What you need to run CareHaven
You don't need much. If your iPhone or iPad is reasonably up to date, you're ready. This page tells you exactly what's required for the core app, and what a few of the smarter extras need on top of that.
On this page
The short version
CareHaven runs on iPhone or iPad with iOS 17 or later. There's also an optional Apple Watch app.
The whole app works fully offline. No account is required to use the core features, and everything you log lives on your device unless you turn on sync — and then you choose which caregivers to invite. You can fly on a plane, lose signal in a parking garage, or turn off Wi-Fi entirely, and CareHaven keeps working.
You do not need a newer phone, a paid plan, or any AI to use CareHaven. Every part of daily tracking, medical records, handoffs, crisis plans, and reports works without a single smart feature turned on.
Core requirements
| You have | What you need |
|---|---|
| iPhone | iOS 17 or later |
| iPad | iPadOS 17 or later |
| Apple Watch (optional) | watchOS 10 or later, paired to your iPhone |
If you can update to iOS 17, you can run CareHaven. To check your version, open the iPhone's Settings app, then General, then Software Update.
The Apple Watch app is a convenience, not a requirement. It lets you quick-log a moment, dictate a note, and glance at the day from your wrist. The full app on your iPhone does everything; the Watch is there for when your hands are full. See Across your Apple devices.
Smart features and what they need
CareHaven includes some optional smart helpers — things like drafting a diary entry from today's events, translating a handoff for a sitter, or generating a calming illustration for a cue. These are extras layered on top. When a feature needs a newer device or a specific iOS version, here's what that looks like.
| Feature | What it needs |
|---|---|
| Smart help on your device (drafting a diary entry, a weekly recap, a handoff note, a smart reply, a cue meaning, a Home pattern insight, a personalized tip) | A recent iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence — such as iPhone 15 Pro or newer — with it turned on, running iOS 26 or later |
| Ask CareHaven (free-form questions) | Works on any supported device. On a device with Apple Intelligence turned on, it answers on your phone; otherwise it falls back to a built-in offline answer. With a Plus or Family plan, you can also choose to turn on Online help (it needs a connection) for more detailed answers to general questions |
| Translation (translate a handoff or doctor-visit recap) | iOS 17.4 or later |
| Image Playground illustrations and Genmoji | iOS 18.2 or later, on a device that supports them |
If your device doesn't support one of these, you simply won't see that smart option, and nothing else changes. The feature it's attached to still works — you just write the diary entry, the handoff, or the cue yourself instead of having a draft offered to you.
CareHaven works without any AI
This is worth saying plainly: the app is fully functional with no AI at all.
The smart helpers only ever offer a starting draft you can edit or ignore. They never log anything for you, never make a decision, and never get in the way. Everything you actually rely on — logging feedings, tracking seizures with the live timer, keeping medications and refills straight, building a handoff for a sitter, scanning a document, generating a report — runs entirely on your device with no smart features required.
When a smart helper isn't available (your device is older, or Apple Intelligence is turned off), CareHaven says so gently and quietly steps aside. You're never stuck. The on-device helpers work without a connection; Online help, the optional step you can turn on for more detailed answers, is separate and does need one.
When you're offline
CareHaven is built to keep going when the network doesn't. Offline, you can still:
- Log everything, browse your history, and edit anything.
- Open your crisis plans, first-aid cards, and emergency contacts.
- Build and share a handoff for a sitter.
- See growth percentiles, which are calculated right on your device.
- Get gentle care reminders — they're local to your device and still arrive even in Airplane Mode.
Some extras do need a connection the first time. Plain-language explainers for a medication or diagnosis, and looking up a doctor from the provider directory, reach out once and then save what they find for offline use afterward. Even then, only a small piece leaves your device: a medicine name, a medicine or diagnosis code with your phone's language (English or Spanish), or a provider's name, with a city or state if one is filled in. Your loved one's name is never sent. See Privacy comes first.
About sync and sharing care
Sync is optional and off by default. Turn it on and your care log syncs through Apple's iCloud (CloudKit) — encrypted by Apple in transit and at rest; you choose which caregivers to invite and which sections to share. It only matters if you want to:
- Keep the same data in sync across your own devices.
- Invite a co-caregiver to help with a specific person's profile.
If that's something you want, see Sharing care with others (sync). If it isn't, you can skip it entirely and CareHaven works exactly the same.
Related pages
- Getting CareHaven (TestFlight & App Store) — the iPhone open beta and how to join the beta list
- Setting up for the first time — your first few minutes in the app
- Smart help — what the optional AI helpers actually do
- Across your Apple devices — Watch, CarPlay, widgets, and more
- Privacy & security (in depth) — how your data stays private