Sign in as a kid with a PIN

This is for the kid signing in on their own phone or on a device the family passes around, with a note for the grown-up on lockouts and resets. It covers the first sign-in, later sign-ins, wrong PINs, and signing out. A tablet that a grown-up signs in once for all the kids, with no PIN, is covered in Sign a shared tablet in for the kids.

The first time on a device

The first time on a new device:

1. From the grown-up sign-in screen, tap “I am a kid”.
2. Under “What’s your family code?”, type the code in the “Family code” field and tap “Continue”. The hint reads: “A grown-up can find it in CubbyJar under Family. You only type it once on this device.”
3. On “Who’s this?”, fill in “Username” and “PIN”, then tap “Sign in”.

The device only remembers the family code once a sign-in has actually worked, so a typo is never saved.

Every time after that

Once a device has seen a family code, it remembers it: the sign-in screen shows “Signing in to {code}” instead of asking again. “Not your family?” forgets the code, so a different kid can sign in with a different code on the same device. The same “Not your family?” button sits in the kid’s Settings screen; it asks first, and “Forget it” confirms. Neither appears on a tablet a grown-up signed in from “Kids on this device”, because no family code is involved there.

Wrong PIN

Five wrong PINs in a row pause sign-in for 15 minutes, and every grown-up in the family gets an email. During the pause, the kid sees: “Too many tries. Wait 15 minutes, or ask a grown-up to reset your PIN.” On purpose, a wrong family code, a wrong username, and a wrong PIN all show the exact same message, so nobody can tell which part was wrong.

A grown-up does not have to wait. “Reset PIN” sits on every kid’s row under More › “Manage family” and on the Edit kid screen. It opens “Reset {name}’s PIN”: type a “New PIN” and “PIN again”, then tap “Save PIN”. That sets the new PIN, clears any pause, and signs the kid out everywhere, so they get back in with the new one. A shared tablet showing that kid is signed out too and asks a grown-up to sign it in again. The app never shows the current PIN. Details are in Reset a kid’s PIN or change their details.

Signing out

Kids and grown-ups each sign out from their own Settings or More screen. A kid’s sign-out hint reads: “Signing out keeps everything. You’ll need your PIN to come back.” On a tablet signed in from “Kids on this device” the button is “Hold to sign out” instead, and the kid never has a PIN to type there.