10–15 minutes

Quick Start Guide

Everything you need to get your family up and running — from creating your account to your kids earning their first screen time.

What You'll Set Up

  1. Your parent account
  2. Your family
  3. Your kids' profiles
  4. Tasks and penalties (the point system)
  5. Screen time rates
  6. Getting your kids logged in on their own devices

Step 1: Create Your Parent Account

  1. Download ScreenPlay Rewards from the App Store — works on both iPhone and iPad, with a layout that adapts to the larger screen.
  2. On the welcome screen, make sure the Parent tab is selected (there's also a Child tab — that's what your kids will use later, in Step 6, on their own device).
  3. Tap Need a parent account? below the sign-in form, then enter your email and a password and tap Create account.
  4. Check your email for a verification code and enter it in the app.
    • Didn't get a code? Tap Resend code.
  5. Once verified, you'll land on your Parent Dashboard.
Note: Email verification is required before you can use the app — this protects your family's data and makes sure password recovery always works.

Step 2: Create Your Family

The first time you sign in, ScreenPlay will walk you through creating your family:

  1. Enter your family name.
  2. ScreenPlay automatically generates a family invite code — this is how your kids will find your family and log in on their own devices later. You can view and share this anytime from your dashboard. (There's no QR code option currently — just the text code, typed in on your child's device.)
  3. As the first parent on the account, you're automatically set as an Administrator. Administrators can do everything — add kids, set up tasks, invite other parents/caregivers, and manage settings. (If you later invite a co-parent or caregiver, you can choose whether to make them an Administrator too, or a Standard caregiver with day-to-day approval access only.)
The Free plan includes 1 caregiver (you). Inviting a second parent or caregiver requires ScreenPlay Family.
🎥 Watch: Create your account & set your week (0:48)

Step 3: Add Your Kids

For each child:

  1. From your dashboard, tap Add child profile.
  2. Enter their name and age, and pick an avatar.
  3. Set a 4-digit PIN — this is what your child will use to log in on their own device. (Keep it simple enough for them to remember, but not something a sibling could guess.)
  4. Set a Notification time (hour, minute, AM/PM) — this is when they'll get a daily reminder to submit their tasks, if you turn on the daily submission bonus (more on that in Step 4).
  5. Toggle Carry over balance each week — this controls whether their weekly point balance rolls over:
    • On — if they end the week with extra points, those points carry into next week. If they end the week negative (more penalties than points), that negative balance also carries over — but they're locked out of screen time until they earn their way back above zero.
    • Off — balance resets to zero every week, positive or negative.
  6. Tap Save child.
  7. Repeat for each additional child.
Tip: You can always come back and edit a child's settings later — nothing here is permanent.
The Free plan includes 1 child. Adding a second child requires ScreenPlay Family — you'll see an upgrade prompt if you try to add one on Free.
🎥 Watch: Add your first child (0:35)

Step 4: Set Up Tasks and Penalties

This is the heart of ScreenPlay — the tasks your kids complete to earn points, and the penalties that deduct points for behavior you want to discourage.

The fast way: Starter Tasks

Don't want to build your list from scratch? Tap Add starter tasks and pick from ready-made categories like Morning Routine, Homework & Learning, Chores & Cleanup, Kindness & Behavior, and Common Penalties. You can select or deselect individual items within each category — nothing is added unless you check it. Every starter item uses point values already tuned to a typical family, and everything stays fully editable afterward.

🎥 Watch: Add starter tasks & rewards (0:35)

The custom way: Build your own

If you'd rather create tasks yourself, open the Tasks and penalties card on your dashboard:

  1. Tap Add positive task (for things that earn points) or Add penalty task (for things that deduct points).
  2. Give it a title (e.g., "Made bed") and a point value.
  3. For a positive task, choose whether it's:
    • Daily — available once per day (e.g., brush teeth, make bed)
    • Selectable — available anytime, and can be submitted more than once per day if it makes sense (e.g., "Extra reading," "Helped a sibling") — each submission is approved separately
  4. Optionally mark a Daily task as Required — this means screen time stays locked for that child each day until the required task is submitted and approved. Use this sparingly, for the handful of things that truly matter every day (e.g., homework).
  5. Save.

Both positive tasks and penalties live in the same Tasks and penalties card — use the Positive / Penalties filter at the top to switch between them.

Most families use a mix: a few Starter Tasks to get going quickly, then a handful of custom ones added over time.

Step 5: Set Screen Time Rates

Each child can have their own rate for each device type — PlayStation, iPad, Computer, TV, and Switch.

  1. On your dashboard's Kids card, find your child — their current rates are summarized right on their card (e.g., "Screen time rates: PS 1, iPad 1, Computer 1, TV 1, Switch 1").
  2. Tap Edit on their card to adjust.
  3. The default is 1 point = 1 minute for every device. You can change this per device, per child — for example, making iPad cost more points per minute than TV if that matches your family's priorities.

Step 6: Get Your Kids Logged In

Your kids use ScreenPlay on their own device — no need to share your phone.

  1. On your dashboard, find your family invite code — check the Family settings card if you don't see it right away.
  2. On your child's device, download ScreenPlay. On the welcome screen, tap the Child tab (right next to the Parent tab you used to sign in).
  3. Type the family invite code exactly as shown and tap Find family.
  4. Tap your child's name from the profile card that appears.
  5. A PIN field appears below — enter their 4-digit PIN and tap Enter.
🎥 Watch: Get your kid logged in (0:35)

That's it — they're in, and can see their point balance, today's tasks, and the family leaderboard right away.

How the Day-to-Day Works

Once setup is done, here's the loop your family will settle into:

  1. Kids complete tasks and submit them in the app for approval.
  2. You get a notification and can approve or reject each one — or use Approve All if everything looks good.
  3. Approved tasks add points; penalties (applied by a parent) subtract them — instantly, no approval needed for penalties.
  4. Kids redeem points for screen time using the built-in timer, which locks the device automatically when time's up.
  5. Forgot to start the timer? Kids can log missed screen time themselves (pending your approval), or you can log it directly on their behalf if you noticed it after the fact.
Getting too many pushes? Each parent can turn off individual notification types — new submissions, screen time starting, screen time ending — from their own notification preferences, independently of other parents on the account.

What's Next

This guide covers the essentials to get started. For a deeper look at every feature — Analytics, caregiver management, mandatory tasks, dollar-value rewards, and more — see the Feature Reference guide.