Spotted Dice
First Steps with Spotted Dice
Congratulations on having your Spotted Dice set. We hope you will like our Bluetooth-enabled dice set, the perfect companion for the DimeSmith app. We wish you many successful performances that will amaze your audience.
In the package, you should get your dice, a wireless charger, and an activation code (Activating the FULL version).
We recommend joining our Spotted Dice Facebook group for updates and discussing your ideas. It is a welcoming and active community you will love. 🙂
We have collected a lot of information on this page about charging, troubleshooting, activating the full version of the DiceSmith app, and maintenance. Please read them all.
Charging Spotted Dice
The Spotted Dice set contains a wireless charger and a micro-USB charging cable. You should start by charging them. Just plug in your charger and put the dice into the charging slots with the “1” side up (see the photo below). Make sure that every die is in a good position, and that the LED next to it is pulsating. If not, then move it around. You can charge 3 dice at a time, if you have more than 3 dice, do it with the rest after they are charged. If you have a blank white dice and it is still blank, then you have to try the sides of it until the charging LED does not turn on.
A blue LED indicates that the charger is connected. While charging, green LEDs pulsate slowly next to each die. When a die is charged 100%, the LED will stop pulsating. You can keep the dice on the charger for a longer time for a more charged state.
Please note that wireless charging is complex technology. It is about the perfect distance between the charging coil and the coil inside the die. If they are too close to each other, then the die might get too much power and overheat, if they are too far, then the charger won’t be able to detect the die. It is about half the mm distance. Because of the differences in manufacturing technology, please find the die and charging slot combinations that work the best for your set. If a slot is not charging one of the dice, just swap two dice.
If you haven’t used a die for a long time, so the charging of the die is very low, the charger might not give you feedback with the green light that it charges the die. Leave the die on it for a day, and it should start charging.
Turning ON the Dice
Spotted Dice turns on when you shake it, and turns off after 30 seconds if it’s not connected to your phone via Bluetooth. It means that you should ideally store them in a still place.
Using Your Dice with the DiceSmith App
Please check these before trying to connect the dice from the DiceSmith app:
- Make sure Bluetooth is ON on your phone.
- Phones have a limit on the number of devices they can connect to. If you have more than 6 devices (a band, earphones, etc.) connected to your phone, try disconnecting them if you cannot connect to the dice. Modern phones are usually can connect to 10-16 devices at a time.
- Allow the app to use Bluetooth and/or Location Services.
- On Android, make sure the GPS is ON. While we are not tracking you, this is somehow a must-have for Bluetooth communication, too.
- On Android, Bluetooth has some bugs. You should try restarting the phone if you have any connection problems.
- You don’t have to connect to the dice from your Bluetooth Settings, the app will set up the connection.
After successfully installing the app. If you have 19mm dice, then make sure your app is at least version 1.3.32, otherwise, the app will recognize your dice as white, and you have to manually set the colors by tapping on every die in the app. The app should offer the upgrade to the latest app version, but you can always go to the User Guide, Version History, and tap the “Check for updates” button.
When you have the latest app, just go to Settings, and click on the “List devices” button next to the “Connect BT dice” label. Shake your dice, turn them 90 degrees, and slowly they will appear in the list. Tap each of them, and the app will connect to them. After you finished, click on the OK button to close the modal. The images of your dice with their actual value should be visible now. Tapping on a die will open the information screen of the die with the name, color, and battery level. You can change the color or rename your die if you want. We recommend turning on auto-connect, so the app will immediately connect when started.
If a die does not appear in the list, make sure:
- it is charged properly,
- it was shaken hard,
- it is not connected to another app or another phone,
- it is not the normal die, but a Spotted Dice die.
If it is still not connected, you can try pressing the “Reset devices” button, turning your Bluetooth off and on, and also restart your phone. Just quitting an app won’t stop it from running, make sure you “kill” it with a gesture.
You can now tap on the Play icon at the bottom of the app, and start with the basic routine that displays the dice values, and shows if a die is moving.
Using Your Dice with PeekSmith 3 in Standalone Mode
You can connect your dice to PeekSmith 3 without using your phone. It is PeekSmith 3’s standalone mode. Make sure the dice are not connected to an app, and you have the latest PeekSmith 3 firmware. Then press and hold the front right button of PeekSmith 3, and it will start looking for known Bluetooth devices. Shake and turn your dice to wake it up, and PeekSmith 3 will connect to them. When it is connected to all of them, you can press the right button to stop scanning (or it will stop on its own).
There are several settings for the dice in the PeekSmith 3 menu. Press the left and right buttons on the front at the same time. You will see a menu with the available settings. Pressing the side button will close the menu. Pressing the left button will show you the next setting, and pressing the right button will change the setting. You can set how the dice are presented, and how the movement is indicated, there is a basic thumper functionality, and so on. This functionality is in active development, make sure you are a member of the PeekSmith Facebook group to be up-to-date.
Maintaining Your Dice
The dice need no special treatment. They have LiPo batteries inside, so you should not allow them to fully discharge. We have added battery protection, but you should charge them every 3-6 months. If you don’t use them for a long time, charge them 100%, and they’ll keep them for a very long time.
You can clean your dice with warm water and soap. It is water-proof.