Setup
A family organizer that works in any browser
A family organizer that works in any browser is one you open on the phone, tablet or computer you already have. No download is needed. HouseChief keeps the calendar, chores, meals and grocery list in that browser, and the same sign-in can run as a wall display on a tablet you own. There is no HouseChief device to buy. HouseChief is free for 30 days, then $9.95/month with base AI usage included, plus paid AI usage beyond that.
Open it where you already are
Parents live in a mix of phones. One person is on an iPhone, the other on Android, and the kitchen has a tablet that used to be somebody's. A family organizer that needs a specific device, or a gadget you have to buy, leaves someone out. A page in the browser does not.
HouseChief is that page. Sign in at housechief.app on the phone in your pocket, the laptop at work, or the tablet on the counter. The calendar, the chores, the meals and the lists are the same household on each one. The short answer is in the FAQ: no download is needed.
Add it to the Home Screen
Adding HouseChief to the Home Screen opens it from an icon. Notifications for the morning briefing and reminders can still arrive.
On an iPhone or iPad, use Share
Open housechief.app in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. Confirm the name. The icon opens HouseChief full screen the next time.
On Android, use the browser menu
Open housechief.app in Chrome, open the browser menu, and choose Add to Home screen. The wording varies by phone. You get an icon either way.
On a computer, use a bookmark
Bookmark housechief.app, or install it as an app from the browser's menu if you want a dock icon. It is the same sign-in.
Turn on notifications where you want them
The morning briefing and reminders are per device. Allow notifications on the phones that should buzz. A device you have not allowed stays quiet.
A wall display with no hardware to buy
Some family calendars are a screen you purchase and mount. HouseChief's wall display is a browser page, housechief.app/display, on a tablet or spare screen you already own. It shows today and tomorrow, each kid's chores, dinner, the grocery list and the weather. It refreshes about once a minute, keeps the screen awake where the browser allows, and dims at night.
That is the practical difference from a dedicated frame: you are not buying a HouseChief device, and you are not waiting on a shipment. If you are comparing those frames, the dated pages are the Skylight alternative and the Hearth alternative. Cozi and FamilyWall are covered on the Cozi alternative and FamilyWall alternative pages. The FAQ states the difference in one paragraph.
What you set up once
Create the family, add each kid with a name, a color and an emoji, and invite the other parent if there is one. Kids do not need an email or a password. Connect Google Calendar, iCloud or Outlook if you want events to sync both ways, and subscribe to school calendars by link. Sign up when you are ready. The FAQ answers what HouseChief is, in the same words as the top of this site's question list.
Frontier AI models help with the planning: a morning briefing, a meal draft, a flyer turned into proposed events. Calendar and meal changes wait until a parent taps Approve. The assistant does not rearrange the week overnight.
Questions
Do I need to download HouseChief?
No download is needed. HouseChief works in any browser on your phone, tablet or computer, plus a wall display. You can add it to the Home Screen if you want an icon. The same answer is in the FAQ.
Do I need to buy a screen?
No. There is no HouseChief device. The wall display runs in the browser on a tablet or spare screen you already own. Phones and computers use the same sign-in without a display at all.
Will it work on both an iPhone and an Android phone?
Yes. Each parent opens housechief.app in the browser on the phone they have. Add it to the Home Screen on either one. The household, the calendar and the lists stay the same.