Hi Mom support

A short FAQ. The rest of the help is in the app.

Email reynoldtech@gmail.com if this page and the in-app help are not enough. There is no ticket desk.

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What is Hi Mom?

A simple accessibility app. One person types or dictates on their phone. The other phone shows the message big enough to read from a chair. It is for in-room or remote check-ins — not a full chat history.

Which phone is which?

Reader is the phone that displays. It creates the Room Key and should stay on the room screen while you talk.

Scribe is the phone you type or dictate on, then Send. Scribe stays portrait for a steady typing layout. Reader can rotate.

Can I try it if I only have one phone?

The usual setup is two phones: one types (Scribe), one shows the words large (Reader). You do not have to own both.

Ask a friend to open Reader and send you the Room Key, then you type on Scribe. Or you open Reader and send them the key.

With one phone you can still open the app, read Home help, and see which role is which.

How do we connect?

1. Open Reader and note the Room Key (or the QR).
2. On Scribe: paste the Room Key in Settings and Connect, or scan the QR with the system camera (it opens a himom:// link).
3. Send a message — it should appear large on the Reader.

What is the Room Key?

It identifies this room in the cloud. Anyone with the key can join. Treat it like a shared family password. If a key gets out, make a new one on the Reader.

Do not post a Room Key on a public Group or in an email unless you want that person to open the room.

How do we send a message?

On Scribe, type or use the keyboard microphone, then Send. Enter starts a new line on the Reader the same way. Clear empties the room message.

Reader: leave the app open on the message. Use the key icon if you need the Room Key panel again.

What is the sender greeting? Greeting under the message?

Optional. Type the greeting as it should appear (for example - Your Bunsu). On the title bar it is the title, a space, then the greeting.

Greeting under message (off unless you turn it on) puts that greeting on a new line at the bottom of the message when you Send, so another person typing can see who wrote it.

Hide title hides the bar only. The greeting line in the message still shows if that toggle is on.

Why doesn’t the Reader show what I typed?

Usual causes: Scribe is not Connected to that Room Key, you have not pressed Send, the Reader is not on the room screen, or the Reader made a new key and Scribe still has the old one (Scribe will show unpaired). Settings changes save on the Scribe phone with Apply; Send updates the Reader.

If I close Reader, does the last picture or clock stay?

No. When Reader opens again it goes back to waiting, same as Clear. Send (or Show) again.

Does it keep old messages?

No. The room holds the current message. A new Send replaces it. That is on purpose.

Do we need an account?

No. No email login in the app. The Room Key is access. Details: privacy.

Can more than one person type?

Yes. More than one Scribe can share the same room. Last Send wins for the text on the Reader. Basic is still one Reader.

What is Pro?

Optional extras in the same app — photos, albums, clock, more themes and alerts, and optional Google Drive for photos off Wi‑Fi. You do not need Pro for large text. On Home, when this phone is Basic, a get Pro chip next to the smile opens What’s in Pro. Try Pro is one week, once, in the app. Then $9.99 for one year, or $29.99 for the lifetime of the app. Buy in the app, not on this site. Settings help in the app labels Pro topics even when Pro is not active, so you can see what it includes.

What do you use the Google Drive Link for? Why is it needed?

It is for photos and photo albums when the two phones are not on the same Wi‑Fi — and for saving named albums so you can open them later.

Hi Mom does not keep your family photos on our computers. Pictures stay on the phones, and when needed in a Hi Mom folder on your Google Drive.

Getting a picture onto Mom’s phone:

• Same Wi‑Fi at home: the picture goes straight from your phone to hers. You do not need Drive.
• Different places / not the same Wi‑Fi: your phone puts that picture in your Drive; hers picks it up. Link is signing in with Google so Hi Mom can use that folder.

Photos vs Photo Albums:

• Photos is the scratch pile. Show puts one picture on Mom’s phone.
• Photo Albums is a named set (vacation, grandkids, church). Show is still one picture. Play runs the whole set on her phone. You can Keep, Save, Open, Rename, or Delete an album. Saved albums live in your Drive so you can open them after you restart the app. Hi Mom does not throw those saved albums away when it tidies up.

When a picture actually lands on Mom’s phone, her phone also keeps a copy in a Hi Mom album in her gallery. That is hers, on her phone — not the Drive folder.

You do not need Link to type a message, send it, make the words huge, or pair the phones. You do not need it if you only Show photos while you are both on home Wi‑Fi and you never save an album.

If you Show photos when you are apart, or you Keep an album, tap Link and sign in with Google.

If Google says it has not verified the app, tap Continue. That is normal.

Can I try a test version before it is on the public store?

Yes. Be a tester — join the ReynoldTech testers group, then opt in on Google Play with the same Gmail.

Where is the rest of the help?

In the app: home ⓘ for roles and pairing. After you open Scribe, Settings → ⓘ next to a control, or Settings help for the full list.

How do I contact you?

reynoldtech@gmail.com. Say you mean Hi Mom, and which phones (Reader / Scribe) if you can. Do not send a Room Key unless you intend that we can open that room.