How to use PhoneAid

Before you start

PhoneAid is an Android app for two people who trust each other:

• Helper — the person who will send guidance (often an adult child, partner, or friend).
• Assisted user — the person whose phone has the problem.

Install PhoneAid on both phones. You need an internet connection to pair and to send help. Both people should keep the app open; PhoneAid does not yet send push notifications when a new message arrives.

Choose a role

The first time you open PhoneAid you see Welcome to PhoneAid and the question Who is using this phone?

1. Tap I want to help someone if this phone belongs to the helper. You land on Helper Home.
2. Tap I need help with this phone if this is the phone that has the problem. You land on Assisted Home.

The app remembers the role. To switch later: Settings → Role → Change role, or Return to role selection. Changing role does not secretly give anyone remote access; it only changes which home screen you see.

Pair as a helper

On Helper Home, if nobody is connected yet, tap Add someone.

1. Read the trust warning. Only continue for a person you know.
2. Type the name the other person should see (for example “Alex” or “Mom’s helper”).
3. PhoneAid creates a 6-digit pairing code and shows how long it remains valid (about 10 minutes).
4. Tap Copy code or Share invitation and send it to the other person by a call, SMS, or a messaging app you already use.
5. Wait on this screen. When they accept, you will see that the connection is established.
6. If the code expires, tap Generate new code.

After pairing, Helper Home lists the person under Active support relationships and shows recent help requests. Use the refresh control if a new request does not appear yet.

You can help one assisted device on the free beta. Extra devices are described on the Premium preview screen but cannot be purchased in this release.

Pair as an assisted user

On Assisted Home, tap Connect with helper (or Connect with someone you trust).

1. Enter the 6-digit code from your helper.
2. If the code is wrong, expired, or already used, ask for a new one. Codes are short-lived on purpose.
3. Confirm the helper’s name. PhoneAid will remind you that they cannot control your phone and will only see what you allow.
4. Set your consent choices (next section), then accept.

When it works, Assisted Home shows that you are connected, with buttons for Ask for help, Incoming help, Send phone status, and Privacy & sharing settings.

Consent choices

During pairing — and later in Privacy Center — the assisted person decides what may be shared. Everything is off until you turn it on, except that Basic Help is needed to complete the connection.

Consent groups at pairing

• Basic Help — device model, Android version, and app version. Needed to connect.
• More phone details — optional battery, storage, app-count, and sensitive permission summaries.
• Visual Help — optional permission to send a screenshot later, only when you pick an image.

Individual switches in Privacy Center

• Share basic device info
• Share battery summary
• Share storage summary
• Share number of installed apps (a count, not a full app list of private content)
• Share sensitive permission summary (permission types, not the content those permissions protect)
• Allow manual screenshot sharing
• Allow weekly reports (when that feature is available for your plan)

PhoneAid never automatically shares messages, passwords, bank information, photos, contacts, call history, location, microphone, or camera feed.

If you turn a switch off later, future status updates will not include that topic. History already saved on the phone stays until you delete local help history.

Ask for help

On the assisted phone, tap Ask for help.

1. Choose the problem that fits best:
   • My phone says storage is full
   • Battery drains quickly
   • My phone is slow
   • My phone gets hot
   • WhatsApp is not working properly
   • I cannot connect to the internet
   • There is a sound problem
   • Camera is not working
   • Notifications are not coming
   • Strange ads keep appearing
   • An app won’t open
   • Something else
2. On Review your request, you may type a short description in your own words.
3. Read What will be sent and What will not be sent. This list follows your current consent.
4. Tap send. If you are not paired yet, PhoneAid will ask you to connect with a helper first.

You can send a request with or without a phone summary. Limited sharing still lets your helper send a basic guide from the problem type and your description.

Incoming help and step-by-step guides

On the assisted phone, tap Incoming help. You will see your helper’s name, a refresh control, and help items grouped by activity.

Statuses you may see

• Active — the request is open.
• Waiting for a reply — your helper asked a question, requested a screenshot, or requested phone status.
• Guide sent — a step-by-step card is ready.
• Completed — you finished the session. You can show or hide completed items.

Following a guide

1. Open the item and tap Start guide or Start steps.
2. Read one step at a time. Some steps include a hint such as “look for three dots in a corner.”
3. If you cannot find a menu, tap Need help with this step or Ask helper for help.
4. Tap Next step until you finish, or Stop if you want to pause.
5. When asked Did this solve the problem? choose Problem solved, Partly solved, or Not solved.

You are always in control. Follow only the steps you understand. Guides include difficulty, an estimated time, a risk level, and “what not to do” warnings — for example, do not delete photos you want to keep.

Some guides are written for a phone brand family (Samsung, Xiaomi, and similar). If your menus look different, use Need help with this step and send a screenshot of what you see.

Screenshots

Screenshots are never taken automatically. PhoneAid does not open the camera for this. You pick an existing image with the Android system picker.

If your helper asks for a screenshot

1. Open Incoming help and the waiting item.
2. Tap the action to send a screenshot.
3. Read the warning: do not send images that show passwords, bank information, private messages, or personal photos you do not want shared.
4. Tap Choose image, pick the picture, preview it, then tap Send to helper.

Screenshot sharing must be allowed in consent. If it is off, turn on Allow manual screenshot sharing in Privacy Center first.

If you are the helper

1. Open the help request and tap Request screenshot.
2. When an image arrives, open it. You may add a short note (for example “tap the three dots here”) and save/send that note.

Images are stored in a private cloud folder tied to this pairing. After you stop sharing, the other person can no longer open new uploads. Use Delete shared cloud data to remove stored screenshots for that pairing.

Helper home

Helper Home is the helper’s dashboard.

• Add someone — start pairing.
• Active support relationships — people you help. Tap Open to see that person’s device summary.
• Recent help requests — tap a card to open PhoneAid’s suggestion and helper actions.
• Refresh — pull new requests and messages. Use this if the other person just sent something.
• Privacy & sharing and Settings — at the bottom.

If the list is empty, nobody is paired yet, or you need to refresh after the assisted person accepts the code.

Helper actions on a request

Open a help request. At the top you see the problem type, the device name, and when it was received.

PhoneAid’s suggestion

This is a rule-based recommendation, not artificial intelligence and not a promise. It may include:

• What seems to be happening
• The safest first step
• Why this may happen
• When professional or store help is wiser (for example a failing battery)
• A confidence note — low if little phone status was shared

What you can do

• Send basic guide — sends a free step-by-step card matched to the problem. This is the usual first action.
• Ask for more information — asks the assisted person to describe what they see.
• Request screenshot — asks them to pick and send an image.
• Request phone status — asks for an updated consented snapshot.
• Send short instruction — a brief written instruction in your own words.

Basic guided help is free. Some advanced cards, screenshot notes, extra devices, and weekly reports are described as Premium. In this beta you cannot buy Premium; those items stay preview or unavailable.

You can only see information the assisted person has allowed. If a snapshot is missing, ask for phone status or a screenshot instead of guessing.

Phone status and weekly reports

Assisted user: send phone status

On Assisted Home, tap Send phone status when your helper asks, or when something changed (for example you freed storage). PhoneAid builds a summary from the switches you already approved. It will not include topics you turned off.

Helper: device detail

Open the person from Helper Home. You may see a friendly name, phone model, last seen time, and a health summary in plain language — only fields they consented to.

Weekly report

From device detail, a helper may tap Generate weekly report. The report is a readable check of storage, battery, and permission trends from consented summaries, plus a suggested next step and what not to do. It is not a medical, legal, or hardware warranty. Weekly reports are a Premium-oriented feature; in the free beta they may be unavailable or preview-only.

Privacy Center

Open it from Assisted Home (Privacy & sharing settings), Helper Home, or Settings.

If you are the assisted user

• See the connected helper’s name.
• Read What this helper can see.
• Change each consent switch.
• Tap Stop sharing with helper to disconnect. This revokes the pairing. New requests, messages, snapshots, and uploads for that pairing are blocked.
• If the server disconnect fails, use Retry remote disconnect. Sharing is already stopped on this phone.
• Tap Delete shared cloud data after you confirm. This removes pairing-bound help requests, messages, sessions, snapshots, and screenshots from PhoneAid’s servers. A minimal record that the pairing was revoked may remain.
• If cloud deletion fails, use Retry delete cloud data.
• Tap Delete local help history to clear help data stored on this phone only. This does not by itself delete server data or revoke pairing.

If you are the helper

You see a reminder that you can only view what the other person allowed, and a list of people you help with their sharing status. You cannot turn their consent on for them.

The in-app Privacy Policy button opens this website’s policy page.

Settings

Settings is available from both home screens.

• Language — tap a language. The interface updates immediately.
• Role — see the current role, change role, or return to role selection.
• Pairing — if a pairing is active, see it and disconnect.
• Accessibility — turn Simple Assist Mode on or off.
• Plan — this beta is free. You may see a locked Free plan note. Premium / Family cards are informational. There is no payment, restore, or subscribe button that charges you.
• Privacy — open Privacy Center or the hosted Privacy Policy.
• Danger zone — Reset app data wipes local PhoneAid data on this phone after confirmation. Use this only if you want a clean start. It does not uninstall the app.

Developer tools (snapshot generator, diagnostics, demo data) appear only in special debug builds, not in the public release you install from testing or the store.

Simple Assist Mode

Simple Assist Mode makes PhoneAid easier: bigger buttons, simpler screens, and clearer instructions. Turn it on from Assisted Home or Settings → Accessibility.

In this mode the assisted home still offers Ask for help, Incoming help, Send phone status, and Privacy settings, with less visual clutter. You can turn it off at any time.

Languages

PhoneAid’s screens are translated for:

Arabic uses a right-to-left layout. Pairing codes stay left-to-right digits so they are easy to copy. This website is published in English so support and the Privacy Policy stay consistent for store listing and helpers in mixed-language families.

Free beta and plan preview

The current public/testing release is free. There are no paid purchases, subscriptions, or Google Play Billing charges.

• Free — basic guided help for one person, including unlimited basic step-by-step guides in the product design.
• Premium (preview) — planned: more devices (up to five), more detailed suggestions, screenshot notes, weekly reports. Not for sale yet.
• Family (preview) — planned Premium for a household. Not for sale yet.

If you open Premium preview in the app, the screen will say that payments are not available. Do not treat preview copy as an offer to buy.

Troubleshooting

The pairing code does not work

• Codes last about 10 minutes. Ask the helper to generate a new one.
• Enter all six digits with no spaces.
• Both phones need internet.
• Too many wrong guesses can temporarily lock the code. Wait and request a fresh code.

I do not see a new request or guide

• Keep PhoneAid open on both phones.
• Tap refresh on Helper Home or Incoming help.
• There are no push notifications yet, so the app will not wake itself with a banner.

Screenshot will not send

• Turn on manual screenshot sharing in Privacy Center.
• You must have an active pairing and an open help request.
• Check the internet connection and try again. Do not include passwords in the image.

Stop sharing or delete cloud data failed

• Sharing is still stopped on the phone even if the server call failed.
• Use the retry buttons in Privacy Center when you have a stable connection.
• If retry keeps failing, email support with the approximate time and your role (Helper or Assisted). Do not send pairing codes, screenshots, or login tokens.

I want to start over on this phone

1. Privacy Center → Stop sharing (if paired).
2. Delete shared cloud data if you want the server copy gone.
3. Delete local help history, or Settings → Reset app data, or uninstall the app.

Calm error messages

If something goes wrong, PhoneAid shows a short message such as “Something went wrong. Please try again.” It does not dump technical logs on the screen. The app is designed to stay usable after a failed send.

Contact support

For product questions, accessibility needs, privacy requests, or a deletion that you could not finish in the app:

info@kegasoft.com.tr

Please include: whether you are the helper or the assisted user, a rough time, and what you tapped. Do not attach pairing codes, passwords, or private screenshots.

Developer: KegaSoft. Android package: com.phoneaid.guidedhelp.