How can we help?
Search the answers, or pick a topic. A real person answers, usually within a day: email us and say how old your child is and which part you are stuck on.
No answers match that yet. Ask us directly and we’ll help, then add it here for the next family.
The voice4
Who is reading?
You choose in Settings: papa, mama, or both together. With both, papa tells the story and mama speaks as the pieces, the way reading aloud sounds at home. Tapping a choice plays a line straight away, so you can hear it before you decide.
Are these real recordings of real people?
No, and we would rather say so plainly. The voices are generated on our own hardware from a written description, so nobody's voice has been copied and no real person is being imitated. What we hold ourselves to is how it SOUNDS: warm, slow, and close enough for a two-year-old to settle into.
My child does not want to hear the words on screen. Does that matter?
Not at all. Nothing on any child-facing screen has to be read. Every instruction is spoken, and the round arrow in the top-right says the last line again as many times as your child wants.
The app is silent.
Check the volume, then check that the device is not in a focus mode that silences media. Rookaby plays through the media channel, so it stays audible with the ring switch off. If it is still silent, email support@oomny.eu with your device and iOS version.
Ages and stages4
What is free?
The five games under “Play together”, permanently. They are for roughly two to three years old: meeting the pieces, sorting into two houses, matching a shadow, taking turns, and the board itself. That is a complete thing on its own, not a trial.
What does the purchase add?
Two things, for €12.99, once. The six stories, one per piece, each explaining why that piece moves the way it does, with a small game after it. And the real-board lessons, where Rookaby tells you what to put on a wooden board and reads the lesson aloud while your child plays on wood.
My child is five. Is this still for them?
Partly. The stories and the games hold up at five, and the real-board lessons especially. Capturing, check and mate are not in this version. If that is what you are after, wait for the next one rather than buying this.
There is no score. Is something broken?
No. There is deliberately no timer, no score, no stars and no way to lose. Below about six years old those things end a session rather than extend it, and they are the reason most chess apps for children stop working at this age.
On a real board3
Do I need a chess set?
Only for the real-board lessons, and only one piece at a time. Any set will do; the rest can stay in the box.
What actually happens in a lesson?
Five steps at your pace. Rookaby tells you which piece to find and where to put it, your child puts it down, the app reads that piece's story aloud while your child holds it, and then it asks your child to move it the way it walks. Any move that fits the rule is right.
My child moved it wrongly.
Then say what it does and let them try again. There is nothing to score and nothing to get wrong. Tomorrow the same piece again is worth more than a new piece today.
Purchase and privacy4
Is it a subscription?
No. One purchase of €12.99, yours to keep, with Family Sharing on. There is no renewal and no second charge.
I bought it and it is asking again.
Open Settings inside the app and tap Restore Purchases. That is reachable without paying and works on any device signed in to the Apple ID that bought it.
Why does it ask me a sum?
Because anything that costs money has to sit behind something a young child cannot do. The numbers are spelled out in words, so answering it needs reading. It is re-rolled every time, so it cannot be learned by heart.
What does Rookaby collect?
Nothing. No account, no sign-in, no network calls, no analytics and no advertising. There is nothing to delete on our side because nothing ever reaches us; “Delete everything” in Settings clears the few preferences kept on the device.
Didn’t find it?
Send it to support@oomny.eu and say how old your child is and which screen you are on. A real person reads it, usually answers within a day, and adds the answer here for the next family.
Rookaby is €12.99 once: every story, no subscription. Refunds go through Apple, like every App Store purchase.