Before you join

Invited to Two Porch Lights? Here is what you would be joining.

Two Porch Lights is one shared page for two homes: the kids' calendar, the shared costs and one message thread. This page is for the parent who received an invite, or was asked to try it. It says what your co-parent can see, what they cannot, and what it costs you.

No invite yet? If your co-parent only asked whether you would try it, there is nothing to tap yet. If you are open to it, tell them, and they can send you the invite.

Came from the join form? It is still open in your other tab.

What it costs you

  • Joining is free. There is no credit card, no payment and nothing to cancel.
  • One subscription covers the shared space for both parents, and either parent can be the one who subscribes. On the website it is $99 a year or $12 a month. In the iPhone and Android apps the subscription is yearly or monthly, through the App Store or Google Play, at the price shown there. You do not have to be the one who pays.
  • The free trial is counted from the day the parent who created the space signed up: 30 days, and 60 days from that same day once you have joined. Your joining is what adds the extra 30 days. If that time has already passed when you join and nobody has subscribed, the space is read-only for each of you until one of you subscribes. Nothing is deleted, and you can still read, print and export everything.
  • A Tax Center of your own is the one thing joining does not include. It stays locked for the parent who joined unless they add a plan of their own.

What both parents see

  • The calendar: the parenting schedule, holidays, events and the comments on them.
  • Expenses, receipts and payments, with who added each expense and who last changed it.
  • Child support settings, and any payment handles saved for settling up (Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, Zelle, or a phone number for Apple Cash).
  • Messages and the files attached to them.
  • Exchange check-ins.
  • Kid info (sizes, allergies, medications, doctors, school, insurance) and Kid Kits.
  • The parenting plan copy, if either parent puts one on file. Either parent can view it, ask it questions or remove it.

Either parent can add to and change the shared calendar, expenses, payments and kid info. Anything already in the space when you join is there for you to see, and what you add is there for your co-parent.

What only you see

  • Your private journal.
  • Your chats with the Assistant. They are kept on your own phone or computer.
  • A home address, if you save one. It is optional and is used only if you track mileage.
  • Your password.
  • Your Tax Center records, if you add a plan of your own.
  • App Lock, in the phone apps, is set on each phone and never changes the other parent's phone.

Worth knowing before you join

  • Your email address. The address you sign in with is shown to your co-parent next to the messages you send and on changes you ask them to approve. It is also printed in the message log PDF and in the read-only view an attorney or mediator code opens. If you would rather not share your everyday address, sign up with a different one.
  • Mileage. If you track mileage for a kid's activity, your co-parent sees where each trip went and the miles driven. They never see your home address, but the miles are measured from it. If where you live needs to stay private, leave mileage off.
  • Attorney or mediator access. Either parent can create an expiring, read-only access code. It shows the message log (with each sender's email address), expenses and payments, with the parents' and children's names. It does not show the calendar, kid info, the parenting plan copy, or anyone's journal or Tax Center. Each parent can see the list of codes in Settings, and either one can switch a code off.
  • Calendar link. Either parent can add the shared calendar to a calendar app through a private link. Anyone who has that link can see the schedule and events, with any address or note saved on them. Either parent can reset the link.
  • Shared entries. Either parent can change or remove shared entries, and Erase All Data in Settings clears the shared record for each of you.
  • Alerts. Each parent chooses their own alerts. Email alerts start on End of day: one summary email in the evening, only on days with something new from your co-parent. You can change that in Settings, under Notifications. Your alert choices and your device's time zone name (for example America/Chicago) are saved with the space's settings. The app shows them only to you, but they are in the backup file either parent can download.
  • Delivered. When your app loads a message, the sender sees it marked Delivered with the time. It means the message reached your app, not that you read it.
  • Joining. When you join, the parent who invited you can see that you joined, and is alerted if their alerts are on.

How messages work

Each message sent in the app is time-stamped by our server when it is saved, not by the sender's phone. Messages imported from TalkingParents keep the original date from that service's export file and are labeled as imported. There is no button to edit, unsend or delete a single message, for either parent. The one exception: if a parent deletes their Two Porch Lights account, the messages that account sent are removed from the shared thread, and when the last member of a shared space deletes their account, the whole space is deleted.

Leaving

  • You can leave the shared space while your co-parent is in it, in Settings under Account. What you added stays in the space with your co-parent; leaving does not delete it. If you are the only one left in the space, delete your account or email support@twoporchlights.com instead.
  • For 72 hours after you join, the parent who created the space can remove you, in case the wrong person joined. If that happens you are told by one email, and the website or the app tells you too when you open it in the next 30 days.
  • You can delete your account at any time. That removes the messages you sent, your journal and your Tax Center records.

What Two Porch Lights is not

Two Porch Lights is not a law firm and does not decide anything between parents. Nothing here is legal or financial advice. Whether any record is accepted or given weight in a legal proceeding is up to the court. Follow your attorney's guidance and confirm details against your own court order. If your order names a specific app, use that one, or ask your attorney before switching.

Who runs it: see the Terms of ServiceTerms of Service and the Privacy Policy.

How to join

  1. If the invite has a join link, tap it.
  2. Create your own account with your email and a password, then confirm your email.
  3. You land in the shared space.

If the invite has only a code, or you are using the app from the App Store or Google Play: create your account, tap Join with code and enter the code.

Ready? Go back to the invite and tap its link. If you were on the join form already, it is still open in your other tab.

Have an invite with a code and no link? Open Two Porch Lights, create your account, then tap Join with code and paste the code or the whole invite.Have an invite with a code and no link? Create your account in the app, then tap Join with code and enter the code.

No invite yet? Tell your co-parent you are open to it, and they can send it. The invite's link or code is what puts you in the same shared space, so wait for it before you create an account.

Free to join · no credit card