Set up your child's own iPad or phone

Child mode turns a child’s own iPad or phone into a simple view of their day: where they are sleeping tonight, what is coming up, the routines they can check off themselves and the lists you made for them. The child needs no account, no email address and no password. A parent sets the device up, and either parent can take it away again.

Before you start. You need:

• To be a parent in the family. Helpers cannot set up a device.
• Coparia Plus. Child mode is part of it.
• The child’s device in your hand, with the Coparia app installed on it.
• Your own phone or computer, signed in to Coparia.

Set up the device

On the child’s device:

1. Open Coparia.
2. Select Set up a child’s device. It is below the sign-in choices.
3. Give the device a name, such as “Maya’s iPad”. You can change it later.
4. Select Get a code. Six digits appear. Leave the device on that screen.

Then, on your own phone or computer:

1. Open Settings, then Family.
2. Select your child’s name.
3. Under Child mode, select Set up a device.
4. Type the six digits from the child’s device.
5. Read what Child mode does on the device, then check the box to agree as the child’s parent or legal guardian, and select Set up.

The child’s device opens Child mode by itself within a few seconds. We email you a copy of what you agreed to, with how to remove the device if you change your mind. Your app may then ask what your children call you, such as “Mom” or “Dad”, so the device can say “At Dad’s” rather than your first name. The other parent gets a notification that a device was set up.

Choose what it shows

The device only ever shows what concerns that child. You decide the rest from the family’s usual screens:

• Events. Events that name the child, or name no child, appear on the device. Events marked private, or Just me, never do.
• Locations and notes. In the child’s settings, under Child mode, switch off Show event locations or Show event notes if you would rather the device left them out. Both start switched on.
• Routines. A routine shows when it is for that child, or for every child, and it is due that day. A routine marked Parents only never shows on a child’s device.
• Lists. A list shows only when you choose it. Open the list’s settings and pick the child under Show on a child’s device. A private list cannot be shown on one.

See what your child sees in Child mode for the device’s side of all this.

What the children call you

The device says whose home your child is at today, using what your children call you. To change it, open Settings, then Family, select a child, and find What the children call you. There is one name per parent, and every child in the family sees the same one.

Rename or remove a device

Every device set up for a child is listed in that child’s settings, under Child mode, with who set it up and when it was last used. Either parent can:

• Select Rename to change its name.
• Select Remove to stop it at once. The device goes back to the setup screen the next time it asks for anything, and the other parent is told.

A device can also be unpaired on the device itself, from the settings gear. Both parents are told.

A device that nobody has used for 90 days stops working by itself, so a tablet forgotten in a drawer does not keep showing a child’s week. Set it up again with a new code.

When it does not work

The code ran out. A code lasts 10 minutes and works once. On the child’s device, select Get a new code and type the new one.

It says Child mode is part of Coparia Plus. The family needs Plus to set up a device. See change your plan.

The child’s device says Child mode isn’t available yet. Child mode is not switched on for everyone yet. Write to support@coparia.app and we will tell you when it is.

A routine is missing from the device. Check that it is for that child (or for every child), that it is due today, and that Parents only is switched off.

A list is missing from the device. Check that the child is chosen under Show on a child’s device in the list’s settings, and that the list is not private.

Something you changed has not appeared. The device checks for changes when it is opened, every few minutes while it stays open, and whenever your child pulls the screen down.

The device says to ask a grown-up. What Child mode does has changed since the device was set up, so it waits until a parent agrees again. Coparia shows you a note about it with a Review and agree button, at the top of every page on the web and at the top of the calendar in the app. You can also open Settings, then Family, select your child, and select Review and agree beside the device.

The device is back on the setup screen. It was removed by a parent, unpaired on the device, or unused for 90 days. Set it up again.