This article aims to help you troubleshoot and fix any technical issues you may encounter on the Bark Phone.
Stuck During Initial Setup
Take care of it by following this guide:
Error Encountered When Signing Into Google Play
To manage Play Store access from your dashboard, check out this guide.
If you enable the App Store access for your child, Google will require your child to sign in with a Google account to be able to download apps. Make sure you're not blocking Google in your screen time rules for the Google Workspace, Collaboration, and App Stores categories.
Even with the above checked, some Google accounts will run into trouble signing into the Bark Phone. Learn more:
Error Encountered When Installing an App on Google Play
Sounds like you have enabled additional parental control settings on the Google Play app.
Take care of it below:
Google Play Store App is Missing
You may have accidentally blocked Google Play, which hides it from the device.
Take care of it with our guide:
All Bark Phone Apps are Grayed Out / Suspended
Bark's tamper protections have kicked in most likely.
Let's fix it:
Rules Changes Taking a Long Time
If you've adjusted a rule and haven't yet seen it apply on your child's device, there's a couple of reasons this may be happening:
Camera App is Missing
You may have accidentally blocked the Camera app, which hides it from the device.
Take care of it with our guide:
Texting App is Blocked
You may have accidentally blocked the orange Messages app. When blocked, it becomes grayed out and inaccessible.
Take care of it with our guide:
Can't make calls
You may be in an area with low reception, or you may need to make some settings adjustments.
Take care of it with our guide:
Monitoring Alerts
Bark goes beyond blocking access — it analyzes content on texts, photos, videos, and more. If it detects instances of depression, bullying, drug use, suicidal thoughts, or anything else that may be alarming, it will alert you.
If you are feeling like most alerts you receive are too mild, re-evaluate your alert sensitivity settings for that child.
If you've received an alert that you believe to be a false positive, or if you're unsure whether an issue actually exists, don't hesitate to contact us. We understand the importance of accurate and reliable alerts, and your feedback helps us improve our accuracy.
Location Alerts
We've put together a guide that can help you troubleshoot Location Alerts. Please note that you may need to allow the Settings app temporarily to adjust some of the settings discussed in this guide:
Forgot lock screen PIN or password
We're sorry to hear that! If your kid forgot their lock screen PIN, password, or pattern for the Bark Phone, please contact us for next steps.
Ran out of storage
You have a few options to address this! If your kid used up most of their internal phone storage, you can...
Move photos and videos to free online storage platforms like Google Photos, Google Drive, or Dropbox.
Buy and insert an SD card to expand the storage on the phone.