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Getting set up

Buying NFC tags

A chore is done when your child taps their phone to an NFC tag you've stuck where the chore happens: the dishwasher, the dog's leash hook, the laundry basket. Any standard NFC sticker works (NTAG213, 215 or 216). They have no battery, need no pairing, and a pack of ten costs a few dollars.

Where to buy NFC tags Amazon affiliate link — we may earn a commission.

Register each tag from your iPhone in the Tags tab: tap +, name it, and hold the phone to the tag. Stick tags on something rigid that stays put, and not directly on bare metal, which stops most tags from reading.

Pairing a child's device

Your child uses Family on their own iPhone or iPad. They don't need an account, an email address or a password: their device joins the family with a code from your phone.

1. On your phone, open the Children tab, choose the child and tap Pair device. A QR code appears, with the same code written underneath.
2. On the child's device, install Family, choose Child and scan the code. If the camera won't cooperate, tap pair with a code and type it in.
3. Still holding the child's device, follow the setup checklist: approve Family Controls, choose which apps to block, set a parent PIN, and set a Screen Time passcode.

Each child has one code, and it doesn't expire. A child who switches between a phone and an iPad can pair both with it: tap Pair another device on their screen. If the code has been shared with someone it shouldn't have, tap Get a new code. The old one stops working, and devices already paired stay paired.

Moving to a new device? Pair it with the same code, then remove the old one from the child's Devices list (swipe left on it). Each device there shows when it was last seen. One that hasn't been seen in a while is usually switched off, or the app was removed; pairing it again fixes either.

Setting a Screen Time passcode

Family blocks apps through Apple's Screen Time. Without a Screen Time passcode, anyone holding the child's device can turn blocking off in iOS Settings, which the app's own parent PIN can't prevent. On the child's device:

1. Open Settings → Screen Time. If it's off, tap Turn On Screen Time, and choose This is My Child's iPhone if you're asked.
2. Scroll to Lock Screen Time Settings and set a 4-digit passcode that only you know. Make it different from the passcode your child uses to unlock the device.

The app's setup checklist walks through the same steps, with a button that opens Settings for you.

iPad and photo proof

iPads don't have an NFC reader, so a tag can't be scanned on one. For a child who uses an iPad, set a chore's proof to Photo when you create it. Your child finishes the chore and takes a picture of it with the app's camera. Photos can't be chosen from the photo library, so they're always fresh.

• Blocked apps unlock as soon as the photo is sent, just as they do after a tag scan. Your approval decides the points, not the unlock.
• You can view a proof photo only on the day it was taken. After that it expires whether or not you've looked, and it's deleted from our servers within a day. You can still approve the chore or mark it not done.
• Set photo chores up so the picture is of the chore, not of your child.

Your family

Inviting and removing a parent

A second parent can help assign and approve chores with Family Premium. To invite one, open the Me tab and tap Invite co-parent. On their phone, they install Family, choose Parent, sign in, tap Join a family and scan the code, or type it in under Enter code manually. An invite works once and is valid for 15 minutes. Any parent in the family can send one, and every parent sees and manages all of the family's children, chores, rewards and photos.

The parent who created the family can remove another parent: open Me → Family, swipe left on their name and tap Remove. They lose access to the family straight away, and any unused invites are cancelled. They aren't notified, and they can only rejoin with a new invite. Their own account isn't deleted.

Family Premium

Family is free for one parent and one child, with everything that needs: chores, NFC tags and photo proof, approvals, points, allowance, the rewards store and app blocking. Family Premium adds more children, a co-parent, Insights and Vacation mode, including pausing just some chores.

• One subscription covers the family. Whichever parent subscribes, Premium unlocks for every parent in the family.
• Billing stays with the parent who bought it. They manage or cancel it from Me → Family Premium → Manage in App Store, or in their Apple Account settings. Other parents don't see billing controls.
• Deleting the app or your account doesn't cancel it. Cancel in your Apple Account settings.
• If Premium ends, nothing is deleted. Anything beyond the free tier, such as a second child's profile, is locked until Premium is active again.

Billing and refunds are handled by Apple. To ask for a refund, use reportaproblem.apple.com.

Vacation mode

Going away, or giving a child a day off? With Premium, open the child on the Children tab and tap Vacation mode. Every chore starts ticked; untick any that should carry on. Then pick how long: the rest of today, through tomorrow, three days or a week, or Pick dates to plan a break that starts later, up to a year ahead.

• No chores are due on those days and nothing counts as missed. Anything still to do today is cleared; chores they'd already finished stay, for you to approve.
• With every chore picked, it's a full vacation: no reminders and no app blocking, and their device shows they're on vacation and the day chores come back. With only some picked, just those chores pause and the rest keep their schedule.
• Their streak carries straight over the break.
• Everything picks back up on the return day by itself. To come back early, tap End vacation now, and today's chores return straight away. A planned vacation can be changed or cancelled before it starts, and a paused chore can be resumed from the same screen, or by swiping on it.

With two or more children, the Vacation mode card on the Children tab sends everyone away All together, or lets you set each child's break Individually.

Unlocking apps for a while

Need a child's apps open for homework or a call with grandma? Open the child on the Children tab, tap Unlock apps and choose 30 minutes, an hour, two hours or the rest of today. This is free.

• Only app blocking pauses. Chores stay on the list, still earn points, and a scan or photo still counts.
• Blocking comes back by itself when the time is up, even if the app is closed. To end it early, tap Block apps again now.
• It reaches the child's device the next time it hears from us, usually within a minute.

Troubleshooting

Apps aren't being blocked

On the child's device, tap the gear at the top of the chore list, then Settings (you'll need the parent PIN), and check that:

• Family Controls shows Approved. If not, tap Request authorization and approve the iOS prompt.
• Apps to shield lists the apps you want blocked.
• The chore has app blocking turned on, and it's due today.
• That child isn't on vacation and the chore isn't paused. Vacation mode pauses their chores and app blocking until they're back; their card on the Children tab shows the return day.
• Their apps aren't unlocked. While a parent's Unlock apps is running, the child's chore list says their apps are unlocked and until when, and the Unlock apps row on your phone shows the same time.

Apps stay open once a chore is done for the day, including after a scan or photo you later mark not done. The next day's chore locks them again. If blocking still isn't behaving, report a problem from the child's device so we can see its blocking log.

Deleting your account

Open Me → Delete account. If you've set a parent PIN, you'll enter it first, and if you signed in with Apple, you'll confirm with Apple.

• If you're the only parent, this deletes the whole family: every child profile, chore, tag, reward, record and photo.
• If other parents remain, only your account goes. The family stays with them.

A paired child device turns off app blocking the next time it opens. Deleting your account doesn't cancel a Premium subscription. The privacy policy sets out exactly what's deleted and when.

Report a Problem

The fastest way to get help with something that isn't working. On a parent's phone it's in the Me tab under Legal & Support; on a child's device it's in Settings, behind the parent PIN. Tap Report a Problem or Feedback.

The app sends us its recent app-blocking log (times and internal IDs, never which apps are blocked), with the app and iOS versions and the device model. Then it opens an email to us that quotes a ticket reference starting with CHR-. Add what happened and send it.

Legal

See the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Helpfl Family. Using our habit tracker? Its support page is at helpfl.io/habits/support.