Kid Phone installer

Puts the Kid Phone software on the board and connects it to your home WiFi, all from this page.

Before you start

The board, with the telephone handset plugged into the port labelled USB.
A USB-C cable from the port labelled COM on the board to this computer.
A computer with Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Phones, tablets, Safari and Firefox cannot do this step.
Your WiFi name and password, ready to type in.

This browser cannot talk to the board. Please open this page in Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge on a computer (Windows, Mac, Linux or a Chromebook). Phones, Safari and Firefox do not support it. For safety, browsers only allow this from a secure page. Open the installer from its https:// address (or from localhost if you are running it yourself).

Click the button, choose the board in the list that appears (it may be called USB Single Serial, CH343 or similar), then click Connect.

What happens next

Install. The page asks whether to erase the board first; say yes for a first install. Copying the software takes a minute or two. Keep the cable plugged in.
WiFi. When it finishes, the page asks for your WiFi name and password and sends them to the board over the cable.
Phone setup. Once the board is online, the page shows a link to the phone's own setup page, usually http://kidphone.local. Open it on any device on the same WiFi to connect your Twilio account and choose who the phone can call.

If something goes wrong

The board does not show up in the list

Try a different USB-C cable. Many cables only charge and cannot carry data. Make sure the cable is in the port labelled COM, not USB.

On Windows you may need the CH343 USB driver from the chip maker, WCH: CH343 driver download. Install it, unplug and replug the board, then try again.

It gets stuck on "Connecting"

Put the board into install mode by hand: hold the BOOT button, tap the RST button, then let go of BOOT. Click Install again.

After installing, kidphone.local does not open

Check that the device you are using is on the same WiFi as the phone. If the name still does not work, use the number address (it looks like 192.168.1.23) that the installer showed once the board joined WiFi. Some Windows and Android devices do not understand .local names, so the number address is the reliable choice.

Privacy

Installing and WiFi setup happen directly between this browser and the board over the USB cable. Your WiFi password and anything else you type are never uploaded anywhere. This page has no analytics, no tracking and no cookies. The only thing it downloads is the open source installer tool (ESP Web Tools) and the phone software itself.