Barney Support

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a diagnosis to use Barney?

No. Barney asks which communication patterns affect you, not what you are called. There is no diagnosis field anywhere in the app. Many people who use it are ADHD, Autistic or AuDHD, and many are not.

How do I connect with someone?

One of you creates an invite code and shares it with the other. Barney works between two people at a time, and you can connect as partners, co-parents, a parent and child, wider family, or friends. The suggestions change to match the relationship.

What can the other person see?

Your username, anything you choose to share with them specifically, and only the communication traits you have chosen to disclose to that person. Nothing is shared by default.

Can I change what someone sees later?

Yes, at any time. Disclosure is set separately for every person you connect with, so your co-parent does not need to know what your partner knows. Every change is recorded, so the history of what you shared and when is always available to you.

Is my data private?

Your conversations are private to you and the person you shared them with. Everything is stored in Germany, inside the EEA. Barney contains no analytics and no crash-reporting software, so there is no usage profile being collected. We do not sell your data, we do not use it for advertising, and we do not use your conversations to train any AI model.

The full detail is in the privacy policy.

Is Barney a replacement for therapy or couples counselling?

No. Barney offers communication support. It is not therapy, not medical advice, and not a crisis service. It can sit alongside professional support, but it does not replace it.

What happens if I delete my account?

You choose. You can delete your account only, which destroys everything that identifies you while leaving the shared conversations with the person you were connected to. Or you can delete everything, which removes the shared history for both of you. Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone.

Full detail, including how to do it by email if you cannot get into the app, is on deleting your account.

Is Barney on Android?

Barney is coming to both iOS and Android.

Getting Started

There are four things to do once, and then Barney stays out of the way until you need it.

• Create your account with an email address and a password.
• Connect with one person using an invite code.
• Tick the traits that apply to you. There are fourteen, and you can add your own in your own words.
• Choose what that person sees. Disclosure is per connection, and nothing is shared until you say so.

After that, four tools:

• Translation for when something has already landed badly. What was said, what you meant, what they heard, and a suggested repair you can edit, use, or ignore.
• Navigate for before a hard conversation. Name the topic, say what tends to set you off and what you need to stay present.
• Warm Words for when saying it out loud is too much.
• Insights to see how things are going over time.

Contact Us

Got feedback, questions, or found a bug?

lisa@harnessthespark.com

We would love to hear what helps and what could be better.