BellnoteFrom download to "how did I live without this" in five minutes.
Bellnote walks you through four short steps the first time you open it. Here's what each one does, how to get your school's messages flowing in, and the features worth trying in your first week.
Your first five minutes
Sign in with your email address. Bellnote sends you a 6-digit code (no password to remember), and then guides you through these four steps.
Name your family
Give your family a name, like "The Millers", and add your first name. This is your shared space: everything Bellnote finds goes here.
Add your kids and their schools, in one sentence
Type or say who your kids are and where they go to school, like "Emma's in 3rd and Jack's in 5th at Oak Elementary in Oakland". To say it, tap the microphone on your keyboard. Bellnote fills in each kid and finds their school among more than 100,000 US schools; check them and tap Add 2 kids. If a school isn't matched, pick it from the search. You can also add kids one at a time.
Each kid gets a first name and a colour, plus an emoji if you like. That's their "magnet": everything for them is pinned with it, so you can see whose it is at a glance. Bellnote never asks for a photo or birthday. Once the school is picked, the magic starts:
- Bellnote finds the school and district calendars on their websites and adds no-school days, minimum days and early releases.
- It looks for the bell schedule, so Today shows the school day's hours.
- Grade and activities ("U9 soccer", "piano") help it tell which kid a message is about.
Send your first message
Grab a real one: the latest school newsletter, a flyer from the backpack, a coach's text. Paste it, snap it or pick a screenshot, and tap Read it.
Within seconds, Bellnote pulls out every date, deadline, thing to bring and payment, and pins each one to the right kid. This is the moment most parents get it.
Never miss tomorrow
Turn on notifications and pick your times. You'll get two short notes a day, and you can change or turn off either in Settings.
- Morning brief: what's on today, for every kid.
- Evening heads-up: tomorrow's short days, early starts, and what to bring, pay, hand in or finish for homework, while there's still time to get it ready.
Getting school messages in
Use whichever ways suit your family. The more that flows in, the less you have to think about. Everything lands on the same calendar, and if the same news arrives twice, it shows up once.
Snap a flyer
Paper from the backpack, the fridge calendar, a weekly homework sheet.
Tap + Add, then Snap a flyer.
Share from any app
A team app, a text, a PDF, a screenshot. If you can share it, Bellnote can read it.
Tap Share in that app, then choose Bellnote.
Forward class group messages, flyer photos and PDFs to Bellnote on WhatsApp. It replies with what it added, and asks which kid when it isn't sure. Only what you forward is read, and the text is never stored.
Once: Settings, WhatsApp, Link my WhatsApp, then send the code WhatsApp fills in. After that, press and hold a message, tap Forward and choose Bellnote. Each parent links their own.
Forward school email, or let it forward itself
Your family has its own private Bellnote email address (find it in Settings, Email forwarding). Forward any school email there, attachments and all. Bellnote reads the PDFs too.
To make it automatic with Gmail, do this once on a computer:
- In Gmail, open Settings, then See all settings, then Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
- Choose Add a forwarding address and paste your Bellnote address.
- Gmail sends a confirmation code. Bellnote catches it and shows it to you in a notification. Type it into Gmail.
- Create a filter for your school's emails (for example, from @oakschools.org), and choose Forward it to your Bellnote address.
Use Outlook, Hotmail or Microsoft 365? Skip the forwarding: in Settings, Outlook, agree to email reading and sign in with Microsoft. Bellnote then picks up email from your allowed senders by itself, about every 10 minutes.
School uses ParentSquare, Remind or ClassDojo? In Settings, School and team apps, pick it. Bellnote shows how to turn on its emails and allows them in one tap. Team apps like TeamSnap and GameChanger are there too, with where to find their calendar link.
Finish setting up
Today shows a short "Finish setting up" list until you've done these. Each takes under a minute, and each makes Bellnote noticeably more useful.
- Invite your partner. Settings, Invite, and share the code. You'll both see and tick off the same things, and each gets their own notifications.
- Add to your calendar. Settings, Calendar. Bellnote puts everything into the calendar app you already use, and keeps it up to date when plans change. There's also a link for a computer.
- Add weekly classes. Settings, Weekly classes: piano every Tuesday at 4, soccer Mondays and Wednesdays. Add once, they repeat.
- Put a widget on your home screen. Long-press your home screen, tap + (iPhone) or Widgets (Android), and choose Bellnote. The next thing coming up, or the next thing to do, without opening the app.
- Lock the app if you like. Settings, App lock, with a code or your fingerprint or face.
Six things to try in your first week
Once messages are flowing in, these are the features parents tell us they'd now miss most.
Snap the homework sheet
Photograph the class's weekly homework sheet. Each assignment becomes its own item on the day it's due, under each kid in the Homework section on Today. Tick them off as they're done.
Catch pickup clashes
When two pickups overlap, or are too far apart to make it in time, Bellnote warns you on Today. Pick who's driving on any event, and that parent gets a reminder before they need to leave.
Ask Bellnote
Tap the speech bubble on Today and ask in plain words: "What does Emma need for the field trip?" or "When's the next day off?" The answer shows where it came from.
The bell on Today
Missed a notification? Tap the bell for everything Bellnote told you in the last 30 days, with the new ones highlighted. Each one opens what it's about.
"Which kid is this for?"
When a message doesn't say, Bellnote asks with one-tap buttons instead of guessing. In the app, and on WhatsApp too.
Watch it keep up
Forward the coach's "practice moved to Thursday" text. The existing event moves, with a note of what changed. Open any item to see every message it came from.
If something isn't right
Something I sent didn't show up
Check the Review tab. Bellnote holds anything it isn't sure about, and the first email from a new sender, for you to check. If a message had nothing dated in it (a thank-you note, a newsletter with no asks), Bellnote leaves it out on purpose.
An event has the wrong date, time or kid
Tap it and change it, or remove it. Bellnote reads messages with AI and can make mistakes, so check anything important against the original. Every item shows the message it came from.
I'm not getting the evening heads-up
In Settings, check that the evening heads-up is on and has a time. Tap Turn on notifications there: if something is blocking them, Bellnote explains what, and offers to open your phone's settings to fix it.
My school's calendar wasn't found
Not every school publishes its calendar in a form Bellnote can find. In Settings, open Schools and paste a link to the calendar or bell schedule, or just snap a photo of the paper one.
Still stuck?
Email support@bellnote.app and we'll get back to you within two working days.
Ready when you are.
Bellnote is coming soon to iPhone and Android. Want to try it first? Send us a note and we'll add you to early access.
Get early access