A family group chat without social media

Why households leave the public apps

A group text gets noisy. A social network asks for a profile and then shows people you did not invite. FamilezCommz stays with the parent, the grandparent, the child, and the friend you chose to add. A friend can be family.

The conversation is a board of notes, not a scrolling feed. Check-ins, plans, and recipes sit on the same site, so a ride and a soup recipe are not lost in a thread of photos from a public app.

There is no public page for the household. Someone who is not signed in to that family cannot open the notes. Search engines are asked not to index the private board.

How to use it like a group chat

Write the way you would text a short update. Keep one subject in one note when you can. People read it when they sign in. If a parent has turned texting on, some check-ins can also arrive as a text. Ordinary notes are not texted unless someone sends them that way.

1. One parent starts the family and adds the people who should see the notes.
2. Each person signs in with a username or email.
3. Open Notes and write a short update.
4. Open Check-in when the news is how you feel, not a longer note.
5. Open Plans when the news is a time and a place.

Price and limits

Family is $5 a month or $50 a year. The yearly price saves $10, which is two months free. A new family gets 7 free days. The card is saved to start and is not charged during those days. One payment covers everyone the parent adds. The Family plan includes a set number of people, a set amount of photograph space, and a set number of texts in a month if texting is on.

The letters can be large. Read aloud uses the voice already on the phone or computer. That helps when someone would rather listen.

If the household already has a noisy group text, you can leave that thread for urgent one-line pings and put the plans, pictures, and longer notes here. People then know where to look. The board does not replace a phone call. It gives the call a place to be asked for, through Please call me, without posting that request where strangers can see it.

This site is not watched by a helper, and it does not call 911. If someone needs emergency help, call 911 yourself. Notes, pictures, check-ins, plans, and recipes stay on that household board. They are not sold, and the board does not carry advertising. Another household cannot open them.

Other guides

• An easy family app with large type. Comfortable, large, or extra large letters, high contrast, and read aloud on the device you already have.
• A private family app. One board for the people you choose. A friend can be family. There is no public feed and no advertising.
• Family check-ins. Happy, Okay, Grateful, Please call me, or Not feeling well. The home page shows who would like a little care.
• A private family message board. Short notes for the people on your board. Strangers cannot read them, and the notes are not sold.
• An app to stay in touch with grandparents. Large type, a daily check-in, and a short note, without a public feed or a hard-to-read group text.
• Private family photo sharing. Pictures and story cards stay on the household board with a caption. They are not posted to a public gallery.
• A family calendar and shared recipes. Visits, meals, school events, and the soup recipe live next to the notes. They are not published to a social network.