Make it fit your household

Household-wide app settings are for admins, on the web under Apps. On the Installed tab, click an app to open its settings. Your own dashboard layout is yours to set, under Settings → Dashboard.

Every app starts with sensible defaults: some are for adults only, and some have a minimum age. To change that for particular people, open the app and choose Member access. The table shows each member's Default access and why, and an Override:

• Grant lets someone in who wouldn't be by default, such as an older child for an adults-only app.
• Restrict keeps someone out who otherwise would be.
• Clear goes back to the default.

Admins always have access. Guests only see apps that have been chosen for them; see guest access.

Open the app and choose Left nav. Switch off Show in left nav to tuck it away, or type a new Label and Icon (an emoji works) and tap Apply label / icon. "Chores" can become "Jobs", with a broom. The change is for the whole household, and only affects the sidebar.

On the Navigation tab, create groups such as "Kids", "House", or "Money", give each a colour, and drag apps into them. Each person only sees groups that contain an app they can use. Tap Save when you're done.

Apps that keep a running history, such as logs and check-ins, have an Automatic data retention setting in their panel. Choose how long each kind of record is kept, from 30 days to seven years, or Keep forever where that's allowed. Records older than the window are permanently deleted in the next daily clean-up, so choose carefully. In a shared space, the space can limit the choices.

In Apps → Marketplace, Show beta apps adds apps that are still being finished to the catalogue. It's off unless an admin turns it on.

Apps check for updates and install them once a day. To change that, go to Settings → General → App Updates and untick Automatically update apps, or leave it on and use Turn off auto-update on any single app. Security updates are always applied.

To take an app away for a while, use Suspend in its panel and Reactivate later; nothing is deleted. Remove is different: it permanently deletes everything the app has stored, and asks you to confirm first.

Settings → Dashboard changes only your view, not anyone else's, and each household you belong to keeps its own arrangement:

• Today: show the day as Compact, Full day, or Hidden.
• At a Glance: choose which apps get a glance card, or hide the row.
• Widgets: choose which apps' widgets appear, then drag them into order on the dashboard itself. A widget you turn off stays off.

Suggestion cards on the dashboard have a Dismiss button, and a dismissed card stays dismissed on all your devices. In the mobile app, tap the star on any app to keep it under Starred Apps on the home screen; stars are saved on that phone.