User Guide

Two apps, two roles. Find yours below.

For the employer — iPhone app

1. Set up

Get HelperMate from the App Store — free, iPhone only, currently available in Singapore — then open it and tap Sign up. You need an email address and a password of at least 8 characters. If you would rather not install anything, the web version at helper.luy.li/e/ has the same features.
Pick your language. This is your setting alone — your helper picks hers separately, and it does not follow your phone's language.
Give your household a name (e.g. "The Tan family"). Everything — recipes, dishes, messages — lives inside it.

2. Invite your helper

Household → Generate invite code.

You get a 6-character code and a link. Send her the link; WhatsApp is the usual way. She opens it, chooses her language, sets a 6-digit PIN, and joins. Codes are single-use and expire.

Once she has joined, her login name is shown under her name on the Household screen. Write it down somewhere. If she ever changes phones, she needs that name plus her PIN to get back in.

3. Find or add a dish

Recipes shows everything available to you. Your own recipes are listed first with a *Mine* badge; the shared starter library follows.

To adapt a shared recipe, open it and tap Make my own version. That copies it into your household, keeping all four language versions, and opens the editor. The shared original is never modified — other households are using it.

To add something new, use Import:

Paste text — the most reliable. Paste the whole recipe, amounts and steps included.
Screenshots — up to 6. Make sure the amounts are legible; blurry numbers get misread.
Paste a link — worth a try, but many recipe sites block it. If it fails, use one of the other two.

Then check the draft. Anything the source did not state is highlighted in orange — an ingredient with no amount, a step that involves heat but no heat level. Fill those in. Suggested allergens are off by default; only what you tick goes into the recipe.

Before you can save, you confirm four things separately: amounts, heat, allergens, and food safety. There is no button that accepts all four at once. These are the fields that hurt someone when they are wrong.

4. Assign a dish

Today → +

Choose who, which dish, the date, the meal, and how many servings. Add a note if there is something specific ("less salt", "the kids don't eat chilli") — she sees it at the top of her task.

You may see an orange warning. None of them block you:

The dish is harder than her current level. You can still assign it.
The recipe has not been checked by a person. Amounts and safety notes may be wrong.
There is no translation in her language yet, so she will see Chinese.

5. Follow up

Today groups the day's dishes by helper, so you can see at a glance who has what. Anything waiting on you is pulled to the top under *Needs your attention*.

Open a dish to see its history, her photo when she submits one, and any help request. Then either Confirm or Ask to redo — if you ask for a redo, write what to change; she sees that text at the top of the task.

6. Settings

Household also holds:

Notifications — which kinds you get, and your quiet hours (22:00–07:00 by default).
Language — yours only.
Account and data — export a copy of your data, or delete your account.

For the helper — web app

1. Join

Your employer sends you a link. Open it on your phone.

Choose your language. Everything after this is in that language, and it does not change when your phone's language changes.
Enter the invite code if it was not filled in for you.
Set a 6-digit PIN. You will use it every time you open the app. Do not share it with anyone — not even your employer. Nobody can read it, and nobody needs it.
Add to your home screen. On iPhone: the Share button → *Add to Home Screen*. On Android: the ⋮ menu → *Add to Home screen*. On iPhone this step is required before notifications can work.
Turn on notifications so you know when a new dish arrives.

Your login name is on your Home screen. Write it down. If you change phones, you need it together with your PIN.

2. Cook a dish

Tasks shows what you have been asked to make.

Open one and you see the ingredients and steps in your language, with your employer's note at the top. Tap Accept, then follow the steps. Each step has a timer where one is useful.

If a dish shows *Translation not ready*, you are reading another language because yours is still being prepared. Ask your employer if anything is unclear.

3. When something is wrong

Tap I need help. Choose the reason — a missing ingredient, a step you do not understand, or not enough time — and add a note if you want.

Your employer is notified immediately. Asking for help is not recorded against you anywhere. There is no score in this app.

4. Show your work

When the dish is done, tap Submit photo and take a picture of it. You can add a note.

The camera only ever opens when you tap this yourself. The app never takes photos at any other time.

If you have no signal, your photo is saved and sent automatically when you are back online.

5. Messages

Tap Messages to write to your employer. You can send photos too.

If a message is in a language you do not read, tap Translate underneath it.

6. Your account

On Home you can:

Change your language at any time.
Turn notifications on or off, and set your quiet hours — a window when the app will not disturb you. It defaults to 22:00–07:00.
Export my data — a copy of everything of yours.
Delete account — removes the photos you submitted and the messages you sent, and unlinks you from this household. Your employer cannot do this for you, and cannot stop you. You will be asked to type DELETE, and it cannot be undone.

One thing to know from the start. This account belongs to the household that invited you. You cannot take it to a new employer, and if your employer removes you or deletes their own account, this account ends too. Working for a new family means being invited again and setting up a fresh account there. If there is anything you want to keep — photos of dishes you cooked, for instance — export it before that happens.

Something not covered here? Write to us — see Support.