Wall display
Turn a tablet you already own into a family wall display
You do not need to buy a wall calendar device to put the family day on the wall. HouseChief runs on a tablet you already own as a wall display, showing today and tomorrow, the kids' chores, dinner and the grocery list. It dims at night. The same sign-in works in the browser on a phone or a computer.
A wall calendar without a new device
Some family calendars are a screen a company sells and you mount. That can be the right fit if you want a large display, a mount in the box, and setup that does not start with a tablet you already have. HouseChief is the other path: a browser page on hardware you already own.
The page is housechief.app/display. It shows the date and the weather, today's and tomorrow's events, tonight's dinner, a column of chores for each kid, and a strip of the grocery list. It refreshes about once a minute, so a change on a phone shows up on the wall. Private lists, settings and the approval Inbox stay off that screen. The feature page is wall display.
Set up the wall display
Any tablet with a modern browser can do this. Keep it plugged in. You supply the stand or the mount.
Open HouseChief on the tablet
Go to housechief.app in the tablet's browser and sign in as a parent. There is no separate HouseChief device to set up.
Open the display
Go to housechief.app/display, or tap Wall display when the tablet is held sideways. Add HouseChief to the Home Screen first if you want it full screen.
Put it where the family passes
A stand on the counter or a mount by the door. The display asks the browser to keep the screen awake while it is open. If the tablet ignores that, set the tablet's own screen timeout.
Choose who the tablet acts as
In a parent's view, anyone can tap any kid's chores. Switch to a kid's view and set a parent PIN if the tablet should stay out of parent views. A parent can also lock the device to the display until a parent PIN unlocks it.
Leave it for the morning
From 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. the display dims so it is not a bright rectangle in a dark kitchen. It brightens again for the first person down.
When a dedicated screen is the better fit
Buy a purpose-built screen if you want the company to supply the hardware and the mount, and you do not want to use a tablet you already own. The dated comparisons are the Skylight alternative, the Hearth alternative, Skylight vs Hearth, and the Cozyla alternative. Those pages use each company's own site and say where their screen is the better fit.
Stay with the tablet you own if the day, the chores, dinner and the grocery list are enough, and you would rather not buy a display. Kids tap today's chores on the wall. Stars still wait for a parent when a reward is spent. The chore rules are on chores and rewards.
The Parkers' kitchen tablet
Jordan signs the old tablet in, opens the display, and leaves it on the counter. Maya sees her chores in the morning and taps them. Sam changes Thursday's ride on a phone, and the wall catches up within a minute. At night the screen dims. Nobody ordered a HouseChief device to get that view.
Questions
Do I need to buy a wall calendar device to use HouseChief on the wall?
No. HouseChief runs on a tablet you already own as a wall display, showing today and tomorrow, the kids' chores, dinner and the grocery list. It dims at night. Open housechief.app/display in the tablet's browser. There is no HouseChief device to buy, and the same household works on a phone or a computer.
Does the wall display stay on all day?
It asks the browser to keep the screen awake while the display is open. If the tablet ignores that, set the tablet's own timeout. Keep it plugged in. From 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. the page dims, then brightens in the morning.
Can kids use the wall display?
Yes. Each kid has a column of today's chores. A tap marks today's chore done. A parent PIN keeps a kid's view from switching into parent settings. A parent can also lock the device so only the display is open until a parent unlocks it.