Using it day to day

Homefellow has two places: Today for what’s going on and Home for helping Homefellow learn your family. Settings opens from your initial at the top.

Today

Today shows the scene at the time of day, then what needs you, then the calendar.

What needs you is a short list. Each row says what kind of thing it is, what to do, when and why now:

• Today: something to do today.
• Running late: something that’s past its time.
• Coming up: something that needs starting soon.
• Assumed: needed? Homefellow thinks this usually goes with something you’ve told it. For example, a gift with a birthday party. Say yes if it’s needed, or “Not needed”.
• You disagree: two of you said different things, such as two times for the same recital.
• A clash: two things at once.
• Needs an answer: something on the calendar that’s waiting on a question. It opens the question.

Tap a row to open it. You’ll see why it’s there, who it’s for and who’s doing it, where the information came from and what’s happened so far. Then:

• Done: it’s done. On a phone, a swipe does the same.
• Not needed: this one isn’t needed.
• Not now: put it off until tomorrow, in 3 days or next week.
• More: waiting on someone, who’s doing it, fix the title, never for us, not on a given day, it’s off, turn off.

After Done or Not needed, Undo appears for a few seconds, in case you tapped the wrong one.

When you disagree, the item shows each answer, such as “2:00 pm, as Ada says” and “3:00 pm, as Tunde says”. Pick the right one, or choose “Neither, it’s…” and say what it really is. Both stay on record until one of you settles it.

When nothing needs you, Today says so. The scene fills the top of the screen.

The calendar

Below what needs you is the calendar: the agenda (today, then the days ahead), the week or the month, switched at the top. Each entry is marked by where it came from:

• outlined: from your own calendars;
• filled in blue: Homefellow’s own;
• a strip of tape: something that’s due;
• a pencilled outline: a guess Homefellow isn’t sure of yet.

Homefellow can also keep a calendar of its own in your calendar account. You choose which calendar is Homefellow’s in Settings. What it learns shows up there on everyone’s phones. It writes only to that calendar. If you change one of its events in your own calendar app, your version wins.

Reading along with email and calendars

If you connect them, Homefellow reads along with your email, your calendars and your messages, so it notices changes without being told. When school moves the trip to Friday or the class needs a white t-shirt, it shows up in what needs you, with the email one tap away. When practice moves to Thursday, the calendar already knows.

It reads only the accounts you choose, on the household’s computer. It never sends an email, never changes your own calendars and never touches your accounts. You can disconnect any of them in Settings.

Home

Home is where you help Homefellow learn your household.

The question. Homefellow asks one question at a time, the one that would help most right now. Answer in your own words, or by voice where your device has a microphone. The next question follows as soon as you answer. After a few, Homefellow says “That’s plenty for now”. You can stop or keep going.

Skipping. When you skip a question, say why. It changes what happens next:

• I don’t know: Homefellow won’t ask again soon. It may ask you to look it up instead.
• Not now: it’ll ask again in a few days.
• Don’t ask about this: it won’t bring the subject up again, unless you do.

Have ten minutes? A sit-down session asks one question after another, each following from your last answer. It’s the quickest way to get Homefellow up to speed.

Something to find out. Now and then Homefellow asks you to look something up: a date printed on a document, or a detail from a provider. Reply with what it says. You can add a photo, which is kept with your reply.

Ask Homefellow. When you need to know something, like when the car insurance renews or who’s driving Thursday, just ask. It answers from what it knows about your household and says where the answer came from. When it doesn’t know, it says so.

Tell Homefellow something. Anything you’d mention to someone helping out, in a sentence: “Kofi’s inhaler is running low”, “Swim moved to Thursdays”. Homefellow works out where it belongs.

What Homefellow knows. The people, things and how you do things, each opening to what’s noted. If something’s wrong, tell Homefellow. It’ll correct it.

Settings

• Appearance: the time of day (the colours follow the day), your device’s setting, always light or always dark.
• Notifications: a morning summary and an alert when something’s running late.
• Email and calendars: the accounts Homefellow reads and Homefellow’s own calendar.
• The household: its people, their devices and invites. Owners also see the server’s settings.
• How this device reaches the household: which of the household’s addresses it’s using.