01 Getting started
How do I add contacts?
Tap the + button on the Contacts tab and choose either "Import from Contacts" to pull from your address book, or "Add manually" to enter a name and birthday directly.
Why do I need to set a timezone for each contact?
BirthdayBridge calculates the best time to notify you based on when your contact is actually experiencing their birthday. Without a timezone, it can't do that calculation — so notifications won't schedule until one is set.
How do I set a timezone?
Open a contact, tap the timezone field, and search by city name, country, or UTC offset. If the contact has a postal address saved in your address book, you can use Auto-detect (Premium) to set it automatically.
02 Free tier and contact limits
How many contacts can I add on the free tier?
You can import as many contacts as you like — there's no limit on how many appear in BirthdayBridge. However, on the free tier only 7 contacts can be active at a time, meaning only 7 will receive reminders. Of those 7, up to 2 can use Smart Window mode. The rest will use Their Morning mode.
How do I choose which 7 contacts are active?
Go to Settings → Active Contacts. From there you can see which contacts are currently active and swap them freely — there's no limit on how often you change your selection.
What happens to contacts that aren't in my active 7?
They remain visible in the app but are greyed out and won't receive notifications. You can activate them at any time by swapping one of your current 7.
Can I have more than 7 active contacts?
Yes — upgrade to Premium to remove the limit entirely and activate unlimited contacts.
I only approved BirthdayBridge to access some of my contacts — what happens?
iOS allows you to grant BirthdayBridge access to all contacts, or to a selected subset. If you choose a subset, BirthdayBridge will only be able to see and import the contacts you approved — the rest won't appear in the import picker at all, with no indication that they exist. There's no error message; they're simply invisible to the app.
If you find contacts are missing after import, this is the most likely cause. To fix it, go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Contacts → BirthdayBridge and change your selection. You can either grant Full Access to make all contacts available, or add specific contacts to your approved list. Once updated, return to BirthdayBridge and run Import again to pick up any previously excluded contacts.
Note that contacts added manually within BirthdayBridge are not affected by this — they're created directly in the app and don't require address book access.
03 Reminder modes explained
BirthdayBridge offers three reminder modes, each suited to different situations.
Smart Window
Best overlap between both timezones
Scores every 30-minute slot across the contact's birthday and picks the highest-scoring window — for example, their morning and your evening. The most thoughtful option.
Free for 2 contacts · Unlimited with Premium
Their Morning
Always 9am in their timezone
Notifies you at 9am in the contact's local time, regardless of what time it is for you. Simple, predictable, and works well for most cases.
Available on free tier for all 7 contacts
Custom
Your chosen time, your timezone
Set a specific notification time in your own timezone — useful if you always want a reminder at a fixed time regardless of where the contact is.
Premium only
05 Reminders and notifications
Why didn't I get a notification?
Check that notifications are enabled for BirthdayBridge in Settings → Notifications → BirthdayBridge. Also confirm the contact has a timezone set — without one, no notification can be scheduled. If you're on the free tier, also confirm the contact is one of your active 7.
Can I change when I get notified after a timezone is set?
Yes. Open the contact and change the reminder mode at any time. The notification will reschedule automatically.
Does BirthdayBridge account for daylight saving?
Yes. BirthdayBridge uses IANA timezone identifiers, which means the operating system handles daylight saving automatically. You don't need to adjust anything when clocks change.
06 Contacts and syncing
Will BirthdayBridge automatically add new contacts from my address book?
No. BirthdayBridge only discovers new contacts when you tap Import. Existing contacts will sync updates — birthday changes, address changes, deleted contacts — automatically.
A contact's birthday changed in my address book — will BirthdayBridge update?
Yes. When you open the app, BirthdayBridge checks for changes and will prompt you to accept any updates it finds.
Can I add a contact without a birth year?
Yes. A birth year is not required — only the month and day are needed.
08 Privacy and data
Does BirthdayBridge send my contacts to a server?
No. All data stays on your device and in your personal iCloud account. Nebulous Enterprises has no servers and no access to your data.
How do I delete all my data?
Delete the BirthdayBridge app from your device. To remove iCloud data as well, go to Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage and remove BirthdayBridge.
Where can I read the full privacy policy?
The BirthdayBridge privacy policy is available at nebulousenterprises.com.au/BirthdayBridgePrivacyPolicy.
09 Contact support
Can't find what you're looking for? Send us a message and we'll get back to you within 2 business days.
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