Inviting another grown-up
A partner, a co-parent, a grandparent, a childminder: anyone who looks after the children can join the household with their own login. By email or WhatsApp, with a six-digit code.
Updated 28 September 20262 min read
The short version. Settings, Family, Invite a grown-up. Email or WhatsApp, Parent or Member, send. They open the link, type the six-digit code, and they are in.
Inviting by email
- Open the menu, then Settings, then Family.
- Under the grown-ups, choose By email, type their address, and pick Parent or Member.
- Press Send the invite.
Bobbie emails them a link and the code together. The invite appears in your list with its code, so if they lose the email you can tell them the number.
Inviting on WhatsApp
WhatsApp will not let Bobbie message a number that has never written to it, so this one goes through your phone.
- Choose On WhatsApp, type their mobile number, and press Make the invite.
- Press Send on WhatsApp. Your WhatsApp opens with the message and link ready; send it.
- Tell them the six-digit code yourself, in person or in the chat. That is what proves it is them.
Parent or Member
- Parent can change the household, add and remove children, invite and remove grown-ups, and link phones. Choose this for a partner or co-parent.
- Member sees everything, asks Bobbie anything, confirms Inbox items, ticks things off and gets their own round-ups, but cannot change the set-up. Choose this for a grandparent or a childminder.
You can change someone's role later from the same card.
What they see
They open the link, sign in or create an account, and land on a page that asks for the code and what the family calls them ("Dad", "Nana", "Auntie Jo"). Then they are on Today in your household, seeing exactly what you see.
What is really happening
Each grown-up has their own login, so passwords are never shared and each person can turn on two-step sign-in for themselves. The invite link is random and the code is kept encrypted; the link lasts seven days, works once, and five wrong codes spend it. Invites that run out are deleted a week later, address and all.
Questions people ask
- How long does an invite last?
- Seven days, and it works once. If it runs out, send a new one from the same place; the old link stops working.
- Why is there a code as well as a link?
- A link can be forwarded by mistake. The code proves it reached the person you meant, and five wrong codes spend the invite.
- Can I invite someone who does not have WhatsApp or email?
- They need one or the other to create an account. If they have neither, the simplest thing is to set up their login for them at your kitchen table.