Family apps: the questions families ask, answered first

Seven weeks to Christmas. What's worth knowing before December fills up.

November is when December arrives.

The nativity date comes home in the book bag. The work do lands on the same night as the carol concert. Someone needs to sort the dog for Boxing Day. Nobody is quite sure who is hosting.

So this is a good moment to answer the questions families tend to ask about family apps. The answer comes first. The detail sits underneath.

1. Do we need a family app, or is a shared calendar enough?

A shared calendar is enough if dates are your only problem. For most households, they aren't.

The calendar knows the nativity is on Thursday. It doesn't know someone needs a tea towel for the shepherd's costume, that the car insurance renews the same week, or that the dog's flea treatment is due.

Family admin is dates, lists, money, people and pets. They affect each other. Keeping them in one place is the whole point.

2. Is it safe to put our family's details in an app?

It can be, if the app gives you plain answers to three questions: where is it stored, who can see what, and can you take it out?

Ask before you sign up. In Haevn, your family's data is stored in London. Two-factor sign-in is available. You set who in the household sees what. And you can export everything as a file whenever you like.

If an app can't answer those three questions plainly, that is your answer.

One more worth asking. Where children may use an app, the ICO's Children's Code sets the standards UK services are expected to follow, even when children aren't the main audience. It's fair to ask any family app how it handles that.

3. Will the rest of the family actually use it?

Only if adding something is quicker than sending a text.

That's the real test. If putting "pick Gran up from the station, 4pm on the 23rd" into an app takes six taps, it goes in the group chat instead. And then it gets lost.

In Haevn, you say it or type it, the way you'd say it out loud. It lands in the right place: the calendar, the shopping list or the to-do list.

Kitchen mode keeps Haevn open on a tablet, so the whole house can see the week without anyone opening anything.

4. Can the children use it?

Yes. Children can see their chores and homework, and tick things off as they go.

Fewer reminders from you. Fewer "nobody told me".

The Christmas holidays are a good time to start, so it's habit before the January term begins.

5. We're two households. Does a family app work for us?

It should, and December is when it matters most.

Family lawyers tend to give separated parents the same advice every year: agree Christmas arrangements early, and put them in writing.

In Haevn, co-parents in separate homes can share a calendar and message each other in the app. Handovers, travel times and who has which day sit in one agreed place, not across months of old texts.

If you're still working out arrangements, Cafcass publishes guidance for parents on its website.

6. Can it handle the dog as well?

Yes. Pets are part of the household, so they're part of the admin.

Pets sits alongside everything else in Haevn, and pet insurance comes with a renewal reminder, so the policy doesn't lapse in the middle of December.

And a seasonal one worth knowing. PDSA vets warn that mince pies, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake contain raisins, currants and sultanas, which are toxic to dogs. Chocolate can be dangerous too. Keep them up high, including the mince pie left out on Christmas Eve.

If your dog eats something it shouldn't, call your vet straight away. Save your vet's out-of-hours number now, before you need it.

7. What about the grandparents?

They can be part of it. And if you look after a parent, Carer Mode is built for that.

Carer Mode lets the family log visit notes, keep track of medications and keep everyone informed. Over Christmas, when lots of people are popping in, the family knows who saw Mum, when, and what's changed.

One subscription covers up to eight people.

8. Why pay when there are free apps?

Because free apps are paid for somehow. Usually with ads, upsells or features held back for a paid tier.

Haevn is one price. £6.99 a month or £69.99 a year. Every feature included. No tiers. No ads. Up to eight people.

Try it for 14 days free, no card needed. Invite the household and decide if it fits.

9. Does it work on iPhone and Android?

Yes. It works in your browser today, and the App Store and Android apps are on the way.

Set up now in the web app and you get every feature. When the store apps arrive, they use the same data. Nothing to move.

One thing to do this weekend

Sit down for ten minutes. Get December out of everyone's heads and into one place.

Dates. The food shop. Who's driving where. What the dog is doing on Boxing Day.

Whatever you use to do it, do it this week.

If you'd like that place to be Haevn: set up now, name your Haven, and invite the household.

Everything in its place.