User guide

Creating the home

One account for the whole house. The assistant prepares faces, quests and rewards in ten minutes.

On familyzap.com a parent creates the home: an email, a password, the family name and its address (like yourname.familyzap.com). That is the only account. Kids will never have one.

The assistant walks through seven steps: the house, the people, the pets, the rooms, quests from the catalog, rewards, then invitations. You can change everything later, and run it again from Settings.

Profiles

Each person has a face, a colour, and a code if you want. Kids have no email and no password.

In Settings › Family you add parents, kids and pets. A first name, a colour, a photo or an emoji, and for a child their birthdate: the catalog then suggests quests for their age.

A profile can have a 4 to 6 digit code. For a child it is optional: it stops a sibling ticking in their place. A parent always has one and picks it themselves the first time they take their profile; without an account, you give them a temporary code or confirm with yours. A second parent can get their own access to the account, with their e-mail.

One phone for all, or one each

On the living-room phone, everyone taps their face. On their own phone, a child gets in with an invite link or a code you see arrive.

The simplest: one phone or tablet left around the house, open on the home address. The start screen shows the faces, everyone picks theirs. The site adds to the home screen and behaves like an app.

For a personal device, two ways. You send an invite link from Settings › Family (valid seven days), by message or email. Or the person opens the home address, types their first name, and a code shows up for you in Notifications: you read it out, or tap “Let in”. The code expires after a quarter of an hour.

Password and code

Your password opens the home. Your code says it’s you. After five minutes without doing anything, we ask for it again.

Two things, no more. Your account password opens the home’s session on a device: you only type it when signing in. Your 4 to 6 digit code says it’s really you when you take your face, and every parent has one. Settings, approving or sending back a quest, granting a reward, adjusting points: all of that waits for an awake parent.

After five minutes without a gesture from you, we ask for your code again, right where you are, without leaving the page. On a child’s phone, a parent gesture goes through “Switch profile”: your face, your code. There is no trusted device: you can lend your phone to the little ones, nothing stays open.

Creating quests

A quest is a title, points, a rhythm and someone to do it. The catalog offers about thirty, by room and by age.

In Settings › Quests, the assistant ticks quests from the catalog, or you start from scratch. At the top level: what (title, points, category), who (the assignment mode), when (every day, chosen days, every other week, once a month, or just once).

Under “More options”: a deadline, which files the quest under Morning, After school or Evening; steps to tick one by one; a proof photo; a duration, which gives the child a timer; and whether the quest needs a parent. Quests about a pet are linked to it: the pet says thanks when it is done.

Who does what

Rotation, pool, always the same person, a parent decides, or one each. Rotation skips whoever is away.

Rotation picks whoever has done the quest least, among eligible people, skipping anyone away that day. The pool picks nobody: the first to grab it does it. “Always the same person” is for fixed jobs; if they are away, the quest goes to the pool.

“A parent decides” creates the quest with nobody on it: you assign it on the day from the card’s “…” menu or the calendar. “One each” creates the same quest for every chosen person, for tidying a room or packing a bag. When a quest was done together, “Who did it?” splits the points.

Approving without losing your evening

Pick a trust level per child. “Validate all” settles the rest in one tap, and you can undo for five seconds.

For each child, on their profile: “I approve everything”, “Photos only” (the rest is approved right away), or “Trust” (approved right away, with a surprise check one time in five). Parents’ quests need no approval.

On Today, the “To validate” section shows what is waiting, with the day’s photos as a gallery. “Validate all” settles everything in one tap. For a single quest, you approve, or send it back with “Not yet” and a reason: not finished, redo the photo, let’s talk, plus a note if you like. After each tap, an “Undo” bar stays for five seconds. An already approved quest can go back to “redo”: the points come back.

Late, postponed and flash missions

A forgotten quest stays on the board as late, with no penalty. You can postpone it. A flash mission is a surprise quest with a timer.

A quest not done stays visible under “Late” on the following days. There is no penalty. From the card’s “…” menu, “Postpone” moves it to the next turn. Done late, it counts for the planned day.

The “+” button launches a flash mission: a title, points that count double, recipients or “first one to do it”, and 15, 30 or 60 minutes. It arrives as a notification, shows with a countdown, and vanishes with no penalty when time is up.

The shop

You set the rewards and their price in points. The child asks, you grant, then you mark it “given”. A bonus or an adjustment is done from their profile.

In Settings › Rewards, pick from the catalog or invent: a name, an icon, a cost. Points are called whatever you like (stars, coins, hearts…), set in Settings › General. Nothing has to be a thing: picking the movie, an outing for two, thirty minutes of screen time work very well.

When the child has enough, they ask. The request shows in Rewards and in your notifications: you grant or refuse. Once the reward is really given, “Done” closes it. From a child’s Me page, you can give a bonus or adjust points, with a reason they can see.

Together: family quests

A shared goal, a reward for everyone, nobody is ranked. Every approved quest moves the gauge.

No hero of the month, no ranking between siblings. Instead, a family quest: a title, a target in points, a shared reward (pizza night, an outing). Every quest approved for anyone moves the gauge, shown on Today and in Rewards.

When the target is reached, everyone is told, and you mark the reward as given. You can close a running goal and open another whenever you like.

The calendar and who is away

Put in judo, piano and weekends at grandma’s. Rotation never hands a chore to someone who is not there.

In Settings › Activities you create recurring appointments: a day or days, a time, the people involved. An activity marked “unavailable” takes the person out of the rotation that day. A week-long school trip is set in one go.

The calendar shows the week or month, with everyone’s quests and activities. From a day, a parent can assign a quest, postpone it or do it on someone’s behalf.

Notifications and reminders

One grouped reminder in the evening, a recap on Sunday, and notifications you can act on. “Clear all” keeps what still needs doing.

Turn notifications on for each device from the Notifications page. Parents get a single reminder in the evening, at the time you choose in Settings: what is left to approve, with an “Validate all” button right in the notification. On Sunday, a recap of the week. Kids get a reminder before a quest’s deadline, and a nudge to keep their streak.

The Notifications page keeps the history, by day. From a notification you can approve, send back, grant a reward or let a device in. The last fifty show, more load as you scroll. “Clear all” removes the settled ones; those still waiting for a tap stay.

Photos

A photo library private to the home: albums, comments, reactions. Nothing is public.

The Photos page gathers the family’s pictures: upload from the gallery or the camera, albums, comments and reactions. Quest proofs do not go there, they stay on the quest.

Everything is private to the home, behind the session, and hosted in France. An awake parent can select and delete. A free home gets fifty photos.

Stats

Who does what, whether it is balanced, and what gets stuck. Kids get a game version with their records.

The Stats page shows the home’s week: quests and points per person, each one’s share, the times of day things get done, the quests that often run late, and the parents’ share. Previous weeks are there too, and you can filter by person or category.

A child sees their own version: their week, their records, the time they do their quests, their next badge and the pets they helped.

Home settings

The name of the points, the evening reminder time, language, time zone, the cover photo. All of it applies to the whole house.

Settings › General: the home name, the name of the points, the evening reminder time. Under “Advanced”: the language (five to choose from, the same for everyone), the time zone, the first day of the week, light or dark theme, and whether kids’ quests go through a parent by default.

The cover photo dresses the faces screen: your own, cropped, or one from the bank. Settings › Home sets the rooms and categories, with their emoji.

Picking your face

Tap your face to get in. If you have a code, it is yours: don’t share it.

The start screen shows every face in the house. Tap yours. If a parent gave you a code, type it: that way nobody can tick your quests for you.

To switch person, open the menu at the top right and pick “Switch profile”. You can also add your photo or pick an emoji from the Me page.

My quests today

One card per quest. When it is done, tap the big button. If a photo is asked for, the camera opens by itself.

Today shows your quests, sorted by moment: morning, after school, evening. Each card has a picture and a big “Done” button. If the quest has steps, you tick them one by one. If it asks for a photo, the camera opens: one tap to take it, one to send it.

The “Read aloud” button reads the title out loud. The little hourglass starts a timer for quests that have a duration. When everything is done, there is a party, and your streak goes up a day.

Points on their way

When you tap “Done”, your points are on their way. A parent has a look, then they land in your piggy bank.

Depending on what your parents chose, your points arrive right away, or after a parent has looked. Meanwhile the card says “on the way”. If a parent answers “Not yet”, the quest comes back with a note: you finish it, and tap the button again.

A forgotten quest stays under “Late”. You can still do it: the points count anyway.

Quests up for grabs

“Up for grabs” quests belong to nobody. The first to take one does it, and earns the points.

Under “Up for grabs” there are quests for the whole house. If you take one, it is yours. Handy for earning extra points once your quests are done.

A flash mission is the same, but with a timer: it counts double, and vanishes if nobody does it in time.

Points, streak and badges

Every quest gives points. Stringing days together grows your streak, and badges come on their own.

Your points show at the top of Today and on your Me page. Doing at least one quest every day grows your streak: 3, 7 and 30 days in a row each earn a badge. There are other badges to discover, and a level that climbs from Seed to Legend with all the points you have earned.

On Me you see your badges, and on Stats, your week, your records and the pets you helped.

The shop

Pick the reward you are aiming for: a bar tells you what is left to earn. When you have enough, ask for it.

In Rewards, tap “I’m aiming for this” on the one you want: a bar shows up on Today with what you still need. When you have enough points, tap “Take it”. A parent accepts, and the reward goes to “Coming to you” until you get it.

Spent points leave your piggy bank. What you already got stays in the history.

The family goal

The whole family moves the same gauge. When it is full, everyone gets the reward.

At the top of Rewards there is sometimes a family goal: pizza night, an outing. Every approved quest, yours or someone else’s, moves the gauge. Nobody is ranked: you get there together.

Notifications

The bell tells you when a quest is waiting, when a parent has answered, or when a reward is granted.

Tap the bell at the top. You see the quests you were given, the “Not yet” with the parent’s note, granted rewards, badges earned. From a notification you can say “Done” right there.

If notifications are on for your phone, you get a reminder before a quest’s deadline, and a little nudge in the evening if your streak is about to stop.

Family and photos

A feed to talk, and a page of family photos. It all stays inside the house.

The Family page is the house feed: write “dinner at 7”, ask a question, send a photo. The Photos page keeps the family’s pictures, by album, with comments and reactions.

Nobody outside the family sees any of it.