My BuddyTag – Bluetooth Tracker Device

Watching your children while out and about is very stressful. A moment of distraction and the little loves have zipped off just out of sight, and your heart misses a beat until you track them down … I often think back to when I was 6 (many, MANY years ago), shopping in C&As with my mum when I thought it would be fun to run around the maze of clothing carousels … being short it didn’t take me long to lose my mum, oops. While my mum, in a total panic had ran out of the store fearful that I’d got bored and left, I was being handed to a nice police officer by the shop assistant I had asked for help. We were reunited just an hour later at the police station, where I was playing with a box of toys they found for me. I wasn’t traumatised … but my mum certainly was – and she still reminds me of it 37 years later!

I have two young(ish) children, and that’s double the problem, so I was very interested to try out My BuddyTag and picked the perfect event at which to test-run it – the local firework display! Hundreds of people in close to total darkness with two children who don’t want to hold their parents hands …

My youngest, who is 7, wore the BuddyTag. The child wears it, like a watch, on their wrist. Rather than a buckle, there is a ‘screw button’ that is tightened with a coin – I assume this is to stop the child taking it off. Following the easy instructions I downloaded the BuddyTag app from the App Store onto my iPhone 5S. Once done (it downloads very quickly) you need to ensure you have Bluetooth enabled on your phone. Via the app you search for the device while pressing a button on the actual tag. This pairs the tag to your phone – it’s as easy as that and you are ready to go. There are lots of refinements you can make, but the tag is being ‘tracked’.

Playing with the options within the app, I set the alarm distance to ‘very close’ as I wasn’t sure how sensitive it would be, and I wanted to experience the alarm going off. I checked that both the alarm and panic alarm were set to ‘on’.

We walked to the firework display. My son was never more than 2-3 metres away, so we got to the venue wondering whether it was working correctly. Looking at the app I clicked on ‘Current Location’ and a map appeared showing us exactly where we were, so it was tracking. My son then found some of his classmates and wanted to go and play on some swings – I agreed. Within a few seconds the alarm started! My phone flashed with a ‘Warning – Safety Alert: Buddy-Black Out of Range/Water Safety’ pop up alert and the phone vibrated. The alarm sounds like an emergency vehicle – you can’t ignore it, so there’s no way of missing it!

I then re-set the Alarm Distance to a mid-way point between near and far and realised that there’s a dial around the tag’s icon in the app that shows how far the child is away from you. You can personalise the icon by choosing between girl, boy, cat, and dog (so yes, you can track your pets too!) and you can give the tags names to easily identify between children. I say this because you can add several tags into the app – your phone monitors them all, yet they are all independent of one another, so you can turn some off, have different distances set etc. It is a genuinely good idea!

Did I find any faults? Well the only thing we noticed was that the alarm went off every time my son went through a play tunnel – for a short moment the device must have gone out of range to cause this, but that’s not a huge issue. I can set the app to email me with details of where the tag was last tracked.

What is important to mention is that this is in no way a substitute for watching your children. The makers are clear to point this out too. Instead it provides ‘back up’ support to reassure you.

Some information about the BuddyTag: The free app is available on iTunes and Android and works on iPhone 4S, iPhone 5/5C/5S, iPhone 6, 4^th generation iPAD, iPAD mini, iPAD Air, Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, S5, Note2 and Note3. The tag is available in two different styles (silicone and terrycloth) and in over five colour combinations. The tags retail for £44.99 and are available from Amazon, Kiddicare, Maison Bebe, and www.littlepumpkin.co.uk. Details can be found at www.buddytag.co.uk.

Asking my son about the band, he said he thought it looked quite cool. Of course he didn’t know what was going on – he was out of range to hear the alarm going off! Wearing it didn’t bother him at all … he made no attempt to remove it, and he’s not a boy used to wearing a watch.

Would I recommend it? Oh without a doubt, absolutely. I rarely enjoy the annual firework display as I am constantly watching the children. Knowing my son had the tag on, and knowing the alarm would go off if he went too far, made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable. I still kept my eye on him, but I could relax more.

I wish BuddyTags were around when the children were toddler-age – maybe then I wouldn’t have so much grey hair now!