You manage who can call and text your child from your Bark parent app or dashboard. How contacts and emergency calling work on the watch itself depends on your model.
Turn Contact Approval on or off
Follow the section for the watch your child wears.
Samsung model
Samsung model
You can turn Contact Approval on or off from your dashboard.
On your parent app / dashboard, tap your child's profile.
Scroll down to Other.
Turn Require contact approval on or off.
Turning it off lets your child call and text any number. Turning it on limits them to approved and emergency contacts.
Schok model
Schok model
Contact Approval is always on and cannot be turned off.
Types of contacts
✅ Approved Contacts — Allows calls and texts to and from this number (unless blocked by your routines).
*️⃣ Emergency Contacts — Always allows calls and texts to and from this number (unless the text app is blocked).
🚫 Unapproved Contacts — Blocks calls and texts to and from this number.
Allow or block contacts
Open up your Bark parent app / dashboard.
Under your child's name, tap Add contacts.
Enter in the phone number you'd like to block or unblock.
If you have other children with a Bark Phone or Watch, you can quickly copy that contact to them as well.
Don't see this? It won't appear if Contact Approval is disabled for the other child.
You can always edit contacts you've added by tapping your child's name and scrolling down to Contacts.
When an unapproved contact reaches out:
Text messages and calls from them won't show up for your child.
Their calls to your child won't go through.
They won't be able to leave a voicemail.
Schedule what types of contacts can call with routines
On your Bark parent app / dashboard, tap your child's name.
Scroll down to Who can be contacted.
Under Settings, make your changes:
Tap Emergency only if you only want your kid to be able to text and call emergency contacts during this current routine.
Tap All contacts if you want your kid to be able to text and call any approved contacts during this current routine.
Repeat for any other routines you've scheduled.
Open contacts
Follow the section for the watch your child wears.
Samsung model
Samsung model
Press the top button to go to the watch face.
From the watch face, swipe up to open the Apps screen.
Tap Contacts, or tap Phone and then Contacts.
Schok model
Schok model
Quickest way: short-press the bottom side button (labeled SOS) twice.
Other way: short-press the top side button to open the home screen, swipe from left to right to open the apps list, then tap
Contacts.
Call an emergency contact
Follow the section for the watch your child wears.
Samsung model
Samsung model
Press the top button to go to the watch face.
From the watch face, swipe up to open the Apps screen.
Tap Contacts, or tap Phone and then Contacts.
Tap an emergency contact, then tap Call or Message.
Schok model
Schok model
Method A
Method A
Short-press the top side button to wake up the watch, if applicable.
Short-press the bottom side button (labeled SOS on the watch).
Tap Emergency Contact to start calling emergency contacts directly. If the first call is not answered within 20 seconds, it will call the next emergency contact on the list.
Note: Emergency contacts and 911/988 are separate. The watch will never automatically call 911 or 988.
Method B
Method B
Short-press the top side button to wake up the watch, if applicable.
Long-press the bottom side button (labeled SOS on the watch) to start calling emergency contacts directly. If the first call is not answered within 20 seconds, it will call the next emergency contact on the list.
Note: Emergency contacts and 911/988 are separate. The watch will never automatically call 911 or 988.
Call 911 or 988 (SOS)
Follow the section for the watch your child wears.
Samsung model
Samsung model
The Samsung model uses Samsung's built-in Emergency SOS. It is preset to call 911 and cannot be customized.
Press the Home button, the top right button, 5 times quickly.
Swipe the Emergency call icon to the right to call 911.
If the icon is not swiped within a few seconds, the screen closes on its own, which helps prevent accidental 911 calls.
Your child can also press and hold the Home button, tap Emergency call, then tap the emergency call icon again.
The Samsung model does not have a built-in 988 button, but your child can dial or text 988 by hand if they need it by using the Phone app on their watch.
Schok model
Schok model
Method A
Method A
Short-press the top side button to wake up the watch, if applicable.
Now, short-press the bottom side button (labeled SOS on the watch).
Scroll down.
Tap 911 SOS Call or 988 Lifeline to start calling those emergency services directly.
Method B
Method B
Short-press the top side button to wake up the watch, if applicable.
Quickly short-press the top side button once and the bottom side button (labeled SOS on the watch) twice.
Swipe right on the SOS Call button to call 911.
Does the SOS button automatically call 911?
No, "SOS" is just the name printed on the button, not all it does. As you can see throughout this article, it's used to open contacts, call emergency contacts, and more.
Calling emergency services (911 or 988) requires multiple deliberate steps and button presses. This means your child won't accidentally dial emergency services by bumping the watch or pressing the wrong button but can still reach them in an emergency.