Kids sign in with a family code, no email. How do you handle your kids' accounts?
by•
Most kids' apps we tried as parents wanted an email address for the child, or quietly ran everything on the parent's account.
In TaskyLand a child joins the family with a family code instead. No email for the kid, and the parent stays the one who approves tasks and rewards.
The trade-off we keep coming back to: a code is simpler for a 7-year-old, but it is also easier to share than a login. How locked down should a child's account in a family app be?
How do you handle accounts for your kids today: your own email, a separate one for them, or a family sharing feature?
4 views
Replies
From a design point of view, I'd keep the code simple for the child and put the safety check on the parent's side. For example, the first time a code is used on a new device, the parent gets a prompt like "Is this Maya's tablet?" and has to approve it. A code that's shared with a friend then does nothing until a parent says yes. A few small things help too: codes that expire or rotate, and a picture or colour step instead of typing for a 7-year-old. That keeps it easy for the kid without making the account open to anyone who has the code.
@knightsdev thanks, the "Is this Maya's tablet?" prompt is a really good idea. Today the parent check in TaskyLand sits at the task level: the kid sends proof, and nothing counts until a parent approves it in the app, from a widget or on Apple Watch. A device-level check like yours would close the gap one step earlier.
The picture or colour step for younger kids is on my list now too. Have you seen rotating codes confuse kids in practice, or would you expect them to cope fine?