Dog’s Best Friend — Support
Getting started
- Add your dog. Tap + on the home screen to create a profile — photo, breed, weight, birthday, and more.
- Start a walk. Tap the walk button, choose your dogs, and the route, distance, and time are tracked — even with the screen off or the phone in your pocket. Only Finish ends a walk, and a banner on the home screen takes you back to it.
- Drop a pin in one tap. Spot a hazard, a water bowl, or a friendly dog? Tap Drop Pin (or + on the home banner) to mark it right where you are, then pick the type. Tap any pin later to change it, add a note or photo, or delete it.
- Log the day. Use the quick buttons on the home screen to log an activity or give medications in seconds.
- See your history. Tap the Map button for a list of every walk and activity, plus map views of all your routes and dropped pins. Open any walk for its full detail, add notes, or tap the star to favorite it.
- Open a dog’s page. Tap a dog to reach Stats, Weight history, Photos, Audio clips, Food, Appointments, Medications, Vet info, Tracking, and a shareable Vet Report.
- Stay on top of things. Turn on reminders in Settings for medications, appointments, and the daily weather.
- Don’t miss their birthday. Set a birthday on your dog’s profile and the app wishes them a happy one at 9am on the day. Tap the greeting and the app opens on balloons and confetti, then a birthday card you can share. Turn it off any time under Birthday greetings in Settings.
- Use your Apple Watch. Start and track walks from your wrist, and log activities, medications, and weight there too — everything syncs back to your iPhone. Add the paw complication to a watch face to open the app in a single tap.
Walks
Do I have to keep the walk screen open?
No. Once a walk is started it keeps running — tracking distance and time — even if you close or swipe away the walk screen. A “Walk in progress” banner appears on the home screen; tap it to jump back in. Only the Finish button ends a walk.
What if I forget to finish a walk?
The app will notice. After a stretch without movement you’ll get a “Still walking?” check-in with two choices: Still Walking keeps the walk going, Finish ends it right then. If nothing is answered, the walk is ended for you and stamped where you actually stopped moving — so a forgotten walk never runs all day.
What is the Live Activity on my Lock Screen?
While a walk is running, its time, distance, and pin count stay on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, so you can check progress without unlocking. Tap it to jump straight back into the walk. It clears itself when you finish.
The app ended my walk — can I fix the time?
Yes. A walk that ended on its own is marked “Ended automatically” in its detail view, with the end time right there to adjust. Open it from your history, set the correct time, and tap Save.
Where can I see my past walks?
Tap the Map button on the home screen. It opens your history — a scrollable list of every walk and activity, plus Pins and Routes maps showing everything you’ve recorded. Sort the list by date, distance, duration, location, type, or favorites.
Can I add notes or favorite a walk?
Yes. Open a walk from your history to see its route and pins, jot notes, or tap the star to favorite it. Then sort your history by favorites to find them fast.
What’s the small badge on the walk screen?
During a walk it shows how distance is being measured — Apple Watch, Phone GPS, Phone Steps, or Auto — so it’s always clear where the number comes from. When your watch is connected a small watch icon lights up green. Choose your preferred source under Distance Source in Settings.
Pins & the map
How do I drop and manage pins?
During a walk, tap Drop Pin or the + on the home banner to drop a pin right where you are, then pick its type. To fix a mistake, tap the pin — on the walk map, in a walk’s detail, or on the Pins map — to change its type, add a note or photo, or delete it.
Apple Watch
What can I do on the Apple Watch?
Start and track walks from your wrist, and log activities, medications, and weight — all of it syncs to your iPhone. A quick weather glance sits at the top of the walk start screen. Map and history stay on the phone, where there’s room for them.
How do I add the watch complication?
On your watch, press and hold the watch face, tap Edit, swipe to Complications, and pick a slot. Choose Dog’s Best Friend (the paw) — tapping it on the face opens the app instantly.
How do I know the watch app is installed?
Open Settings and look under Distance Source — it shows “Watch app installed” with a green check once Dog’s Best Friend is on your Apple Watch. During a walk, the badge on the walk screen also lights its watch icon green while the watch is actively connected.
Health, permissions & sync
Why does the app need my location?
Location is used only while you’re on a walk — including with the screen off or the phone in your pocket — to trace the route and measure distance. Tracking stops when you finish the walk.
Why Apple Health access?
It’s optional. If you turn it on, finished walks are saved to Apple Health as workouts with the route and estimated calories, and your body weight is read only to estimate those calories. Leave it off and nothing is shared.
Why does it ask for photos?
To set your dog’s profile picture and build their photo gallery. Your photos stay on your device, and in your iCloud if you enable sync.
Does my data sync across devices?
Yes — turn on iCloud Sync in Settings and your dogs, walks, photos, and audio stay in sync across your iPhone and iPad. It’s free for everyone.
Birthdays
What happens on my dog’s birthday?
At 9am on the day you’ll get a greeting from the app. Tapping it opens straight into the celebration — balloons and confetti, then a birthday card with your dog’s photo and age that you can share or save. The celebration is there every time you open the app that day, so you can watch it again.
How do I turn birthday greetings off?
Open Settings and switch off Birthday greetings. That stops both the 9am greeting and the in-app celebration for every dog.
Dogs, trackers & reports
How does tracker / AirTag support work?
You can record your dog’s AirTag or other trackers under Tracking & ID for quick reference. To actually locate a tracker, use Apple’s Find My app.
What is the Vet Report?
A one-tap PDF summary of your dog’s key details, vet, vaccinations, medications, weight history, and recent activity that you can share or print for vet visits.
Purchases
What does the paid version unlock?
Dog’s Best Friend is free for one dog. A single one-time purchase unlocks unlimited dogs — there are no subscriptions, and every feature is included either way.
Still stuck?
Email support@ocodedesign.com. Tell us what happened and what device you’re on, and we’ll get back to you.
See also: Privacy Policy · Terms of Use