Managing Reminders
Help your loved ones keep track of their day. You can schedule medication reminders, calendar events, or add custom messages like "Call Nicholas" to display directly on the smart photo frame.
Detailed Reminder Scheduling Flow
Scheduling a reminder lets you put greetings, medication alerts, or calendar events on the smart photo frame in real-time. Follow the visual steps below to understand how the process works on your mobile companion app:
Step 1: Open the Action Menu
Just like uploading photos, start by tapping the floating purple Action Button (+) at the bottom-right of the dashboard. When the options slide up, tap the bell icon labelled Add What's happening next.
Step 2: Access Reminder Sheet
The app slides up a dedicated modal sheet from the bottom titled "Add What's happening next". This provides a focused form to type your message, configure duration flags, and select active alarm times.
Step 3: Enter Message
Tap the message text box and enter your reminder (e.g. "Lunch with Nicholas").
Character Limit Rule: To ensure that the alert text renders in large, legible, high-contrast typography on the physical smart frame in the living room, the app strictly enforces a 25-character limit. Watch the counter (e.g., 19/25) to make sure your message fits!
Step 4: Set Time and Schedule
Configure the active scheduling properties for this card:
- All Day Event Toggle: Flip this on if it's a general greeting or non-urgent reminder. The frame will keep the banner visible in rotation throughout the day.
- Select Date & Time: Tap the orange-outlined picker button to select an exact alarm time and configure weekly recurrence schedules (e.g. repeat every Tuesday).
Step 5: Alert pops up on Frame
At the designated time, the cloud triggers the event on the smart photo frame. The frame immediately pauses its photo rotation and displays a prominent, high-contrast, card widget on the screen containing your title message:
What's happening next
Lunch with Nicholas
Tap anywhere to dismissStep 6: Simple Physical Dismissal
To return the frame to the photo slideshow, the grandparent simply needs to **physically tap anywhere on the frame's touch screen**. The card will fade away immediately and notify the cloud database that the reminder was acknowledged.
Reminder Configuration & Validation Rules
To ensure reminders are legible and act as clear notices for elderly family members, the companion app enforces a few layout constraints and scheduling rules:
To guarantee that the text is displayed in a large, easily readable font size on the frame matting, description inputs are capped at 25 characters. A character counter (e.g., 19 / 25) dynamically colors red if you approach the boundary.
Toggle between All Day (appears as a persistent side banner throughout the day) or Time-Specific (interrupts the slideshow as a prominent alert overlay at the chosen hour, playing a notification tone).
When a grandparent taps the frame screen to dismiss an alert, the Player app sets the reminder document's status field to "acknowledged" in Cloud Firestore. The companion app listens to this stream and updates the status badge instantly.