Make their book

Help with My Doodle World

We're a very small team and we read every message. If something isn't working, or you have a question about your child's data, email us at [email protected]. We reply within 2 working days and aim to have things sorted within 10 working days. Requests to see or delete your data are handled within one month, as UK data protection law requires, and usually much sooner.

It helps if you tell us which device you're using (iPad or iPhone), what you were trying to do, and roughly when it happened. Please don't send us your child's name or pictures: we don't need them to help.

The Grown-ups area

Everything to do with money, settings and links out of the app sits behind a grown-up check. Tap the padlock in the top corner of the home screen. The first time, you set a 4-digit grown-up PIN; after that, enter it to get in. You can also switch on Face ID or Touch ID, which only works for the face or finger set up on the device. After three wrong tries the check pauses for a little while, and longer if it keeps happening. Forgotten your PIN? Tap Forgot PIN and use Face ID, Touch ID or the device passcode to set a new one.

In the Grown-ups area you can:

  • add up to four children, each with their own pictures, stickers and books
  • change a child's name, colour or story words (she/her or he/him), or delete a child
  • open each child's Grown-ups corner (below)
  • join, manage or restore Doodle Club
  • make a personalised book
  • restore purchases
  • switch on "Apple Pencil only", so a resting hand doesn't colour
  • delete what's stored on this device

If your child taps something marked with a padlock, they see a small card that says it's for grown-ups. They never see a price or a buy button.

The Grown-ups corner: settings for each child

Each child has their own corner, and the settings travel with that child's profile on this device.

  • Time: a daily play limit (off, or 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes) and quiet hours. When time is up, the game being played finishes its round first, then the world goes to sleep until tomorrow, or until you give more time.
  • Sensory and pace: fewer moving things, a plain background, quiet sounds, no surprises, the time left shown as a crayon, one thing at a time, bigger buttons and a gentler pace, and "same every time" (no seasonal changes). Each switch works on its own, and there are presets that switch several on together.
  • Celebrations: Doodle World decorates for celebrations through the year. You can keep them all, choose which ones, or have none. A celebration that's off shows the season instead.
  • Content: switch off things like spooky-ish scenes, water, heights, loud sounds, pirates, dinosaurs or food. Anything that's off simply isn't there; your child isn't told it's been hidden.
  • Places, games and videos: rest a place on the map, or switch big games, mini-games or videos off.
  • Sound: character voices and music.
  • Usage: a summary of the last 30 days, worked out on this device.

These settings and the usage summary are kept on the iPad or iPhone only. Nothing in the corner is sent to us.

Personalised books

You choose up to three things your child loves, a level (easy, medium or tricky), 10 or 20 pages and whether to add a little story starring them. Your child's name is added to the pages on your device; it's never sent to us.

  • "Still being made": if the book doesn't appear straight away, it's paid for and the app keeps trying. You'll see it in the Grown-ups area. Leave the app open with a connection for a minute, or open it again later.
  • "Choose other themes": sometimes the themes picked don't have enough pages at that level for the size you bought. You haven't lost anything: the Grown-ups area asks you to pick other themes to finish the book.
  • If the story couldn't be written, the book is still made with its picture captions, and the app tells you. Email us and we'll help.
  • If Ask to Buy is on, the book appears once the purchase is approved.

Using the app offline

Much of the app works without a connection:

  • Pictures your child has coloured, their stickers and their books are on the device.
  • A colouring page that has been opened once is kept on the device and works offline after that. A few free pages are built in for the very first launch.
  • The games are built into the app and work offline.
  • Story videos play over the internet, so they need a connection.
  • Buying, restoring, making a book and loading new Doodle Club pages need a connection.

Deleting your data

Almost everything in the app lives on your device, so you're in control of it.

  • Delete a child: Grown-ups area, tap the child, then Delete this child. This removes their pictures, drawings and game progress on this device. Their books stay in the app as shared books, because they're purchases.
  • Delete everything on this device: Grown-ups area, Privacy, Delete everything on this device. This removes all artwork, pictures, books and children's profiles on this device. Your purchases stay on your Apple Account and can be restored.
  • Delete the app: removes everything the app has stored on the device.

We don't hold an account for you, your child's name or their pictures. What our server does keep for a book is the list of pages and the themes and level chosen, tied to Apple's purchase reference and nothing about you. If you'd like that record deleted, email us. Our privacy policy at mydoodleworld.com/privacy explains the details.

Accessibility

  • No reading is needed to play: buttons are pictures, and many have a recorded voice line you can hear with a long press.
  • Tap to fill colours a whole shape at once, so small hands don't have to stay inside the lines.
  • The Sensory and pace settings in each child's corner reduce movement, sound and surprises, and can make buttons bigger and the pace gentler.
  • Character voices and music can each be switched off.
  • Apple Pencil only stops a resting hand from colouring.

If something in the app is hard for your child to use, please tell us. We'd like to know.