Turn a spare Android tablet into a toddler sleep clock
Yes. A tablet you already have, kept across the room and plugged in, does what a sleep trainer clock does, and SlumberPal is free to start. This page says what it needs, how to keep the tablet on the app, and what to do on holiday or at the grandparents' house.
What it needs
- An Android tablet or phone, with SlumberPal from Google Play. iPad is coming later.
- A parent’s phone with SlumberPal in Parent mode, where the family, the sleep times and the pal are set up. One tablet can do both jobs if that is all you have.
- Wi-Fi for setup and for changes from your phone. The pal, the stars and the grown-up PIN work on the screen itself, even offline.
- A charger. A sleep runs all night with the screen on, so plug the tablet in and set it across the room from the bed.
Keeping the tablet on SlumberPal
A toddler will tap the screen. The grown-up controls sit behind the grown-up PIN, so a tap reaches nothing, and a child-sized information panel is the only thing that opens without the PIN. To stop the tablet leaving the app altogether, use Android’s screen pinning: you can exit it at any time. SlumberPal’s Quiet this tablet step asks once for Do Not Disturb access, then turns quiet mode on for each sleep and off at wake, so other apps' notifications and calls are less likely to wake your child. Clock alarms set on the tablet still ring. SlumberPal does its best here, and cannot promise that no other app will ever make a sound.
Brightness and sound
The night scene is dark and still. The screen’s brightness is on the quick bar behind the PIN, and so is the volume: SlumberPal starts quiet and never plays above a volume cap that you can lower. It never changes the tablet’s own volume, so set that low too. SlumberPal does not make any claim about safe listening levels. More on what the screen shows at night is on screens and sleep.
Holidays and the grandparents' house
Take the tablet with you, or set up a second screen there. When the tablet is in a different time zone, SlumberPal asks: keep home times, or use the new time zone from the next sleep. Nothing changes unless you choose. The sleep times, the pal and the sounds travel with the family, so the routine is the same wherever they sleep.
Several screens, several grown-ups
Each child has a screen; the whole family shares one grown-up PIN; every grown-up’s phone can see what a screen is showing and send it a sleep, a wake or an activity while the app is open on it. With Plus, that includes grandparents and carers on their own phones.
Questions
Can I use an old phone instead of a tablet?
Yes. SlumberPal runs on Android phones too. The Pal Screen fits a phone either way up; the pal and the stars are smaller.
Does the tablet need to stay online all night?
No. The sleep runs on the screen itself. Only a change sent from your phone needs the tablet online, and the app tells you if it did not apply.
Will my child be able to get out of the app?
With screen pinning on, not without a grown-up. Without it, Android’s home button still works, so turn pinning on for the bedroom tablet.
Is SlumberPal free?
Yes to start. The clock, Pyjama Ted, the stars, naps and the basic sounds are free. Plus adds remote control for every grown-up, the full sound library, every stock pal and the activities, and every new family gets 14 days of it with no card. See plans and prices.
What about an iPad?
Coming later. On an iPad the equivalent of screen pinning is Guided Access, with Display Auto-Lock set to Never.