Frequently asked questions
If your answer is not here, write to us.
What is Bivela?
A Persian self-care app for living with bipolar disorder: mood and sleep tracking, medication follow-up, cognitive-behavioural exercises, a safety plan, screening questionnaires and an optional AI companion.
Who is it for?
For people with a bipolar diagnosis who want to manage themselves, and for people struggling with mood swings, anxiety or insomnia. Clinicians and treatment centers can use it between sessions too.
How do I get the app?
There is no public download for now. Message Bivela support on Telegram; the button is on the get-the-app page. Take the install file only from that support account.
Does it replace a clinician or medication?
No. It is a self-care and tracking tool; it does not diagnose and does not prescribe. If you are in immediate danger, call 123, 1480 or your local emergency number.
What are the companion programs?
Step-by-step programs of several weeks for problems that often come with bipolar disorder: insomnia (six weeks), anxiety (eight weeks), OCD (ten weeks) and adult ADHD (six weeks). Each session has reading, an exercise and a few questions, and each program lists its sources on its page. They are adapted for bipolar disorder: sleep is never cut sharply, heavy exercises wait while your own warning signs show, and there are warnings about antidepressants and stimulants. They do not replace treatment; it is best to agree them with your clinician.
Who can see my data?
The content is encrypted on your phone and the backup on the server is encrypted too; the key is made from your own password and we do not have it. So we cannot read your backup. Five exceptions: text you send to the AI companion (if you turn it on) is not end-to-end encrypted; if you connect “Caregiver reporting”, the reports you turn on pass through our server (without being kept) to the Telegram chat of the caregiver you confirmed; anyone who has the account password can open the data — for example a center that created accounts for its patients; and if you turn on «Share with Bivela's clinical team», the admins of Bivela's panel can see your data with the team's key until you turn it off; and if you turn on «Pseudonymous research», your daily numbers (no text) reach the panel's researchers under a random code, without your name. Details on the privacy page.
Does Bivela's name appear on a clinician's outputs?
No. Reports, letters, forms and files a clinician or a centre takes from the clinicians' site carry the centre's own letterhead and logo and the clinician's own signature (in the site's settings: “Centre letterhead” and “Signature and stamp”); without a letterhead, the top of the page has only the title and the date.
What if I forget my password?
You can get back into the account itself: tap “Forgot your password?” on the sign-in screen, and a code sent to your email lets you set a new password. The encrypted backup, though, opens only with the old password or your recovery code — a code the app shows you once under Sync. With it the backup opens, and from then on the new password is enough. Lose both the password and the code, and no one — not even us — can open the backup; that is the real cost of end-to-end encryption. So make your recovery code now and keep it somewhere safe.
Does the AI see my data?
Only if you turn it on, and only what you have separately allowed. To answer, it has to see the text unencrypted; this is the only part of Bivela without end-to-end encryption. You can withdraw consent and erase its memory whenever you like.
Can I turn the cloud backup off?
Yes, in Settings → Cloud sync. Then everything stays on that phone only, and the phone remembers the choice. Just remember that without a backup, losing the phone means losing the data.
Can I take my data or erase it?
Yes. An encrypted export with a password you choose, and a complete erase from the phone and from the server.
Can the questionnaires be trusted?
They show the raw score so you can follow a trend. Their translation, scoring and interpretation in the app are not clinically validated yet, which is why no interpretation is shown and they must not replace a professional assessment.
Every questionnaire, with the source of each Persian text: Questionnaires.
Is there an iPhone version?
The iPhone version is built and in testing, but has no public install yet. We'll announce the install route when it's ready; details on the iPhone page. For now the installable version is for Android 8 and up.
Does it cost anything?
Nothing is charged for now. The business model is not final yet; when it is, we will announce it here.
How does “Caregiver reporting” work?
In “Settings → Caregiver reporting” you make a one-time link (24 hours) and send it to someone close to you. They open it in Telegram, their name appears in the app and you confirm it; then you choose what goes — each check-in, questionnaire results, alerts, or the daily and weekly summaries — and you see an exact preview of each. Disconnect whenever you like; they can too, by sending /stop to the bot. Details in the full tour and on the families page.
The code email did not arrive, or the code is refused?
Look in your spam folder first; the email comes from noreply@bivela.me, and if you mark it “Not spam” the next ones reach your inbox. Each code works once, for an hour, and a new code replaces the previous one; so always take the latest email. If you already made an account with this email, signing up again sends no code: sign in, or tap “Forgot your password?”.
Does it work offline?
Logging, reviewing, the journal, the safety plan and the crisis screen do. Sign-in, the encrypted backup and the companion need internet.