Turning on child mode

What you need

• A family circle you are a guardian of. If you do not have one yet, create it from the map: New circle → family.
• A Fenzly account for the child, on their own phone: an account is created with a phone number or an email address, pick whichever suits them.
• A verified phone number on your own profile: parental consent is confirmed by an SMS code sent to that number. Without one, the app offers to add it first.

1. Bring the child into the circle

Invite the child into the family circle like any other member, by code or by link (guide Join a circle with a code). They first enter as an ordinary member: the child role is set afterwards, in the circle, by a guardian.

2. Designate them as a child

1. Open the circle, then tap the member to unfold their card.
2. Choose the role Child.
3. Fenzly shows the parental-consent notice: what child mode changes, and what Fenzly records (your identifier, the child’s, the method and the date, nothing else). Tap Send me the code.
4. Type the 6-digit code received by SMS. The consent is recorded.
5. Fenzly then asks “SOS alerts for this child?”: choose whether their phone rings when a member of the family sends an SOS. A young child may only be worried by it. Child mode is then on.

3. Set what they can do

From Manage child:

• What Leo can share with this circle (with the child’s first name): the position sharing modes they can use, see step 4.
• Receives SOS alerts: the choice made at the designation, which you can change here.
• Allowed contacts: the members of their family circles are allowed automatically. This list is for out-of-circle contacts, a friend or a relative, that you approve one by one and can remove.
• Blocked attempts: invitations and messages from people not allowed, stopped before they reached the child.

4. Choose what they can share

The card What Leo can share with this circle lists the four sharing choices, one checkbox each: Everything, Circle places, Latest position and Off. Check the ones the child can use in this circle. At least one box stays checked; by default all four are, and the child sets their sharing like an adult.

• One sharing mode checked: when the child shares with this circle, it is in that mode. The app shows “Imposed mode”.
• “Off” checked: “Leo can stop sharing without you being told”.
• “Off” unchecked: “You are told if Leo stops sharing”. The child keeps the ability to stop, from their settings (see below).
• “Off” alone checked: the child does not share their position with this circle.

If your choice removes the mode the child is using, Fenzly tells you before saving: “Leo currently shares Everything. Their sharing will move to Circle places and Leo will be told.” The removed mode is replaced by the nearest allowed one. Under the card, “Waiting for Leo’s phone” becomes “Applied · 14:02” once their phone has taken the setting into account; if the app is closed there, that happens the next time it opens.

Two details:

• When neither “Circle places” nor “Off” is checked, the app warns: “Leo’s phone will switch to detailed recording (more battery).” The “Everything” and “Latest position” modes need the position to be followed continuously, and the child cannot go back to the Simple recording mode while they share with this circle.
• The circle’s other guardians see the same setting, with “Changed by” followed by the first name when it comes from someone other than you. The circle’s other adults are not told that a mode is imposed.

What the child sees

In the circle’s Sharing tab, the four choices stay on screen. The ones you did not check are greyed out, and a note says who chose: “Sophie chose what you can share with this circle.”, or “Sharing mode chosen by Sophie.” when a single mode is possible. Every change you make is notified to them, with your first name and the circle’s name: nothing changes silently.

When the child stops sharing

The child can always stop: no guardian setting locks their sharing.

• “Off” is checked: they choose “Off” in the circle’s Sharing tab, and nobody is alerted.
• “Off” is unchecked: the “Off” card is greyed out and the stop is made from their Settings, by turning off Position sharing or Geolocation, by turning on Offline mode, or by logging out. The app first asks them for a confirmation that names those who will be told (“Stop sharing? Sophie and Marc will be told.”), then tells you before the stop takes effect.

You get “Leo stopped sharing their position”, then “Leo is sharing their position again” at the resume. Both leave a line in your conversation with the child, and in theirs with you.

Asking the child to resume

Nothing you do turns a child’s sharing on remotely, not even checking or unchecking a box. You can only ask.

1. Open your conversation with the child: their latest stop is a card there. Or open Manage child, which shows “Sharing stopped since 14:02”.
2. Tap Ask Leo to resume. One request is possible every 5 minutes at most; the card shows when the next one is.
3. The child gets “Sophie is asking you to share your position again”, with a button that lifts whatever stops the sharing: “Resume”, “Go back online” or “Choose a mode”.

The question My child stopped sharing their position: how am I told, and what can I do? details what you see, and what Fenzly cannot see.

Day to day

The child uses Fenzly normally with their family: shared places, arrivals and departures, conversations. They cannot create a circle, invite anyone, add a contact, or leave by themselves the circle they are a child in. The SOS button stays available to them and alerts their guardians, even when they have stopped sharing.

Separated parents

A child can be a member of two family circles, each with its own guardians and places. Each guardian manages only their own family, and the allowed contacts of both families add up. The sharing choices apply circle by circle: what the guardians of one family check only concerns what the child shares with their circle. A stop made from the Settings applies to all the child’s circles, and tells the guardians of each circle where “Off” is unchecked.

Ending child mode

Fenzly does not know the members’ ages: nothing changes automatically. When the time comes, from the member’s card, remove the parental consent or set them as a guardian or an adult. The contact and sharing restrictions are lifted immediately: their sharing mode stays as it is, and from then on they set it themselves. The consent receipt is deleted from the server. A family always keeps at least one guardian.