Start together
Tap Gardens at the top of the screen to choose Little garden, Counting meadow or Colour garden. Try the birds and birdbath, the counting cloud or the coloured flowers together.
For parent controls, hold the leaf button for 1.5 seconds. With VoiceOver, activate Parent settings to open the same controls. Here you can adjust Garden sounds, turn on Spoken words, choose Less movement or say bye-bye to the birds.
Spoken words start off. Enable both Garden sounds and Spoken words to hear the garden phrases. Turn the iPhone’s silent mode off and check its volume.
Record a family voice
- Open Family voices in the grown-up area. Choose Add voice, give it a name and choose Create.
- Choose a garden section and a phrase. Open Record, then press Record on the preparation screen. Allow microphone access if you want to continue.
- Say the phrase and stop the recording. Each clip can be up to eight seconds.
- Choose Listen to recording, then Save recording. Nothing replaces an existing saved clip until you save.
- Choose Use this voice. Record as many of the nine phrases as you like; the built-in Garden voice fills in any gaps.
- Return to parent controls and make sure Garden sounds and Spoken words are enabled.
You can save more than one family voice and switch between them. Recordings stay on this phone and are excluded from backups.
Common questions
Why can’t I hear the birds?
Check Garden sounds, its volume slider and the iPhone’s volume. Garden playback respects silent mode, so turn silent mode off. To hear phrases too, turn on Spoken words. Previews inside the recording tools can play in silent mode even when the garden is quiet.
How does the counting cloud work?
Tap once, twice or three times. After one or two taps, a short pause gives your child time to finish before the birds take off. The third tap starts the flight straight away. Taps during a flight do not start another group; wait for the birds to land and try again.
Why does one phrase use the Garden voice?
A family voice only replaces phrases you have recorded and saved. The supplied Garden voice fills in any missing phrases. Open the selected profile in Family voices to add them.
Can I use it without microphone access?
Yes. The gardens, bird sounds and built-in spoken words work without it. Microphone access is only needed to record your own phrases. If you want to enable it later, find Bird, Bird! in your iPhone’s microphone privacy settings.
Can I move recordings to another phone?
Not currently. Family recordings are local to this iPhone and excluded from backups. There is no cloud sync or export feature. Deleting the app also deletes its recordings, so do not reinstall it as a troubleshooting step unless you are happy to record them again.
How do I make play calmer or finish?
Choose Less movement in parent controls. The app also follows the iPhone’s Reduce Motion setting. Choose Say bye-bye to the birds for a gentle ending, then open the grown-up area and choose Wake up the garden when you want to play again.
Does Bird, Bird! need the internet?
No. The three gardens, supplied sounds and narration, and saved family voices work offline. There are no ads, accounts or in-app purchases. Downloading the app from the App Store and sending a support email need a connection.
Which devices and languages are supported?
The initial release is designed for iPhone in portrait orientation, with iOS 17 or later. Its interface and supplied phrases are in English. You can record family phrases in the words you use at home.
Still need a hand?
When getting in touch, include your iPhone model, iOS version, app version and what happened. Please leave out children’s personal details and recordings.
Bird, Bird! is in preparation for release. This is the pre-release parent guide.