For step-parents & partners
A shared family calendar that includes step-parents
If you live with someone who co-parents, you already do the school runs, the pickups and the juggling — usually from a forwarded screenshot. Co-Parenting Harmony gives current partners their own place in the family, with their own permissions: you can see the rota and handovers you need to plan around, and you never see the details of anyone else’s private entries.
What a partner can and cannot see
Visibility is decided per entry, not per person, so being included never means seeing everything.
Visible to a partner
- Who has the children tonight, and the next handover time and place
- Custody and overnight blocks for the household they are part of
- School, nursery, club and appointment entries shared with the family
- Work shifts that adults have chosen to share, so the week can be planned
- Proposals they are asked to respond to — date night, childcare swaps, family plans
- Shared free-time openings the availability screen finds
Never visible
- The details of any entry marked private — those show only as “Busy”
- Anything belonging to a family they have not been invited to
- Private notes on another adult's entries
- Invitation and permission controls, which stay with the family organiser
- Extra personal information about the children — the app only stores a first name, an avatar and scheduling
Permission matrix at a glance
Partners are full contributors, not spectators — but the organiser keeps control of membership, billing and private detail.
| Action | Organiser | Co-parent | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|
| See the shared family calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| See handovers and who has the children | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Create and edit events | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Send and respond to proposals | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| See details of private entries | If allowed | If allowed | No |
| Invite or remove adults | Yes | No | No |
| Manage children and plan settings | Yes | No | No |
| Access billing and subscription | Yes | No | No |
Same calendar, different views
Here is how the same event looks depending on whether it is shared or marked private.
Shared handover
Friday 6:00 PM — School gate
Children: Alex, Sam
Both parents and any partners see the time, place and children involved.
Private entry
Friday 7:00 PM — 10:00 PM
Details hidden
Partners see only a “Busy” block — enough to know not to plan over it.
How the three roles work
Family organiser
Usually the parent who sets the family up. Invites and removes adults, decides who may see private entry details, and manages children and plan settings.
Co-parent
The other parent. Full access to the shared schedule, can create events, send proposals and respond to them, and mark their own entries private.
Partner
A current partner or step-parent in either household. Sees the shared schedule and handovers, can add and be assigned to events, and takes part in proposals — without gaining control of the family or the other household's private detail.
The organiser can also decide, person by person, whether someone may see the details behind private entries. By default nobody can.
Walkthrough: your first week in the calendar
- 1
You are invited by name
The organiser sends an invitation to your email with the Partner role. Nobody is added silently, and you only ever see the one family you accepted.
- 2
You land on the same dashboard
Today's schedule, who has the children tonight, the next handover, work commitments and any proposals waiting on a reply — the same calm view the parents see.
- 3
You can add the things you cover
The school run you do on Tuesdays, a club pickup, your own work shift, a holiday. Assign yourself to an event so both homes can see the arrangement is covered.
- 4
Private stays private
Mark anything personal as private and other members see a plain “Busy” block — enough for planning, nothing more. The availability screen uses those blocks without ever revealing what they are.
- 5
Proposals replace the group chat
Suggest a date night, offer to cover childcare, or ask for a swap. The people who need to answer can accept, decline or suggest another time, and an accepted proposal becomes calendar entries.
Couple time counts too
Couple time is a category in its own right, and the availability screen looks for child-free evenings where both of you are actually free. When it finds one, a date night is one proposal away.
Privacy by default
Every family’s data is isolated at the database level, private entries are masked before they ever reach a screen, and child profiles hold only a first name and schedule.
What partners see on the dashboard
Today and tonight
Who has the children today, the next handover, and any work or school entries shared with the family.
Proposals waiting on you
Date nights, swaps and family plans that need your accept, decline or counter-proposal — all in one place instead of scattered messages.
Common questions
Can a step-parent have their own account in a co-parenting app?
In Co-Parenting Harmony, yes. Current partners are invited as their own member with the Partner role, so they have their own login and see the shared schedule rather than reading it over someone's shoulder. Most co-parenting apps only allow the two legal parents.
What can a partner see about the other household?
Only what has been shared with the family: custody and overnight blocks, handovers, school and appointment entries, and any work shifts the adults chose to share. Anything marked private appears as “Busy” with no title, notes or participants.
Can a partner change the custody schedule?
A partner can create and edit events and send proposals, but changing an agreed custody arrangement still goes through a proposal the parents accept. Invitations, removals and visibility permissions stay with the family organiser.
Can both households have partners in the same family?
Yes. Each adult is invited individually, and each keeps their own private entries. Everyone works from one shared rota instead of two half-copies.
Is any extra information about the children stored?
No. A child profile holds a first name, an optional avatar and scheduling information. The app deliberately does not collect addresses, phone numbers, school records or health details.
What happens if my partner and I both have accounts?
You each keep your own login and role. If you are both in the same family, you see the same shared schedule, but each of your private entries stays hidden from the other unless the organiser explicitly allows it.
Can I remove a partner's access later?
Yes. The family organiser can remove any adult at any time. Once removed, that person can no longer see the family calendar or receive notifications from it.
Will my ex see that my new partner is in the family?
Yes — the co-parent sees that a partner has been invited, because the shared calendar works best when everyone knows who is part of the schedule. But the co-parent cannot see the partner's private entries or personal notes.
Be part of the plan, not the screenshot
Set up a family in about a minute, or ask the organiser to invite you as a partner. The 14-day free trial covers the shared calendar, handovers and proposals.