How Dekhbhaal works

You set it up in one sitting. Your parent gets one button and a voice in their own language. You get a calm view of how they are, and an alert when something needs you.

Setting it up

The son, daughter or whoever looks after things does the setup. It takes one sitting, and you can change all of it later.

1. Sign inAt app.dekhbhaal.app with Google, or with Apple on an iPhone. You must be 18 or older.
2. Add your parentWhat you call them, how Dekhbhaal should address them ("Verma ji", "Mr. Banerjee"), their screen language, the voice they'll hear, and the time of their daily check-in. Dekhbhaal is for parents who are 60 or older.
3. Tell it what it should knowYour number and theirs, a neighbour to call, their medicines and appointments, a family code word, and where home is.
4. Link their phoneInstall Dekhbhaal on their phone and type the 6-digit code from your screen, once, within a day. Or add their email, and they sign in with Google or Apple. Dekhbhaal never sends codes by SMS.
5. Their first dayDekhbhaal speaks its promises to them in their own language: it's an AI, not a person; it never asks for an OTP, money or bank details; it can't come over, and in an emergency it calls the people who can; what you'll see, and what you won't. They tap Haan, or hear it again. Nothing happens before they agree.

Their day

The morning check-in

At the time you set (8:30 unless you change it), a short spoken message arrives as a notification, and tapping it plays it. It is always about something real from what they've told Dekhbhaal: the day of the appointment, the trip, the grandson's exam. The very first morning is a plain hello by name, because there's nothing to ask about yet.

No reply? After two hours, a gentle reminder in its voice: "Main yahin hoon. Jab fursat ho, bataiyega." ("I'm right here. Tell me when you have a moment.") After two more hours, you're told. You choose both waits, and nothing is sent in their quiet hours, between bedtime and the check-in time.

Talking

One big round button: Boliye. Hold it and speak, or tap once, talk, and tap again. Up to three minutes at a time, for the long stories. Dekhbhaal answers out loud, in the voice you picked, slowly and respectfully, and remembers the people, places and plans they mention for next time.

They can show it a photo, an old one or one the family sent, and it asks about it.

"Ye sahi hai?": checking for a scam

Before paying, tapping a link or sharing an OTP, they check with Dekhbhaal: by saying what happened, sharing a screenshot, forwarding the message, or putting the caller on speaker. The answer is one of three: a fraud, looks genuine, or not sure (don't pay yet). More about the scam guard.

"Madad": help in one tap

112, you, and the neighbour, as big buttons, always one tap from their home screen. And if what they say to Dekhbhaal sounds like a fall, chest pain, sudden confusion, someone at the door or a very low day, it answers with 112 first, tells them the family is being told, and alerts you at once.

Medicines and appointments

At each medicine's time: "Verma ji, BP ki goli ka samay ho gaya." They say "le li" or tap Taken. If there's no answer, one gentle repeat. If a medicine isn't confirmed two days running, you hear about it once. Appointments get a reminder the evening before, one before it's time to leave, and "kaisa raha?" afterwards. It never mentions a dose change or says what a medicine does.

Reading papers aloud

They photograph a letter, a bill, a prescription or a lab report, and Dekhbhaal reads it aloud in their language: what it says, what's due, and by when. A prescription's medicines are read exactly as written, and it offers to add them to the reminders, which you confirm. A lab report's values are read as printed, ending with "the doctor will explain". It never judges a value high, low or normal itself; a flag printed on the report is read as printed. A bill or a letter gets the scam check too.

Sending you something

When they ask Dekhbhaal to send you something they said, it plays that one message back and asks first. Only after they tap "Haan, bhejiye" does it reach you, in their own voice, with the photo if there was one.

Your side

Your screens are in your own language, on the web and, once the pilot's apps reach you, on your phone.

• Today: one line on how they are ("Doing well today", "No reply since the morning check-in", "A hard moment today. Please call."), buttons to call them and the neighbour, this week's numbers, today's log, and Sunday's note.
• Alerts: no reply, a hard moment, a scam stopped and what kind, a medicine not confirmed for days, someone who didn't come. Each says what happened, never what was said, and you can mark "They're fine, I spoke to them".
• The log: every event, from Dekhbhaal and from the people who come: talked, arrived, medicine given, left. Events, never words.
• Stories: the messages your parent chose to send you, in their own voice.
• Care: medicines, appointments, and who comes when.
• Settings: the check-in time, the waits, bedtime, the voice, the code word, home, and who sees what.

With the Dekhbhaal app on your phone, every alert also arrives as a notification. The notification says only that there's something to see; the details open in Dekhbhaal. On the web, alerts show when you open it.

Sunday's note arrives every Sunday evening: days they talked, medicines taken, scams stopped, visits. It is written from those counts, never by the AI, so nothing your parent said can end up in it.

The people around them

People who come to the house

Add a nurse, an attendant or a maid with a code. They get their own login, in their own language: Arrived (checked against home, without keeping where they are), the medicines due on their visit, and Leaving, with given, refused or ran out for each medicine and how your parent seemed. You choose, for each person, whether they get urgent alerts. They never see what your parent said, the scam checks, or the weekly note.

If someone hasn't arrived by their time, your parent's screen asks "Ramesh aa gaye?". A "Nahi", or no answer, tells you.

Brothers and sisters

Invite a brother or sister with a code. They see what you see and get the same alerts. Only you change the settings.

A care company

If a care company already looks after your parent, give them a code. Their desk gets the urgent alerts, today's status and the numbers to call. Never words, medicines, visits, scam checks or the weekly note.

The neighbour

No app needed. They are one tap away on your parent's screen, on yours, and on the screens of the people who come.

Little things

• A choice of voices. In Hindi, the grammar follows the voice.
• Big text and strong contrast on every screen. Red means one thing only: 112.
• Each person picks their own screen language: your parent in Hindi, you in English. Telugu is in testing.
• A tap counts as an answer: tapping Taken on a medicine reminder answers the day's check-in too, so you don't get "no reply" on a day they didn't feel like talking.
• "Why am I seeing this?" at the bottom of the screens, in plain words.