billed for their second month. This is when your credit is applied.

If you're still in your own free trial when this happens, the credit waits on your Stripe customer balance until you become a paying customer yourself, then it's applied automatically to your first invoice.

I referred a friend — why doesn't my trial show extra days?#

The reward isn't a trial extension — it's a credit on your subscription. Your trial timer keeps counting down normally, and the credit is held on your Stripe account until your first real invoice (or your next invoice, if you're already paying), at which point it's deducted automatically.

This is why you might refer a friend during your trial and see no immediate change to "days remaining". The reward is real, it's just held until billing time.

How many people can I refer?#

As many as you like. Each successful referral (a friend who actually becomes a paying customer) gives you another one-month credit. The credits stack on your Stripe balance, so if 5 friends sign up and pay, you effectively get 5 months free.

What happens if my friend cancels before becoming a paying customer?#

No credit is issued. The reward is only triggered when a real payment goes through, so a friend who signs up and cancels during the trial (or during their free month) doesn't earn you anything. They still got their free month — that's between them and us.

Where do I find my referral code?#

Open the app → Settings → scroll to the Get 1 month FREE section. Your code is shown there. Tap Share to send it via WhatsApp, email, or any other app.

Where does my friend enter the code when they sign up?#

On the paywall step of sign-up — there's a "Have a referral code?" expandable section just above the plan picker. They tap it, type your code, and tap Apply. They'll see "Referral applied" confirmation before they continue to checkout.

What's the difference between an Owner and a Member?#

Owners can do everything: create / edit / delete care profiles and care items, remove members from the family, manage the subscription, and pair NFC tags. The Owner is the person who pays for the subscription.

Members can do everything except subscription management and member removal. They can mark tasks done, set up NFC tags, and edit care details. Most families have one Owner and several Members.

How do I invite someone to my family?#

Open Settings → copy or share your invite code (the 6-character code in the FAMILY section). Send it to the person you want to add. They'll download the app, choose I have an invite code on the welcome screen, and enter your code to join.

How do I remove someone from the family?#

Open the Care Team page, find the member, swipe left on their card, and tap Remove. Only Owners can do this. Removing someone immediately revokes their access to the family on every device they're signed in on.

Can I be an Owner of one family and a Member of another?#

Not in the current version. One account belongs to one family. We have multi-family support on the roadmap but it's not shipped yet. For now, if you need to be in two families at once, you'll need a separate account for each.

What is a care profile?#

A care profile is one of the people or pets you're caring for. Examples: "Grandma", "Bella the dog", "Dad's cat". Each profile has a name, an avatar (emoji or photo), and the schedule of care items associated with them.

How do I add a photo to a care profile?#

Open the care profile, tap the avatar circle, and choose either Take photo or Choose from album. The photo is uploaded to your account and synced to every family device — so when you add a photo on your phone, your sister sees it on hers within seconds.

I added profile photos yesterday and they're gone today.#

This was a real bug in older versions of the app — photos were stored locally on device but the sync layer wasn't downloading them on subsequent logins. It's fixed in the current version. If you're still seeing missing photos, please open the affected profile, tap the avatar, and re-upload. Once re-uploaded, the photo will sync correctly to every device.

How do I delete a care profile?#

Open the Care Profiles page, swipe left on the profile, and tap Delete. Only Owners can delete profiles. Deleting a profile also removes all of its scheduled care items and history.

How do I add a care item?#

Open the Schedule page → tap + Add in the top right → fill in the form: what it is, who it's for, what type, how often, and what time. Tap Add care item to save.

How do I add a task that happens multiple times a day?#

In the add/edit sheet, scroll down to the What time? section. There's an + Add another time button — tap it to add additional times for the same task. A medication taken three times a day becomes one card with three time chips, not three separate items.

What kinds of repeat schedules are supported?#

• Just once — a single date (e.g. "vet visit on March 14")
• Every day — daily, at one or more times
• Specific days — only on the days of the week you pick (e.g. Mon/Wed/Fri)
• Each month — on a specific day of the month (e.g. day 1 every month)
• Each year — on a specific month and day (e.g. May 12 every year)

How do I edit a care item?#

On the Schedule page, tap anywhere on the card you want to edit. The whole card is interactive — there's a small › chevron on the right as a visual hint. The edit sheet opens with all the current values pre-filled.

How do I delete a care item?#

Two ways:

• Swipe left on the card and tap the red Delete button
• Or tap the card to open the edit sheet, then tap Delete this item at the bottom

Only Owners can delete care items.

What do the colors on my schedule cards mean?#

• Grey — pending, not yet due
• Blue — in progress (someone has checked in but not checked out)
• Green — done
• Amber/red — overdue, the time window has passed without anyone marking it done

Each time-of-day chip on a multi-time card has its own color, so you can see at a glance that the morning dose is done but the evening one is still pending.

What are NFC tags and why would I use them?#

NFC tags are tiny stickers you can buy online for around 30¢ each. You stick one on a medicine bottle, a feeding bowl, or anywhere else, and pair it with a care item in TakeCareHQ. After that, anyone in the family can just tap their phone against the tag to mark the task as "in progress" or "done" — no need to open the app, find the item, and tap a button.

It's especially useful for elderly family members and caregivers who want a frictionless way to log care without learning a new app interface.

How do I set up an NFC tag?#

1. Buy NFC tags (NTAG213 or NTAG215 are good defaults)
2. Open the Schedule page, find the care item you want to pair
3. Tap the card → tap Set up NFC tag in the action row
4. Follow the wizard: tap Start scanning, hold the tag against the back of your phone
5. Tap Continue through the review screen

That's it. Once paired, the tag is synced to every family device so anyone can use it.

What kind of NFC tags should I buy?#

Look for NTAG213 or NTAG215 stickers. These are the most widely-supported, work with both iPhones and Android phones, and are cheap. You can find them on Amazon or any electronics retailer.

NTAG213 has 144 bytes of writeable memory (enough for what we use), and NTAG215 has 504 bytes — both work fine for TakeCareHQ.

Why do I have to tap a button before scanning a tag on iPhone?#

iOS requires explicit user interaction before opening an NFC reading session — Apple's privacy rules. So on iPhone there's an NFC button at the top of the Home screen that you tap before scanning. On Android we use foreground dispatch, which means the phone listens for tags continuously while the app is open and you don't need to tap anything first.

What if two family members tap the same tag at the same time?#

The first tap registers as "in progress" or "done". A second tap within the item's grace window will show a warning that someone else has already started or completed the task — preventing accidental double-doses of medication.

NFC scanning isn't working on my phone.#

Check the following:

• Your phone supports NFC (most phones from 2015+ do — iPhone 7 and newer, all modern Androids)
• NFC is enabled in your phone's system Settings (Android only — iOS has it always on)
• You're holding the tag against the right part of the phone — for iPhone it's the very top, for Android it's usually the middle of the back
• The tag is an NTAG213 or NTAG215 — older tag types may not be supported

When do I get notified about a care task?#

You get a notification a few minutes before each scheduled care item is due. The default is 15 minutes before, and you can change it in Settings → Reminder lead time.

If a care item happens three times a day, you get three reminders that day — one for each time slot.

How does snooze work?#

When a notification arrives, swipe down on it (or long-press) to see the action buttons: Snooze 5 min and Snooze 10 min. Tapping one re-schedules that specific reminder for later. Snoozing one occurrence does NOT affect future reminders for the same care item.

How do I turn notifications off?#

Open Settings → toggle Notifications off. This stops all reminders for this device. Other family members' devices are unaffected.

I'm not getting notifications. Why?#

Most common reasons:

• System notifications are blocked for TakeCareHQ — check your device's Settings → Notifications → TakeCareHQ → Allow Notifications
• The "Notifications" toggle in TakeCareHQ Settings is off
• You're on iOS 15 or earlier (we support iOS 15+ but some older iOS versions are flaky with local notifications)
• Battery optimization (Android only) — your device might be killing the app in the background. Add TakeCareHQ to the "Don't optimize" list in your phone's battery settings.

When someone else in the family marks a task done, do I get notified?#

Yes — you get a push notification like "Anna completed Morning insulin". This happens in real time, within a few seconds of your family member tapping done. You can see the same activity in the Family activity section on the Home page.

Where is my data stored?#

Two places:

• On your device — local SQLite database, so the app works offline and is fast
• On our backend — encrypted at rest, hosted on Microsoft Azure (SQL Server for structured data, Azure Blob Storage for photos), used to sync between family devices

Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS / TLS) and at rest. We never sell your data, never run ads, and never share information with third parties for marketing.

Who in my family can see what?#

Every member of a family group can see all the care profiles, care items, schedules, and activity history for that family. The whole point of the app is shared visibility — so by design, there's no per-item privacy within a family.

People outside the family can never see any of your data.

How do I delete my account and all my data?#

Email support@takecarehq.com from the address you signed up with and ask for account deletion. We'll permanently remove all your data within 14 days and confirm by email when it's done. (We're working on a self-service "Delete account" button in Settings, but for now this is the fastest way.)

Can I export my data?#

Not yet, but it's on the roadmap. If you need a copy of your data for any reason (medical records, vet, insurance), email support@takecarehq.com and we'll send you a CSV export of your care logs.

Changes I make on one device aren't showing up on another.#

First check that both devices are signed into the same family group (Settings → check the family name and invite code match).

If they are, the issue is usually one of:

• The other device's app isn't running. Open it and pull-to-refresh on any list page.
• The other device is offline. Sync resumes automatically when it reconnects.
• Real-time sync (SignalR) is dropped. Force-quit the app and reopen it on the affected device.

If sync is still broken after that, please contact support.

I uploaded a photo and it's not showing on another device.#

Photo sync runs in the background after the upload completes. Pull-to-refresh on the affected device, or close and reopen the app. The photo should appear within a few seconds.

If you're still seeing the placeholder avatar after that, the upload may have failed silently due to a network issue. Re-upload the photo from the original device.

I can't sign in.#

Use the Forgot password link on the sign-in screen — it'll send a reset link to your email. Check your spam folder if you don't see it within a minute or two.

If you're still locked out, email support@takecarehq.com and we'll help you recover the account.

The app crashes when I open it.#

Force-quit the app and reopen. If it still crashes, uninstall and reinstall — your data is safe on our backend and will sync back to the device after you sign in.

If reinstalling doesn't help, please email support@takecarehq.com with your device model, OS version, and what you were doing right before the crash. That information helps us fix it fast.

How do I contact support?#

Email support@takecarehq.com. We read every message personally and try to respond within one business day.