Everything you need to know to get Checklist Charlie working for your family — from first setup to advanced features.
Checklist Charlie launches a setup wizard on first open. Enter the child's name, choose whether to start with sample lists or build your own, and set notification preferences.
Tap the Lists tab at the bottom, then tap + New Checklist. Give it a name (e.g. "Morning"), pick a color, and choose which days of the week it appears.
Inside the checklist editor, tap Add task. Give each task a name, optional emoji, optional time, and optional photo hint. You can also add sub-steps inside a task.
Tap the Today tab. Your active checklists for today appear as card stacks. Tap a task card to mark it done — a confetti burst and praise message will appear!
Go to Settings → Parent PIN to lock editing behind a PIN. This prevents children from accidentally deleting tasks or changing settings.
Go to the Lists tab and tap the + button in the top right. Name the checklist, pick a color index, choose assigned days of the week, and set whether tasks must be done in order. Tap Save.
Open the checklist, then tap Add task at the bottom of the list. Fill in:
When this is on, tasks must be completed from top to bottom. The next task won't become tappable until the previous one is done. This is helpful for routines that have a specific sequence (e.g. shower before dressing).
Open the checklist editor and toggle Active at the top. Inactive checklists don't appear on the Today screen, but their data is kept so you can reactivate them later (great for school-term vs holiday routines).
Yes — in the task list, press and hold the drag handle (three horizontal lines) on the right side of any task and drag it to a new position.
"Sample Morning" and "Sample Bedtime" are pre-built lists included as inactive examples. You can duplicate them as a starting point or simply create your own from scratch. They won't appear on the Today screen until activated.
The Today tab shows all active checklists assigned to today's day of the week. Each checklist appears as a card with a progress bar. Tap any task card to mark it done — the checkmark bounces and you get a praise message.
When all tasks in a checklist are done, a celebration animation plays and a sticker is added to the Sticker Chart.
When you haven't started any tasks yet, the app shows an encouraging message ("Ready for today? You've got this! 💪") instead of "Completed 0 of 8" — which can feel daunting for some children.
Swipe left on a task card to reveal the Not Today button (moon icon). The task is hidden for the rest of the day. It returns tomorrow automatically.
The speaker icon on each task card reads the task name aloud using the device text-to-speech. Turn this on in Settings → Accessibility → Show read-aloud button. You can also enable Auto-read next task to have the next task read automatically after each tick.
Tasks with sub-steps show a chevron arrow. Tap it to expand the step list, or turn on Auto-expand steps in Settings to always show them. Tick each sub-step — the task is automatically marked done when all steps are ticked.
Focus Mode shows one task at a time, full-screen. It's designed for children who find a full task list overwhelming. Everything else disappears — just the current task, its emoji/photo, scheduled time, and any sub-steps.
Go to Settings → Focus Mode and toggle it on. The Today screen immediately switches to the single-task view. Turn it off the same way to return to the list view.
After tapping Done on a focus task, a brief "Up next…" card slides up showing the next task's emoji and name for about 1.5 seconds. This helps children mentally prepare for the transition before the next task card appears.
If a task has a scheduled time set in the editor (e.g. "7:30"), Focus Mode displays it formatted as 7:30 AM below the task counter. This helps children connect the task to a specific time of day.
A sticker is earned for each checklist you complete in full on a given day. The chart shows 7 days across and one row per checklist. Tap any earned sticker to customise its emoji from a set of 20 options.
On the Today screen, tap the sticker icon (⭐️) in the top toolbar, or scroll down past the checklists to find the Sticker Chart button.
Badges are awarded automatically when you hit a milestone. A toast notification pops up at the bottom of the screen when a badge is earned. View all badges on the Badges screen (tap the trophy icon on Today). Earned badges are highlighted; locked badges are shown greyed out with a hint.
The Calm Corner is a guided breathing exercise using box breathing — breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, hold for 4. A gentle animated circle guides the pace. It's available any time a child needs to pause and reset.
On the Today screen, tap the I Need a Break button at the bottom of the checklist. The Calm Corner opens as a full-screen overlay. Tap anywhere outside to close it.
Open the checklist editor and tap Set reminder time. Pick a time — the app will send a local notification at that time on days the checklist is assigned. You must grant notification permission when prompted.
Check Settings → Daily Reminders in the app and make sure permission is granted. Also verify iOS notification permissions in iPhone Settings → Notifications → Checklist Charlie. Reminders only fire on days the checklist is assigned.
Go to Settings → Parent/Guardian Contact. Toggle on "Text a contact when an item is checked off" and enter a phone number. Then, in each task's editor, you'll see a Notify parent/guardian on completion toggle — enable it for the specific tasks you want to trigger a text. When the child ticks that task, a pre-filled Messages draft opens for the parent to review and send.
Minimal — muted colours, minimal animations. Best for children sensitive to visual stimulation.
Normal — full colour and motion for children who respond well to vibrant, animated feedback.
On the Lists tab, swipe left on a checklist and tap Share. The app exports a .charlie file and opens the iOS share sheet. You can AirDrop it, email it, or send it via Messages.
Tap the .charlie file in Mail, Messages, Files, or AirDrop. iOS will ask which app to open it with — choose Checklist Charlie. The checklist is imported and appears in your Lists tab as inactive, ready to review and activate.