About Pocket Piggy: Built by a Dad for His Own Family

Why I made it

I build iOS apps on my own, and Pocket Piggy is the one I made for my own house.

My family needed a way to keep track of chores and allowance that everyone could see and agree on, without adding another subscription to the pile. I wanted something I could pay for once, that kept our family's information in our own iCloud, and that the kids could use without signing up for anything.

So I built it. Kids check off their chores, a parent approves them, and the allowance adds itself up toward Pay Day. The week sits on a board everyone can see, including on the TV in the living room.

A few things mattered to me from the start. Kids shouldn't need accounts, so they don't. Kids who can't read yet should still be able to use it, so Kid Mode reads things out loud. Chores should take turns between siblings without anyone keeping score by hand. And the money side should stay a simple record, not a bank: parents pay out however they already do.

My family uses Pocket Piggy every day. That keeps me honest: if something is fiddly or confusing, I run into it too.

How it is paid for

Pocket Piggy is free with one kid. If you want more kids, or want to share the family with another grown-up on their own Apple Account, there is a one-time $9.99 Family Unlock. There is no subscription and there are no ads. How pricing works.

Get in touch

Questions, ideas or something not working? Email me at support@pocketpiggy.app.

How kids use it

Pocket Piggy was built so kids can take part without anyone collecting their details. Here is how that works in practice.

No child accounts

Kids don't need an account, an email address or a sign-up of any kind. You add each kid in the app with a name, a picture and a colour, and that is it.

Kid Mode, locked with your PIN

On your iPhone or iPad, choose a 4-digit PIN and switch on Kid Mode. Each kid taps their own picture to see their chores, their money and their Pay Day countdown. They can check off a chore (and add a photo if they like), and it waits for a grown-up to approve it. They can't edit chores or add money, and the PIN is needed to get back out.

Read-aloud for kids who aren't reading yet

Kid Mode has speaker buttons that read the screen out loud: their chores, whether each one is done or waiting for a grown-up, how much money they have and how close they are to their goal. Each chore has its own button too.

Other grown-ups, and your own devices

Everything syncs across your own iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV on your Apple Account for free. To share the family with another grown-up on their own Apple Account, send them a private invite link from the app. That invite, and adding more than one kid, is what the one-time Family Unlock covers.

Your family's data stays in your iCloud

Chores, balances, names and photos are stored on your devices and in your family's own iCloud, through Apple's CloudKit. There is no Pocket Piggy server holding them, and no Pocket Piggy account.

What the app does send

The app sends anonymous usage analytics and crash reports, so I can see which features get used and fix what breaks. They carry no names, chore titles or contact details, and they aren't linked to your identity. If you choose to send feedback from the app, that text comes to me as you wrote it. There are no ads, no ad trackers and no tracking prompt. The privacy policy has the details.

Built by a dad, for his own family