Getting started

1. Getting an invite

Right now Dèanta is being used by a handful of families while we iron out the creases, so you need an invite to join. If someone sent you a link starting app.deanta.app/signup/, that's it. It works once and lasts two weeks. If it's expired, just ask them for another. It takes them ten seconds.

If your partner is already on Dèanta, you don't need one of these. They can invite you straight into the family instead (see Bringing in another parent).

2. Your account

Open your invite link on your phone (Safari on an iPhone, Chrome on Android). You'll be asked for a family name, your name, your email and a password. Nothing else. We don't need your address, your date of birth or your kids' surnames, so we don't ask.

Use an email you actually read. That's where the end-of-cycle summary goes, and it's how you'd get back in if you ever forget your password. Tap Create family and you're in. The invite link is used up at that point, so nobody else can use it.

3. Putting it on your phone

Dèanta isn't in the App Store. It's a website that installs like an app, which means no downloads, no updates to wait for, and it works the same on iPhone and Android. Once it's on your Home Screen you'll forget it was ever a website.

On an iPhone or iPad, in Safari:

1. Tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen.
2. Open Dèanta from the new icon and sign in once more. The Home Screen version keeps its own sign-in, separate from Safari, which trips everyone up the first time.

On Android, in Chrome:

1. Tap the ⋮ menu, then Add to Home screen (sometimes it says Install app).
2. Open Dèanta from the new icon.

4. Notifications

We only send two a day, and only when there's a reason: one at 4pm to a child who still has chores to do, and one at 7pm to you with how the day went. No streaks, no "we miss you", no badges. Pocket money shouldn't need an app shouting at you.

To turn them on, go to Settings, tap Turn on notifications and say yes when your phone asks. Then tap Send a test. If something pops up, you're done.

One catch on iPhone: notifications only work in the Home Screen version, not in a Safari tab. That's Apple's rule, not ours. If Dèanta tells you to add it to your Home Screen first, go back to step 3. And it's per phone, so do it on each one you'd like them on.

5. A few settings

There aren't many, and you can change any of them later under Settings.

• How often you settle up. Weekly, fortnightly, monthly or any number of days you like. Then set Current cycle started on to your pocket-money day, say last Saturday, so Dèanta's weeks line up with yours.
• Approve tasks before they count is off to start with. We think trust works better than checking: if your kid says the bed's made, the bed's made. But if "made" in your house has been known to mean "duvet thrown roughly in the direction of the bed", switch it on. Ticked chores will wait on your dashboard until you've had a look.
• Mid-cycle nudge. Halfway through each cycle we'll let you know if anyone's fallen behind, while there's still time to catch up. Off unless you want it.

6. Adding the kids

From the dashboard, tap Add child. Each child gets a name, a picture (pick one of ours or upload a photo) and a four-digit PIN. The PIN isn't Fort Knox. It's there so a younger brother can't tick off his sister's chores for her. Choose one they'll remember. If they forget, you can reset it from their page.

7. Adding chores

Tap New task, say what needs doing and what it's worth, and choose how often: every day, certain days, once a week on no particular day, or just once. Then tick which children it's for.

Start small. Three or four chores each is plenty for the first week. It's much easier to add more once everyone's got the hang of it than to take them away.

A chore you give to more than one child, like "Make your bed", shows up on each of their lists and pays each of them. If you change a repeating chore later, we'll ask whether you mean every time, from now on, or just that once, so last month's history stays as it was.

8. The kids' devices

If your kids have their own tablet or phone, go to Settings → Kids' devices and send yourself the link (AirDrop or a message is easiest). Open it on their device and add Dèanta to the Home Screen just like you did in step 3. From then on it opens straight to their pictures. They tap theirs, type their PIN, and they're in.

On their Today page there's a Remind me button. That's the 4pm nudge. If the kids share a tablet, each of them taps it once while signed in, and Not me hands it over to the next one.

If they'll use your phone, tap Kid mode at the top of your dashboard. It signs you out and shows their pictures instead, so nobody's approving their own chores. You'll need your password to get back in.

9. Bringing in another parent

Running pocket money is a two-person job in a lot of houses, so your partner can have their own login. Go to Settings → Parents, type their email and tap Invite. They'll get an email with a link. If it goes astray, the link's also sitting under Waiting to join for you to copy and send yourself.

Once they've joined, they see exactly what you see: same kids, same chores, same balances. They should put Dèanta on their phone and turn on notifications too (steps 3 and 4). Invite links work once and last two weeks, and any parent can remove another from the same list.

10. What a normal day looks like

The kids open Dèanta and see today's chores. Each time they tick one off, a stone drops onto their cairn, and by the end of the week there's a proper little pile. If there's still something left at 4pm, they'll get a reminder. Just one.

At 7pm you get a quick round-up, something like "Mia 3/4 (£1.50) · Ewan 2/2 (£1.00)", plus a note if anything's waiting for your approval. On days with no chores, we stay quiet.

At the end of each cycle you'll get a summary of what everyone earned, as a notification and an email. The cairns shimmer, clear, and start again. Balances carry over until you pay, so there's no rush. When you have, open the child's page and tap Mark as paid.

11. Questions people ask

Does Dèanta touch real money?

No, and it never will. It keeps the tally; paying up is between you and your kids. We don't want your bank details and you shouldn't give them to us.

I've forgotten my password.

Tap Forgot your password? on the sign-in page and we'll email you a link to set a new one.

My child's forgotten their PIN.

Happens a lot. Open their page from your dashboard and choose Edit / reset PIN. After five wrong guesses we pause sign-in for a few minutes, which is usually long enough for someone to come and ask you.

Notifications aren't turning up.

Nine times out of ten on an iPhone, it's being opened from Safari rather than the Home Screen icon. After that, check notifications for Dèanta are allowed in your phone's settings, and that Focus or Do Not Disturb isn't holding them back. Send a test in Settings will tell you straight away whether it's working.

Can a child tick off yesterday's chore?

Not a repeating one tied to a specific day. Those belong to their day, and anything left at the end of it is marked missed. We think that's fairer than letting a week's worth pile up for a Sunday-night blitz. A "once a week, any day" chore can be ticked any day that week, and one-off jobs stay on the list until they're done.

What does "Dèanta" mean?

It's Scottish Gaelic for done. Which is the whole idea.