Help & Support

Open the app at twoporchlights.com, tap Sign in / create account, and enter your email and a password. Confirm your email from the message we send you, and you're in. Everything is free for your first 30 days — no credit card needed.

1. After you sign in, create your shared space — the app shows an invite code (you can always find it under Settings → Account).
2. Send that code to your co-parent.
3. They create their own account (their own email and password), choose Join with a code, and enter it.

That's it — you both see the same calendar, expenses, and messages, live. Your co-parent never pays — one subscription covers both parents.

You'll be asked to pick a plan — $59.99/year (best value) or $7.99/month. Only the parent who created the space subscribes; the other parent stays free forever. Your data is safe either way — nothing is deleted when a trial ends.

iPhone: open twoporchlights.com in Safari → tap the Share button (square with an arrow) → Add to Home Screen → Add.

Android: open the site in Chrome → tap the ⋮ menu → Add to Home screen (or "Install app").

It then opens full-screen like a regular app, works on any phone, tablet, or computer, and both parents can use completely different devices.

No. Two Porch Lights runs in the browser, so iPhone, Android, tablets, and computers all work — in any combination. Your data syncs live between all of them.

1. Parents — both names and a calendar color for each.
2. Children — each child's name (and birthday if you'd like it on the calendar).
3. Cost-sharing split — 50/50, 60/40, whatever your agreement says.
4. Child support (if any) — amount and frequency, so the monthly math includes it.
5. Parenting schedule — paint your 2-week pattern (details in the Calendar section below).

Set each parent's percentage under Settings → Cost sharing (e.g. 50/50 or income-based 60/40). Every expense then splits automatically, and the app tracks who owes whom. You can also override the split on any individual expense.

Child support is the recurring payment one parent makes to the other — set the payer, amount, and frequency, and the app expects it each period and folds it into the running balance.

Direct support obligation is for orders where each parent has a set dollar obligation written in the order — the app accrues the difference between the two amounts each period. Most families only use one of these; leave the other at zero.

Yes — Settings → 🎨 Appearance. Three designs: Classic (navy & gold), Industrial (light grey & blue), and Garden (soft greens with blossoms). The choice only affects your device, so each parent can pick their own.

Settings → App features has on/off switches for Messages, the Assistant, the Private journal, and the parenting Calendar (that one lives in the Parenting Schedule section). Turning a feature off just hides it — nothing is deleted, and you can turn it back on anytime.

On the Home tab, use Quick Add: date, child, category, description, amount, who paid. The app instantly shows each parent's share based on your split. The Expenses tab (right next to Home) shows the full month's list.

In Quick Add, tap the receipt box and take a photo (or choose one). AI reads it and fills in the amount, date, store, and category for you — double-check and tap save. The photo stays attached to the expense, viewable anytime via the 🧾 button, and prints with your monthly statement.

Settings → Recurring expenses. Set it up once (description, child, category, amount, who pays), then add it to any month in one tap from the Home tab — no retyping.

At month's end, each parent taps “agrees” on the Expenses tab. When both have agreed, the month locks: no expenses or payments can be added, changed, or deleted for that month. It's your shared "we both signed off" record — and the monthly statement PDF shows the locked status.

Need to fix something later? Both parents agree to reopen the month, make the fix, and lock it again.

Yes, while the month is open — tap the expense in the list to edit, or use its delete button. Once a month is locked by both parents, it's read-only until you both reopen it.

On the Payments tab: date, type (Child Support, Reimbursement, or Other), who paid, and the amount. Payments adjust the running balance so "who owes whom" always stays current.

Under Settings → 💸 Settle-up payment links, each parent can save their Venmo username, PayPal.Me name, Cash App $cashtag, phone number (for Apple Cash), and Zelle handle. When a month shows a balance, the Payments tab grows buttons like “Pay Maria $102.50 — Venmo” with the amount pre-filled.

• Venmo / PayPal / Cash App — opens the app with amount ready.
• Apple Cash — opens your Messages thread with the amount written in (Apple only allows Apple Cash inside Messages); tap the Apple Cash button there to send.
• Zelle — copies the amount and recipient to paste into your bank app (Zelle doesn't support direct links).

After paying, record it on the Payments tab so the balance updates. We never touch or hold your money.

Everything for the selected month: each parent's share of shared expenses, expected child support, any direct support obligation, minus payments recorded. One line tells you who owes whom and how much.

Settings → Parenting Schedule. You'll see a 2-week grid — tap each day to switch it between parents until it matches your rotation (week-on/week-off, 2-2-3, every-other-weekend, anything). Set the start date, save, and it repeats all year on the calendar, color-coded by parent.

Yes. In Parenting Schedule, switch to per-child schedules — each child gets their own 2-week grid and their own calendar board. If all kids share one schedule, keep it on "shared" and there's just one calendar.

In the schedule settings, set each parent's drop-off day and time. Changeover days appear on the calendar as a split cell — the departing parent on top, the receiving parent below, with the 🤝 drop-off time in the middle. You can also add up to four schedule notes with on/off switches (e.g. "During the school year, parent time switches at the end of the school day").

Yes — tap any calendar day and assign it to either parent. A single-day override always wins over the regular rotation. Tap again to clear it.

Settings → Holidays: check the ones you observe, choose who has the kids (or alternate by year), and set exchange times — holidays override the regular schedule and show on the calendar with a ★. Add your own recurring family days too. Kids' birthdays (set under Children) appear every year with an optional exchange time.

Settings → Vacations: pick the date range, which parent has the kids, optional times and a note. It overrides the regular schedule for those days and shows on the calendar with a 🏖️.

Tap any calendar day → 🏠 Log drop-off or 🚗 Log pick-up. One tap creates a shared, timestamped record of the handoff that neither parent can edit or delete — useful when exchanges are ever disputed.

Yes — on the Calendar tab, tap “Add schedule to my calendar” and follow the steps. Your parenting time, exchanges, holidays, birthdays, and events subscribe into Apple, Google, or Outlook and stay current automatically.

Messages here can't be edited or deleted, times are set by the server (not the phone), and you can see when the other parent read each message. Everything stays in one organized thread — no scrolling through months of texts to find what was agreed.

Write your draft, tap Soften, and AI rewrites it to be calm, brief, and child-focused. You see both versions side by side and choose — Use this version or Keep mine. Nothing sends until you tap Send. It's a tone coach, not a censor.

Yes — tap 📎 Attach when writing a message. School forms, medical bills, schedules — they stay with the message in the permanent record.

Settings → 💬 Message records: download all messages or a date range as a PDF. Every page is time-stamped and watermarked with your name, and each message shows its server time and read receipt.

Yes — Settings → 📥 Import message history. Download your record from TalkingParents as a PDF, upload it there, confirm who's who, and your history joins the thread in original date order. Imported messages are clearly labeled with the source and both timestamps, so the record stays honest.

Days when messages were sent show a 💬 on the calendar. Tap the day to read that day's exchange right there — handy when you're reconstructing "what did we agree that week?"

The 🤖 Assistant tab is a private AI helper: ask how anything in the app works, get general co-parenting guidance, or ask for help wording a difficult message. Conversations stay on your device and are never visible to your co-parent.

No. By design it cannot read your family's data — it's a general helper, not a window into your records. And it's not a lawyer, accountant, or therapist; for legal, tax, or safety matters it will point you to a professional.

The 📓 Journal tab is your personal, timestamped record — document incidents, missed exchanges, anything worth remembering. Entries are write-once: they can't be edited or deleted after saving (that's what makes them trustworthy later). You can optionally set when it happened (date and time) — the entry then shows both that and when it was recorded.

Journal entries are private to your account, follow you across devices, and are never shown to your co-parent. Download the whole journal as a watermarked PDF anytime.

An optional setting (Settings → App features) for when trust is thin: changes to parenting time and money — day swaps, schedule edits, expenses, payments, cost-sharing — stay pending until the other parent taps ✓ Approve & lock in from their own signed-in account. You see your own pending change marked "awaiting your co-parent"; they see an approval card on their Home tab. Everyday things (calendar events, messages) still apply instantly.

Tap 🔔 Turn on notifications (on the Home tab or the Messages tab). You'll then get a phone alert when your co-parent messages you, adds an expense, records a payment, or changes parenting time — plus a Recent updates feed on the Home tab showing exactly what changed.

Yes. Under Settings → Account you can create additional co-parent spaces — each is fully private with its own kids, schedule, calendar, expenses, and messages, and its own invite code. Switch between spaces anytime; neither co-parent ever sees the other space.

From the Report tab: the month's summary (shares, support, who-owes-whom), the full expense log, payments, your co-parent notes, the close-out agreement status with signature lines — and every receipt photo for the month, full size, as an appendix at the end. Ready for your records, a mediator, or an attorney.

On the Report tab, tap 🧾 Year-End Tax Summary and pick a year: you get a PDF of what each parent paid by category, with commonly tax-relevant ones (childcare, medical, dental, prescriptions, tuition) starred, plus child support paid. Hand it to your tax preparer each January. (It's a record, not tax advice.)

Yes — you can generate a read-only access code that lets an attorney or mediator view a clean, non-editable copy of the shared record (and print it). They see exactly what both parents see — nothing private like your journal or assistant chats.

Yes — CSV downloads are available for expenses and payments (buttons on those tabs), alongside the PDF statements.

$59.99/year (about $5/month) or $7.99/month — after a 30-day free trial with no credit card. One subscription covers both parents and unlimited kids; your co-parent joins free with your invite code and never pays.

Card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay — checkout is handled securely by Stripe. We never see or store your card details.

Use the manage subscription link in the app (or the receipt email from Stripe) to open your billing portal — update your card, switch plans, or cancel anytime. Canceling stops future charges; your data is not deleted.

On the sign-in screen, enter your email and tap Forgot password — we'll email you a reset link. Open it on the device you want to keep using and set a new password.

Shared between parents: the calendar, schedules, expenses, payments, messages, exchange check-ins, and kid info. Private to you alone: your journal, your Assistant chats, your theme choice, and your login. Attorneys see the shared record only, and only with a code you generate.

In a secure cloud database with per-account access rules, synced over encrypted connections — plus a copy on your device so the app works offline. Payments run through Stripe; we never touch your money or card numbers. Details in our Privacy Policy.

Messages, journal entries, and exchange check-ins are write-once — nobody can edit or delete them, including us via the app. Expenses and payments lock once both parents close out the month. That's the point: a record you can both rely on.

Phone (home-screen app): swipe the app fully closed in the app switcher, then reopen it — do it twice if needed. Still stuck? Delete the home-screen icon, open the site in Safari, then re-add it (your data is safe — it lives in your account, not the icon).

Computer: hard-refresh (hold Shift and click reload), or clear the site's data in your browser settings and reload.

Check that they're signed into their own account first, then choosing Join with a code and typing the code exactly (no spaces). The code is shown under Settings → Account on your side. Still stuck? Email us — we'll connect you.

1. On iPhone, the app must be opened from a Home Screen icon — notifications can't work from a regular Safari tab.
2. Tap 🔔 Turn on notifications in the app and allow the permission prompt.
3. Check the phone's Settings → Notifications for Two Porch Lights.

Each parent enables notifications on their own device.

Make sure you're signed in and online (the AI reader needs both). Take the photo straight-on with good light. If a receipt still won't read, just type the amount — the photo stays attached either way.

Both parents: fully close and reopen the app so it pulls the latest. Sync is live when you're online; changes made offline catch up as soon as you reconnect. If numbers still disagree, email us with the month in question and we'll take a look.

Email support@twoporchlights.com with what you were doing, what you expected, and what happened (a screenshot helps a ton). We read everything and genuinely want the app to work for your family.