TapTales support

Something not working, or a question about a story? Email support@taptales.xyz and include your iPhone or iPad model, your iOS version, and what happened. Replies usually take a day or two.

Common questions

How do I leave a story? Press and hold the small ✕ in the corner for about a second and a half. A tap does nothing, on purpose. In Settings you can also require Face ID or your passcode.

How do I keep my child inside the app? Turn on Guided Access (Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access). TapTales walks you through it on the home screen.

My recordings aren't on my other device. Recordings sync through your own iCloud, and large audio can take a few minutes. Check you're signed in to the same Apple Account with iCloud Drive on, then pull down on the shelf to refresh, or tap Check for new stories in Settings → Family sharing.

How do I make a story? Tap + on the shelf. All at once lets you read the whole story aloud, or type or paste it, and cuts it into tiles. Tile by tile starts a blank story with as many tiles as you choose; tap a tile's microphone and read that page. Settings → How to make a story shows the steps again.

How do I save a story as a video or to print? With Plus or Pro, press and hold the story on the shelf and choose Save as a video or book. You get a video in the voice your phone plays, or a picture book PDF.

Where is bedtime mode? It's part of Plus and Pro, so you won't see it until you subscribe. Then a moon appears at the top left of the shelf. Tap it, tap the stories you want in the order they should play, choose when to stop (when the stories end, or after 10 to 60 minutes) and a sound (rain, waves or none), then Start. The screen dims, the stories play back to back, and it keeps reading if you lock the phone. It only ever stops between pages, and the sound fades out a minute after the last story.

How do I translate a story? With Plus or Pro, press and hold any story or classic on the shelf and choose Translate. You get a copy in the language you pick, with the same pictures; the original isn't changed. The first time, iOS may ask to download the language. Recordings and narration stay with the original, since they read the old words.

Where are reading stats? Settings → Reading → Reading stats, with Plus or Pro. Only the person who started the family (or anyone not in one) sees them, and they only count reading on that phone.

How do I ask someone to read a story? Press and hold one of your stories on the shelf and choose Ask someone to read this, then pick a person. It shows once someone has joined your family. Their phone shows the ask at the top of the shelf for two weeks, with a Record button that opens the story so they can read it tile by tile, and a notification too if they allow them. It can take a few minutes to arrive. If they're on Limited, asking also gives them the story.

I'm not getting notifications. TapTales asks once someone else joins your family. If you said no, turn them on in your device's Settings → Notifications → TapTales. Asks to read still wait at the top of your shelf either way.

Can Siri open a story? Yes. Say “Read story name in TapTales”, or “Read a story in TapTales” and Siri asks which one. It's in the Shortcuts app too, as Read a Story.

Does my subscription cover my family? Yes, if you're the one who started the family in Settings → Family sharing. With Plus or Pro, everyone you add gets the same on their own phone, for their own stories as well as yours: unlimited recording, photos on the tiles, bedtime mode, Save as a video or book, and Translate. The storyteller voices are the one exception — Pro's five narrated stories a month come with the subscriber's own account. Everyone needs the latest version of TapTales, and it can take a few minutes to reach a new person's phone after they join.

How do I cancel? In TapTales, open Settings and tap your plan. Or on your device: Settings → your name → Subscriptions → TapTales. That is also where you move between Plus and Pro. Apple handles billing and refunds at support.apple.com/billing.

What happens if my subscription or free trial ends? Nothing is deleted. The first three stories you recorded keep playing in your voice; any others read in the iPhone voice until you subscribe again, and then your recordings play again. Photos stay on the tiles, and the classics stay free. If you started a family, the people in it go back to the free app too.

Restore a purchase. Open Settings in TapTales and tap Restore purchases.

Delete my data. Stories and recordings are in your iCloud and on your device: delete the story in the app, or delete the app and its iCloud data in Settings → your name → iCloud → Manage Storage. For anything the server holds, see the privacy policy.