Share photos and a calendar with your co-parent
In short
Famileze, a private family archive on iPhone, lets you invite the other parent into the same family: one calendar, shared lists and the photo timeline. You choose, folder by folder, whether it's shared with both parents or kept to yourself, and anything marked 🔒 private stays yours. It works the same whether you share one home or two.
However your family looks
Some co-parents share a kitchen; some share a handover at the school gate. Either way, both of you want the same things: to know what's on this week, to see the photos from the other house, and to keep a few things to yourself. Famileze is built for both parents, with one archive between you, and calm rules about who can do what.
Step 1: Invite the other parent
The parent who started the family is its admin, and only the admin can send the invite.
- Open Settings, tap 👥 Co-parent, then ✉️ Invite a co-parent.
- Under Who is this invite for?, type their first name and tap Create the invite. Their name shows on moments, lists and the calendar.
- If you're together: they install Famileze on their iPhone, tap 👥 I was invited, then 📷 Scan their QR, and scan the code on your screen.
- If you're apart: tap 📧 Email the invitation. The email carries only an invite ID. Send the code separately, by text or a phone call; that's what stops a stray email from letting anyone in. They tap 👥 I was invited, enter both, and tap Join family.
An invite works once and expires after 24 hours. Settings shows ⏳ Invite sent — waiting for them to join until they're in, then that they're connected. One subscription covers the family, so your co-parent doesn't pay separately.
Step 2: Choose exactly which folders they see
Every folder has one of two settings:
- 👪 Both parents: you both see it.
- 🔒 Admin only (just me): only you see it, until you share it.
When you make a folder, Famileze asks Who can see "…"? and starts on Admin only, so nothing is shared until you say so. To change a folder later, open Settings › 📁 Folder sharing and tick 👪 Both parents or 🔒 Admin only beside it. If you'd like finer "only these people" rules, those are set on the free Mac companion.
The calendar is shared. Each event says whose it is: under Whose event is this?, tap one parent, or tap both for a joint event. New events start under whoever adds them, so you can each check the other's week without filling it up.
Step 3: Keep some things private with the 🔒 lock
Either parent can keep things to themselves:
- Lists and to-dos: when you add an item, choose 🔒 Private to me instead of 👪 Shared with your co-parent. To make a whole list private, open it and tap Make private.
- Health records: for each child, tap the sharing button to switch between 👪 Shared with co-parent and 🔒 Private to me. A child's records start shared; your own health records start private.
- Keepsake letters: set a letter to 🔒 Private to you.
Anything marked private is never shared with your co-parent. One honest note: making something private from now on doesn't take back what was already shared. Anything they already have stays on their device.
What each parent can and can't do
| Admin (started the family) | Co-parent | |
|---|---|---|
| Add photos, events, lists and notes | Yes | Yes |
| Delete a photo or video within 24 hours of adding it | Yes | Yes |
| Delete photos and videos older than 24 hours | Yes | No — they ask the admin |
| Edit or delete calendar events, lists and notes | Yes | Yes |
| Delete an established folder | Yes | Only folders they made in the last 24 hours |
| Invite or remove the co-parent | Yes | No |
| Change who sees each folder | Yes | No |
The 24-hour rule is there for every family, together or not. It means nobody can empty years of photos from one phone, whether by accident or in a hard moment. A co-parent who tries is told why, and can still move a photo out of a folder.
One co-parent place per family
Each family has exactly one co-parent place. If someone is already connected and you'd like to invite someone else (a new partner, say), remove their access first, then send a fresh invite. The free Mac companion doesn't use up that place, and your co-parent can connect their own Mac from their Settings with 🖥 Connect my computer.
If things change
To end sharing, open Settings › 👥 Co-parent and tap Remove co-parent access. Their devices stop receiving the family's archive within a few minutes, and the place is free again; you can invite them, or someone else, at any time. The honest limit: photos and notes already on their devices stay with them. No app can reach into someone else's phone and take those back.
What it doesn't do
- No location sharing. Famileze never shows where anyone is.
- No in-app messaging. Keep talking however you already do.
- It can't recall what's already on the other parent's device.
- No syncing with Google or Outlook calendars.
Questions parents ask
- Does my co-parent need their own subscription?
No. One subscription covers the family, and both parents are part of it.
- Can my co-parent see my private things?
No. Items marked 🔒 private and folders set to Admin only aren't shared with them.
- Can my co-parent delete our photos?
They can delete what they've added within 24 hours. After that, only the admin can delete photos and videos.
- Is what we share encrypted?
Yes. Everything is encrypted on your device before it leaves, and what we store is unreadable to us. The exceptions are things that must be readable by someone outside the family: emails sent to your family address, newsletters you send, and pages you choose to publish.
- Can we change co-parents later?
Yes. Remove the current co-parent's access in Settings, then invite the new person. The invite asks for their name, so the app greets them correctly.