Power, battery and charging

On and off

• On — press and hold the power button until the logo lights up.
• Off — hold the power button for about two seconds and let go.

A quick press of the power button never turns the device off. It only leaves the current app and returns to the main menu. Turning off always needs the hold, which is deliberate: a child pressing power to get out of something should never accidentally shut the device down.

Sleeping on its own

After about fifteen minutes with nothing happening, a Peko Pal puts itself to sleep to save battery. Pressing the power button wakes it, and it comes back to the app that was in use.

While something is actually playing, it does not sleep — a long audiobook will not be cut off mid-chapter. And while it is plugged in, it does not sleep at all, so a Peko Pal on a charger stays ready.

Checking for messages while it's off

Turning a Peko Pal off, or letting it fall asleep, doesn't stop it hearing about new messages. About every five minutes it wakes for around a second, checks over WiFi whether someone has sent your child a voice message, and goes straight back to sleep. The microphone and speaker stay off the whole time.

If a message is waiting, a single dim amber light stays on in the logo while the device is off. You can see from across the room that something new has arrived, without the device making a sound. Turn the Peko Pal on and open Friends to hear it. Once nothing is waiting, the light goes out at the next check.

A few things to know:

• The checks use very little battery. The light itself uses more, so a Peko Pal left off with a message waiting runs down faster than one with nothing new.
• When the battery gets low, it stops checking and turns the light off until it has been charged and switched on again.
• It needs WiFi to check. If the network is down, the light stays as it was until a check gets through.

Charging

Charge it with the USB-C port using any standard USB charger or computer port. A phone charger works fine.

A few practical notes:

• It keeps working while charging, so there is no need to wait.
• Because it does not sleep while plugged in, leaving it on the charger overnight is fine and is the easiest way to have it ready in the morning.
• Battery life depends heavily on what your child does with it. Playing downloaded audio quietly uses far less power than a long conversation over WiFi, which keeps both the network and the microphone busy.

When the battery is low

Charge it. If it runs flat it will shut down on its own, and plugging it in brings it back — you may need to leave it a few minutes before it will turn on if it was completely empty.

Good to know

• If the device is completely unresponsive, holding the power button for ten seconds forces it off. This is a hardware failsafe below the software, so it works even when nothing else does.
• A Peko Pal can run with no battery fitted at all, as long as it is plugged in.