Here to help your herd

The join code is six characters and it's case-insensitive, but it's easy to mistake a zero for an O. Read it off Settings → Family → Family code rather than from memory, and check they're entering it on the "Join with a family code" path rather than trying to create a new family.

If the code has been shared too widely, rotate it on the same screen — the old one stops working immediately.

Nine times out of ten the link is a web page rather than a calendar feed. Happy Herd will usually say so specifically — if it tells you the link looks like a sign-in page, that's what happened.

Look for a link labelled "subscribe", "iCal", "webcal" or ending in .ics. If your school only offers a login-protected calendar, forward the newsletter to your family's private email address instead, or photograph the printed schedule with ✦ Magic Add.

Each device needs to know who it belongs to. On the device that's wrong, go to Settings → Notifications → "This device belongs to" and pick the right person. A wall tablet can be left unclaimed.

Wall mode holds a wake lock, but the device's own power settings can override it — keep it on charge and check the tablet's auto-lock setting. If it's wandering off the board rather than sleeping, make sure "Use this tablet as our wall display" is switched on in Settings on that device; the board auto-returns only in wall mode.

It's pending. Anything a child adds or reassigns waits for a parent. Settings → Tasks → "⏳ Waiting for approval" → Review, and approve it in one tap.

The PIN and being a parent are two different things, and this is the message you get when you have the first but not the second. It happens to the second grown-up in a household: joining with the family code puts you on the board, but it doesn't make you a parent — nobody in Happy Herd can make themselves one.

Tap "Ask to be a parent" (it's on the message that refused you, and on the whose-device screen under 🔑). Someone who is already a parent approves it in Settings → Family, and your next PIN entry works. There's no notification yet, so tell them you've asked.

It's linked to a different sign-in — nearly always an old install, a device that got signed out, or a browser that was cleared. It isn't lost and nothing of yours was moved.

A parent frees it: Settings → Family → open that person's card → Release. Releasing unclaims the card and nothing else — no account, no chores, no balance, no history. Then pick it on your own device.

You don't have to wait for that to be useful. "Ask to be a parent" works whichever card you're on, so you can be given parent access first and sort the card out afterwards.

Settings → Family, the approvals panel. You'll need to be unlocked with the PIN, or be the person who created the family.

Nothing pings you when a request arrives yet — that's on the list. For now the person who asked should tell you.

The parent PIN is four digits and set by whoever created the family. Any signed-in parent can change it from Settings → Family → Change PIN. If nobody in the household knows it, email hello@happyherd.app from the account's email address.

You have six seconds and an undo button. After that, un-ticking is a parent action — deliberately, so a child can't quietly reverse a completion. Unlock with the PIN and tap it again.

Rename it. Happy Herd flags your correction so the next refresh of that feed doesn't overwrite you. Reassigning it to the right child works the same way, and it learns the pattern after a couple of corrections.

Email hello@happyherd.app with what you were doing and roughly when. If you can, check Settings → Diagnostics → App health first and mention anything it flags. There's a real person on the other end and bug reports are welcome, not tolerated.

No. Kids are profiles — a first name, a nickname and an avatar — created and controlled by a parent. They join with your six-character family code. No accounts, no email, no passwords, no social features.

Up to 10 member profiles, across as many devices as you like — every phone, tablet and wall screen in the house.

Free: the board, chores and approvals, the full calendar with school and Google sync, unlimited lists, voice and Siri, the wall display, all six themes, carpool asks, event threads, history and one ✦ Magic read a week. The Family Plan adds rewards and allowance, meals and the recipe box, unlimited Magic Add and the Smart Assistant. Full detail on the pricing page.

iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. The wall display runs on any tablet you already own.

Yes. No ads, no advertising trackers, no analytics profiles, no location tracking, nothing sold. Access to every record is limited to your own family at the database level, not just in the app. The privacy policy is a two-minute read.

Whoever created the family is one from the start. Anyone else becomes one by asking and being approved by an existing parent — two people, one deliberate act. Nobody can promote themselves, and knowing the PIN is not enough on its own, so a child who watched you type it cannot become a parent.

Parents can do everything: settings, approvals, allowance, sharing, and approving the next parent.

Yes — choose the "Two homes" household setup and the board offers the co-parent path. Everything stays reachable whichever setup you choose, and you can switch at any time without losing anything.

Yes — Happy Herd runs in any modern browser, which is often the quickest way to try it and the easiest way to set up a wall tablet. It's the same board and the same family; Siri, the OS share sheet and push notifications are phone-app only, and the Happy Herd Family Plan is bought in the phone apps.Happy Herd runs on phones and tablets, including the tablet on your wall. A browser version is coming.

Email it. Requests from actual families are how most of this got built.