Help Center

1. Download and install MilkNote from the App Store
2. Open the app and complete the 4-page onboarding (skippable)
3. On the Today home page, tap any of the 5 circular buttons at the bottom to record
4. Optional: go to "Settings → Baby Profile" to enter your baby's name and birthday

MilkNote is completely free. No in-app purchases, no subscriptions, no ads. All features are available out of the box.

• iPhone (iOS 17.0 and above)
• iPad not supported (optimized for iPhone)
• UI available in Simplified Chinese, English, and Spanish

No. MilkNote is an offline-first app — no sign-up, no login required. All data is stored locally on your device, and you can use every feature immediately after opening the app.

Five core record types:

• 🍼 Bottle: volume (ml/oz), time
• 🤱 Nursing: left/right side, duration (built-in timer)
• 💧 Pumping: volume, time
• 🥄 Solids: food type, amount, baby's reaction
• 👶 Diaper: wet/dirty status

Each record sheet has a clock chip at the top showing the current time. Tap it to open the date/time picker and adjust to the desired time.

1. Find the record in the Today timeline
2. Tap the record card
3. Modify the fields in the sheet that opens
4. Tap "Save"

Swipe left on the record card in the Today timeline, then tap the "Delete" button. Deletion cannot be undone — please proceed carefully.

1. On the Today page, tap the "Nursing" button
2. The timer page shows two buttons for left and right sides
3. Tap a side button to start timing (the button highlights)
4. Tap the same button again to stop timing
5. You can switch to the other side to continue timing
6. Tap "Save" to record the breastfeeding session

The Stats page provides five dimensions:

• Daily feeding count: stacked bar chart by record type
• Volume trend: line chart for bottle and pumping
• Nursing duration: stacked bar chart by side
• Feeding heatmap: 7×24 hour distribution
• Diaper stats: wet/dirty counts

Switch between "Week" (7 days) and "Month" (30 days) views.

MilkNote offers four backup channels, all optional:

• Local snapshots: auto-generated daily, kept for the last 7 days (on by default)
• CloudKit sync: syncs across your iCloud devices
• iCloud Drive file: writes JSON backups to iCloud Drive
• SMTP email: sends backups as email attachments

Go to "Settings → Backup Center" to configure.

1. Make sure your iPhone is signed into an iCloud account
2. Go to "Settings → Backup Center"
3. Find the "CloudKit" card and toggle it on
4. Sync will happen automatically in the background

Note: CloudKit only syncs to your own iCloud account — the developer cannot access your data.

1. Go to "Settings → Backup Center"
2. Find the "Email Backup" card and tap "Configure"
3. Choose your SMTP provider (Gmail/Outlook/iCloud/Yahoo) or custom
4. Enter sender email, recipient email, and SMTP password
5. We recommend sending a test email first to verify the configuration
6. Toggle on "Enable Email Backup"

The SMTP password is stored encrypted in iOS Keychain and never appears in any file.

1. In "Backup Center", tap "Restore"
2. Select a .milknote.json backup file
3. Confirm overwriting current data

Alternatively, in the iOS Files app, tap a .milknote.json file and choose "MilkNote" to open it.

Note: Restore overwrites current device data. We recommend creating a current snapshot first.

Three migration options:

• CloudKit sync (recommended): sign in to the same iCloud account on the new device and enable CloudKit sync to auto-pull
• Email backup: send a backup email from the old device, then open the attachment on the new device and choose MilkNote
• iCloud Drive: find the backup file in the MilkNote folder in the Files app

Not by default. All data is stored locally on your device in a SwiftData database. Only when you actively enable CloudKit sync, iCloud Drive backup, or email backup does data leave the device — and only to your own iCloud account or your configured SMTP server.

No. We do not integrate any third-party analytics SDKs (no Firebase, no Google Analytics, no Crashlytics). We collect no data for tracking or analysis. Even if you enable CloudKit, data only syncs to your private iCloud database — the developer cannot access it.

The SMTP password is stored using iOS Keychain (kSecAttrAccessibleAfterFirstUnlockThisDeviceOnly):

• Never appears in the database, preferences, or any file
• Read only when an email backup is actually being sent
• Automatically cleared when the app is uninstalled
• Not synced to iCloud Keychain

Three options:

• In-app: Settings → Data → Erase All Data
• Uninstall the app: clears the local database, Keychain password, and preferences
• CloudKit: iOS Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → Manage Account Storage → MilkNote → Delete

iCloud Drive backup files need to be manually deleted in the Files app.

1. iOS Settings → MilkNote → Notifications → make sure "Allow Notifications" is on
2. Check that the "Reminder" toggle is enabled in the app
3. Check whether "Quiet Hours" is currently active
4. Check that the iPhone isn't in Do Not Disturb mode
5. Make sure Background App Refresh is enabled (iOS Settings → General → Background App Refresh → MilkNote)

1. Make sure your iPhone is signed into an iCloud account
2. iOS Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → iCloud Drive → make sure MilkNote is checked
3. Check that your network connection is stable
4. Wait 5–10 minutes — CloudKit sync may have delays
5. If still not syncing, toggle CloudKit off and back on

Common causes and solutions:

• Wrong password: if using Gmail, use an App Password, not your account password
• Wrong port: 465 for SSL, 587 for STARTTLS
• Account restricted: new email accounts may need 24 hours before sending
• Network issue: switch between Wi-Fi and cellular and retry

1. Make sure you have at least one record in the app
2. Long-press the home screen → "+" → search for "MilkNote" → add the Widget
3. If the Widget shows "No data", open the app once to trigger a refresh
4. iOS Settings → General → Background App Refresh → MilkNote is enabled

1. Fully close the app (swipe it away from the app switcher) and reopen
2. Restart your iPhone
3. Check whether iOS is up to date
4. Uninstall and reinstall the app (back up first!)
5. If it still crashes, contact us using the details below — include your iOS version and what you were doing when it crashed

MilkNote follows your system language. To switch only for MilkNote:

1. iOS Settings → MilkNote → Language
2. Choose "Simplified Chinese", "English", or "Español"

Or tap "Language" in the app's Settings to jump to iOS Settings.