Bark’n Mad

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a ‘Feed Lost’ message mean? How do I find out how to use the app? How do I use the app in a noisy environment? Copying to iCloud is not working. How do I fix it? How do I read my dogs mood from the colour analysis? I’d like to get back the look and feel of the original classic version of the app with red barking alerts? I’ve purchased the full version. How do I get it on my other devices or do I need to purchase it again on each device?

What does a ‘Feed Lost’ message

mean?

An iOS app records and plays back audio through an audio session. An application is unable to take exclusive control of a devices audio such that other apps cannot access it while the app is recording. If another app access the audio while Bark’n Mad is recording then iOS: • Notifies Bark’n Mad that another app has taken over the audio. iOS always maintains privacy so the interrupted app has no idea of the identity of the app that has taken the audio feed. • In the normal course of events when the new app is finished with the audio iOS notifies the interrupted app (Bark’n Mad) that the audio interruption has finished. There are two notifications here. In one case the app is told it can restart its audio and in the other it is told it is not restartable. In the first case Bark’n Mad continues on with an interruption during its session,  in the second case the audio cannot continue and unfortunately the recording to date cannot be saved. • There is a third possibility, which is that Bark’n Mad is left hanging waiting for the notification that the audio interruption has finished. In this case iOS at some stage terminates Bark’n Mad. This is trapped and you get an information message the next time that Bark’n Mad is started. This information message has the date and time of the interruption which may help you track the offending app. I’d tend to suspect audio and video chat apps as the most likely to cause the interruption. If you record on your iPad check your iPhone as well for calls at this date and time as you probably have the same app on both. The most likely apps are probably listed under Settings, Privacy, Microphone. If you do identify an app that causes these interruptions then please let me know so that I can add details about it here. Avoiding the problem. Two options exist. Firstly the mute switch (or for devices without it the mute button in the control centre) may block the app, it has no affect on Bark’n Mad and its ability to play reprimands and praise. Secondly, if the mute switch does not work, then try turning on ‘Do not Disturb’, this is accessed via the control centre (swipe up from the bottom of the screen) and is controlled  by the moon crescent. How do I find out how to use the app? The starting point is the ‘User Guide’ button above followed by the ‘Options’ button which provides a walk through of the app’s options. In addition to these user guide provides links to: • iCloud Remote Monitoring and Email Alerts • Protected copies and emailing links to recordings

Using the App in a Noisy

Environment - A Real Life Case

Study

I have set up the Bark’n Mad app with reprimands and praise for our German Shepherd but the reprimand and praise are both being triggered by all noises ( his barking, the builders next door nailed and using power tools, the neighbour's chihuahua on the other side and even some traffic ). Result : he was down the back hiding and cowering when we got home as he'd been reprimanded 20+ times, only 2 of them due to his barking. How do I tune the app to only trigger the reprimand and praise commands for his barking ? Firstly I'd turn the output volume right down while you sort it out so your dog doesn't get upset with reprimands generated by false alarms. Secondly monitoring position. Does the dog always bark from the same place, or is it barking at at the builders next door or the chihuahua on the other side? That is can you put the iPad closer to where the dog is barking for the barking you want to stop? With version 3 you can also use weather proof Bluetooth hands free devices outside closer to where the dog is. The closer you are to the bark location the better you can control the microphone sensitivity. Thirdly microphone sensitivity. See the usage guide section on microphone sensitivity. You need to reduce the sensitivity such that in the normal noisy environment you are not getting the indication of barks (yellow lines at the bottom of the graph). Hopefully a German Shepherd will bark loud enough to trigger the bark indications. Lastly what sort of barking is the Shepherd doing. Continuous for a period of time? Why is it barking, the colours may give you an indication. There may be something here that needs addressing. Thank you very much for your helpful advice. It has taken me a little time to fine tune the app to our German Shepherd and the surrounding environment but I think I have largely succeeded. Sometimes there are still some yellow dots on the recording suggesting barking but when the recording is checked the triggering noise is not barking. There are also occasional barks not represented by dots on the recording and not triggering an alert email to me , but by and large the recording is fairly accurate. Most importantly, using the app has reduced his barking to only a very occasional occurrence. He now spends large periods of time in the back garden and on the back deck when we are at work rather than jumping and barking at the fence. This has been his choice . I think hearing my recorded reprimand has worked a treat as he hates being in trouble as he doesn't like loud noises.

Copying to iCloud is not

working. How do I fix it?

Was there any error message? If so send it to me so I can advise you and improve the app to tell you how to fix it. Known solutions: • “Copy to iCloud failed with error The operation couldn’t be completed – (Cocoa error 516)” the file already exists. You have probably changed selections in the review form before the copy completed and the form updated. Try closing the review form and reopening it to refresh the display. • The email button is not available. The initial transfer to iCloud is just to an area on the local device. The email icon only becomes enabled after the recording has been uploaded to the cloud. Select the recording and if it is not uploaded then a progress bar appears on the right. To troubleshoot the problem: • Open the Settings app. Scroll down to the iCloud entry and touch it. Check that storage has at least 1gb available and that 'iCloud Drive' is on. • Touch 'iCloud Drive' On > indicator. and make sure that 'Show on home screen' is on (this adds the iCloud Drive app to your device). Check that iCloud Drive is enabled for Bark'n Mad on this screen. • When the iCloud settings are correctly configured for Bark’n Mad the iCloud Drive App  will look like: Further information on using the iCloud Drive App  is available here. The general help section on Bark’n Mad iCloud copies is available here.

How to read a dog’s mood from

the colour analysis

The important thing about the colour analysis is that the colour pattern shown for a bark will be repeated each time the same bark is made by the same dog. The intensity (height of the graph) may vary depending on how loud and how close the dog is but the colour pattern will remain the same. Have a look at the following snapshot of a dog suffering from separation activity. The majority of the barks are from the middle and right of the colour spectrum which is pretty much saying that there is an anxious dog. You don’t need to play the whole recording to hear what is happening, play a section of each colour and you can see from the graph what has happened in the monitoring session. With this graph you can see the yellow underlines where barks have been detected but you don’t really need them. It is quite evident from the colour graph alone what is happening. Even if Bark’n Mad did not recognise your dogs sounds as barking (such as low level whimpering) the graph will still show it. There is another example of a whimpering dog below. If you have any good examples of your own that would fit here please email me them to me with your interpretation.

Get back the look and feel of the

original classic version

Version 2 of Bark’n Mad has three distinct changes from the original. Firstly it will detect single barks whereas the original would only detect sustained barking. Secondly it is more sensitive working better if the microphone sensitivity is adjusted to suit your environment. Lastly it colour codes barks so that you can easily see why your dog was barking throughout the monitoring session. The option is still there though to view barking activity in colours similar to the original classic version. If you look at the screen snapshot to the right you have red highlighting barks, yellow noise and quiet periods in grey. The yellow underlines show where barks have been detected. To revert to the classic look and feel open the Options page and clear the check box on the Enable mood analysis colour display option. You will also need to adjust the microphone sensitivity such that in your normal environment the graph is predominately grey, touch here for the usage guide on this.

Getting the full version on other

devices.

It is not automatic, on the second subsequent devices go to the Options form and at the bottom of the form touch the 'Restore Purchases' button. The subsequent devices need to use the same iTunes login. Unfortunately it is not possible to share in-app purchases with family sharing. -