Chore and payment app for older teens?

May 22, 2024 1:27 PM

I want an app to track daily and weekly tasks, as well as optional project work, for a 17-year-old living at home and a 19-year-old who's home for the summer. The 17-year-old has severe social anxiety, some depression, and likely ASD, and has a very hard time planning and executing tasks. I've read about various phone apps so am looking for suggestions and testimonials.

Goals:

* get 17-year-old to implement personal care routines like skin care, tooth brushing, and exercise.
* give the 17-year-old real work options, like lawn care and other "dad tasks", in case he is not able to get a summer job outside the house.
* give the 19-year-old some tasks that take some burden off of my wife and myself while building skills she needs as an adult (like cooking and home maintenance).

I don't want an app with a separate account or credit card, like Greenlight, or one that's too little-kid cutesy. I just need to list a menu of tasks and the payment amounts and have the app track what's done. Bonus features:

* A way for me to sign off on the tasks or at least know when they are done.
* A way to separate project work from daily/weekly tasks.
* Category or tagging system.
* Gamification with badges or points. I think an RPG-type thing is too much.

Things I've read about in old Reddit posts and reviews but haven't tried: Homey, Chores & Allowance Bot, Greenlight, Habitica, GoHenry. Paying for a slick app is good within reason, but it has to be a place with good data privacy and longevity.

Thanks!!

posted by caviar2d2 to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

I use the Tody app for chores and really like it. I think it was a one-time $7 cost? It's nicely designed, aesthetically-appealing, and I think it has all of the features that you're looking for. You can assign tasks to multiple participants, share data between devices, designate how often tasks should be performed, and categorize them. There is some light gamification that's not too childish. There's even an optional focus timer.

The default organizational setup has housekeeping areas in mind (like kitchen, basement, etc.) but it's highly-customizable and you could just lump the personal care things into one "area." I don't think there is an inherent way to track payment amounts, but you could just note the amount in the task title and add it up yourself weekly based on the completed task view.

Unsolicited but relevant advice: I notice that your examples are SUPER GENDERED into "real work and dad tasks" for your son versus your daughter needing to build "cooking and home maintenance" skills to be an adult. First of all, remember that your son also needs to learn to cook and clean to be an adult, and your daughter can help ease the burden with things like lawn care. But more to the point of helping your 17-year-old build his execution and planning struggles: Many routine household tasks are more easily broken down into achievable "wins" requiring a shorter burst of focus. This can help build both situational awareness and the mental confidence to get through projects that carry a greater risk of indecision paralysis and distracting side tasks. I say this a person with fairly severe ADHD.
posted by desuetude at 2:48 PM on May 22 [10 favorites]

Finch is cute but it’s also designed for people with anxiety. There’s no punishment for missing things and a lot of encouragement and gamification to build self care and habits. The free app is fully featured, payment just gives you some cute extras. Habitica is good too. The 17 year old needs to want to use the app though so give them a list of choices to pick.

At 19, your kid isn’t really a teenager so much as a young adult. I would not want to be tracked via app that way. Sit down and write a job plan with them and get them to decide how to track and report to you.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 5:16 PM on May 22 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Hi folks, please don't lecture me on gender issues or what ages are or aren't appropriate for a chore and payment app. This is sort of the worst Metafilter habit. I'm just asking for recommendations on the apps themselves, thanks. The goal is for everyone to have an easy way to keep track of what they want and need to do, and for me to be able to pay them appropriately.
posted by caviar2d2 at 4:44 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I never got a good answer to this, so I've moved on to other things. I'll post back here if I find a good one. I tried Habitica but it's too complicated.
posted by caviar2d2 at 5:51 AM on June 3