Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)

Kotodute is an app that delivers your words to the people who matter, by email, if something should happen to you.

All you do is press a button once a month to say “I’m fine” (we call this a check-in). If your check-ins stop for a long time, then—after repeated reminders and a safety check—the message you prepared in advance is delivered to the recipients you registered.

“Kotodute” is a Japanese word for entrusting your words to someone so they reach a person you cannot meet directly. The app is named after it.

The “Watch” is a mechanism that quietly checks each day whether you are well.

Once the Watch is running, a small program is placed inside your Google Drive and automatically does the following every day:

1. Checks whether you have checked in
2. If you forgot, emails you a reminder
3. If your check-ins still stop, it asks the “confirmer” you chose whether you are safe
4. Only when no confirmation can be obtained is the message sent

No. Kotodute has no “developer server” that holds your data.

Your messages, recipients, and settings are stored only inside your own Google account (Google Drive). Emails are also sent from your own Google account. No one, including the developer, can see the contents.

For details, please see the Privacy Policy.

A Google account is a free account for using Google services such as Gmail. If your email address ends in “@gmail.com,” you already have one.

Kotodute keeps your data safely inside this Google account, so a Google account is required to use it.

If you don’t have a Google account, you can create one here. Having a family member help can put your mind at ease.

In most cases the cause is that you are not connected to the internet. Try the following in order.

1. Check that the Wi-Fi or signal icon is showing.
2. Close the screen once and start again from “Start the Watch.”
3. If it still won’t open, restart your smartphone and try once more.

Choose the Google account (Gmail address) you normally use and will keep using.

Kotodute’s data is stored inside this account, and emails are sent from it too. Because this is so important, please note the following.

• Avoid accounts you may stop using in the future, such as a work account.
• A personal account is better than one shared with family.

Rest assured. They will not.

All Kotodute can read or write in your Google Drive is the single Watch sheet that Kotodute itself created. It cannot access any of your other files, photos, emails, or documents created by other apps.

When several accounts are listed on the login screen, always choose the same account you selected in Step 1 from here on.

Kotodute opens Google’s screen again in later steps (installation and activation). If you choose a different account there, it will not work. The screen shows the guidance “Please sign in with the linked account (your address),” so use that address as your guide.

This is not an error. It is a notice that appears when you stopped partway through login (pressed Back or Close).

Press “Sign in with Google” again, this time go all the way through, choose your account, and press Allow (or Continue).

If a green check mark and your email address appear in the Step 1 area, it succeeded.

On success, Step 2 appears automatically just below. Simply continue.

The sheet is a table (a Google Spreadsheet) created inside your Google Drive. It stores your Kotodute messages, recipients, and Watch records.

It is created automatically at the press of a button, so you never need to edit the table or enter anything yourself.

Try the following in order.

1. Check your internet connection (the Wi-Fi or signal icon).
2. Wait a little, then press “Create sheet” again.
3. If “Failed to write to the spreadsheet” appears, it is often due to temporary congestion, so wait 1–2 minutes and try again.

No—please do not rename or delete the sheet. Please also refrain from editing its contents by hand.

Leave the sheet named “Kotodute Watch” in your Google Drive exactly as it is.

Rest assured. If you sign in with the same Google account, your previous data is restored automatically.

When you sign in, Kotodute automatically looks for “an existing sheet” (it shows “Checking for previous data…”). If found, your messages, recipients, and settings are restored as they were, and the Watch continues.

This task can take a few dozen seconds. While “Installing the program…” is shown, please simply wait.

Don’t close the screen or press the button repeatedly; wait until the spinning icon disappears. If it isn’t done after more than a minute, close it once and try again where the signal is good.

It’s fine. Following the on-screen guidance, it’s done by simply turning on a single switch. Don’t rush—proceed as follows.

1. Press Open settings page on the screen.
2. When the login screen appears, sign in with the linked account (your address).
3. Turn on the switch for the item “Google Apps Script API.”
4. Close that screen.

When you close the screen, Kotodute retries the installation automatically. You don’t need to press the button again.

Choose the same account (same email address) you signed in with in Step 1.

The screen shows the guidance “Please sign in with the linked account (your address).” Use that address as your guide when choosing.

Here, the program is a small mechanism that automatically performs a set task: “check the check-in every day and send email if needed.”

• Its contents are fixed and come built into Kotodute.
• It is placed only inside your own Google account and becomes yours.
• The developer cannot use this program to see or operate your data.

If a green check and “Installed” appear, it succeeded. The final Step 4 appears just below, so continue to “Activate the Watch.”

It’s okay. Please proceed with confidence. This does not mean Kotodute is dangerous.

This screen appears because what you are about to run is “your own program that runs only inside your own account.” Google shows this confirmation screen, just in case, for such personal programs.

Your data is not sent anywhere external, and you are not taken to a suspicious site. You are simply permitting your own program.

Several screens follow, but you’ll be fine if you tap (press lightly with your finger) in this order. The text is sometimes small or in English, but it is definitely there.

1. First, when a screen titled “Kotodute Watch (Unverified)” appears, press REVIEW PERMISSIONS.
2. Next you’ll see “Google hasn’t verified this app.” Press Advanced (or “Advanced settings”) at the lower left.
3. Press Go to Kotodute Watch (unsafe page) that appears.
4. When the “Sign in to Kotodute Watch” screen appears, press Next.
5. Finally, on the “Kotodute Watch wants to access your Google Account” screen, check Select all and press Continue.

No—check Select all and press Continue. If you uncheck a box or press “Cancel,” the Watch won’t work.

Here too, always choose the same account (same email address) as in Step 1. The guidance at the top of the screen tells you which address to choose.

Even if you accidentally proceed with the wrong account, it’s fine. Close the screen once and press “Activate the Watch” again to reselect.

First, make sure the browser shows “The Watch has started,” then close that screen. When you close it, Kotodute confirms completion automatically.

If it still doesn’t complete, try the following.

1. Wait a little, then press Confirm completion (it can take some time to reflect on Google).
2. Where the signal is good, redo it from “Activate the Watch.”
3. At that time, double-check that you are proceeding with the same account as before.

No need to worry. Your progress up to where you closed it is saved.

Press that step’s button again (such as “Activate the Watch”) and you can continue from where you left off. Steps with a green check don’t need to be redone.

You can resume any time from “Continue setup” (or “Start the Watch”) on the home screen. Steps already finished keep their green check, so just complete the rest.

• Recipient … the person who receives your message (your Kotodute) when your check-ins stop.
• Confirmer … the person Kotodute asks about your safety—“Is this person safe?”—before sending the message.

If the confirmer answers “This person is safe,” sending is called off. This plays the important role of preventing a message from being sent by mistake.

It isn’t required, but we strongly recommend it.

If you don’t register a confirmer, then when your check-ins stop, the message is sent without a safety check. Since it could be sent just because you missed a check-in during travel or a hospital stay, it’s reassuring to make a trusted family member your confirmer.

Using “Choose from contacts” lets you import a name and email address directly from the contacts saved on your phone. There’s no need to type, and it prevents typos.

No. Merely registering them sends nothing to the recipients. A message is sent only “in case something happens”—after check-ins stop and the confirmation process has been carried out.

If you’d like to test how it works without troubling anyone, please use “Test send” described next.

Once a month is fine. Just press the big Check in button on the home screen.

When you press it, “Checked in. This month’s confirmation is complete.” appears. As long as you press it once within the month, no message will be sent.

Even if you forget, no message is sent right away. First, a reminder email arrives daily to let you know. Only if your check-ins remain stopped does it proceed, for the first time, to a safety check with your confirmer.

To help avoid forgetting, we recommend the following settings.

• Turn on the monthly reminder notification (9 a.m. on the 1st of each month).
• Set your phone’s notifications to “Allow” for Kotodute.

This is a sign that the Watch setup (Steps 1–4) isn’t finished yet.

From “Continue setup” on the home screen, complete the steps that don’t have a green check. Once all four are complete, you’ll be able to check in.

It’s an on-screen notice that arrives on your phone at 9:00 a.m. on the 1st of each month, saying “Time to check in.” Think of it as a nudge so you don’t forget the check-in habit.

You can turn it on or off in Kotodute’s Settings. To turn it on, notifications must be allowed on the phone side.

Kotodute’s notifications may be turned “off” on the phone side. Open your phone’s Settings → Notifications → Kotodute and set notifications to “Allow.”

Also check that “Monthly reminder notification” is turned on in the app’s settings.

Yes, you can. Even without your phone in hand, you’re fine as long as you have a device where you can check your Gmail (the email of your Google account)—a computer, or a family member’s phone or tablet, for example.

In any month you haven’t checked in yet, a reminder email (subject: “Monthly check-in reminder”) arrives daily. Just open that email and press the Check in button (link) inside it, and your check-in is completed without the app.

By default, it arrives daily at the address of the Google account you’re signed in with. You can also add another address, such as a work address, to receive it in more than one place (Settings → “Check-in reminder email”).

Yes. There are two test sends you can use without troubling anyone.

• Test send of the check-in reminder email (in Settings) … sends a test email to your own address. It does not reach recipients.
• Test send to the confirmer … lets you actually try the safety-check email that reaches the confirmer.

Trying it once right after setup, to confirm the email really arrives, is reassuring.

Please check the following.

1. Check whether it’s in the spam folder.
2. If it doesn’t arrive after a few minutes, the app may show “The test send hasn’t been confirmed yet.” In that case, redo “Activate the Watch” in Settings, then test again.

No, it won’t. To avoid sending abruptly, Kotodute confirms carefully in the following order.

1. When check-ins stop, first a reminder email arrives to you daily.
2. If they still stop for about a month, it asks the confirmer, “Is this person safe?”
3. If the confirmer answers “Safe” within 48 hours, sending is cancelled.
4. Only when no confirmation can be obtained from anyone is the message finally sent to the recipient.

The confirmer receives a safety-check email from Kotodute. That email contains a button (link) for answering. The confirmer just presses it to respond.

If they answer “This person is safe,” sending stops. If there’s no response within 48 hours, it proceeds to the next stage. Telling your confirmer in advance, “If an email like this comes, please press it,” is reassuring.

To protect your privacy, a message and recipient that have been sent are automatically erased from the sheet.

You may use it as “one” part of your important preparations, but please don’t rely on it entirely.

Kotodute does not guarantee message delivery. Depending on the state of your Google account, your network, the recipient’s settings, and so on, a message may not be sent, may be delayed, or may be sent at an unintended time. Also, messages sent have no legal effect as a will. For anything truly important, please also prepare other means (such as a formal will).

Yes. Please use “Pause the Watch” in Settings. While paused, no message is sent even without a check-in.

When you return, press “Resume the Watch” in Settings and the Watch continues as before.

Yes. Your data is inside your Google account, not on the phone, so it carries over.

Install Kotodute on the new phone and sign in with the same Google account as before. Your previous sheet is found automatically, and your messages, recipients, and settings are restored.

No. The Watch program runs inside your Google, so the Watch itself continues even if you delete the app. However, since you can no longer check in, leaving it as is will eventually cause a message to be sent.

If you truly want to quit, don’t just delete the app—please see “Quitting completely” below.

Press “Delete the Watch sheet” in Settings. The Watch sheet in your Google Drive (messages, recipients, records) and the Watch program are completely deleted, and the Watch stops.

• This action requires identity verification with Face ID / Touch ID / passcode.
• Deletion cannot be undone, so please be careful.

To be even more thorough, it’s reassuring to also revoke Kotodute’s access from your Google account’s “Third-party apps & services”.

No. Even if you sign out, your data remains in Google Drive and the Watch continues. Signing out only stops the display on this device. If you want to quit completely, use “Delete the Watch sheet” above.

The Watch program may not have run for a while. Please check the following.

1. Whether you have renamed or deleted the “Kotodute Watch” sheet in your Google Drive.
2. Open the settings screen and check the status and the “Last Watch run” display.
3. If it isn’t resolved, redo “Activate the Watch” from Settings, or contact us.

The basic Watch features are free to use. However, there is a limit on the number of Kotodute (messages) you can register for free. If you want to register more than that, please purchase the one-time Premium.

Premium is a one-time purchase. There is no monthly fee. Once you buy it, you can keep using it.

On the new device, sign in with the same Apple ID you purchased with and press “Restore purchase” in Settings. Your previous purchase comes back. There is no additional charge.

On the new device, sign in to the Play Store with the same Google account you purchased with and press “Restore purchase” in Settings. Your previous purchase comes back. There is no additional charge.

First, your Kotodute, recipients, and Watch data all carry over. Because your data is inside your Google account, simply signing in with the same Google account as before on the new phone restores it. The Watch does not stop, either.

However, a Premium purchase cannot be carried across operating systems. This is because Premium is purchased separately on the App Store (Apple) and Google Play (Google).

• Kotodute you have already registered remain enabled for sending, just as they were set at the time of purchase.
• But to add or edit Kotodute beyond the free limit on the new phone, you’ll need to purchase Premium again on that phone’s store.

No. In-app purchase payments are handled by Apple on iPhone/iPad and by Google on Android. The developer never receives payment details such as your card number.

Kotodute itself can be locked with Face ID / Touch ID / passcode (turn on “Require on app launch” in Settings). With this on, no one but you can open the app and see its contents.

Yes. Message subjects and bodies, and recipients’ names and addresses, are stored in the sheet after being encrypted (converted into an unreadable form). In addition, they are protected by the security of Google’s own infrastructure.

Correct. Kotodute has no developer server, and your data exists only inside your Google account. It is technically impossible for the developer to receive, store, or see it.

For details, please see the Privacy Policy.