mother sitting on the couch with her sleeping daughter and using tablet computer

This year, I’ve got one child in high school, one in middle school, and two in elementary. Since I started working part time last year and plan to continue, I decided it’s time for a family organizer app. I did a lot of online research, searching for positive and negative reviews, compared pricing and capabilities, and finally downloading each of my top eight finalists onto my phone to try them out.

I discovered that you need to have a purpose in mind when choosing the app that’s right for your family. Do you want to focus on your schedule? Do you need help motivating your kids to get their chores done? Are you into recipes and grocery shopping? Knowing the answers to those questions will help you narrow down your choices.

My biggest challenge is the scheduling. I have a chore chart at home, and only one of my children has a phone, so no need to send chore lists this way. My second biggest need was for a grocery list. I currently use Our Groceries and I really like it. However, if I can use an organizer app for the shopping list as well, that’s one less app taking up space on my phone. Plus, my husband can just add to the list when he needs or wants something.

The most popular organizer app is Cozi, so I started with that one. The setup was easy. The biggest letdown was that I couldn’t view the calendar as a month. I could only see the schedule of the current day. That’s a deal breaker for me. Also I’m cheap, so I don’t want to pay the $30 annual fee to see the monthly calendar. I don’t think this one is as great as people say.

OurHome has a bigger focus on chores than the others that made it to my top list. If chores are your focus, this is your app. The calendar is secondary. It’s easily accessed, but doesn’t have a great monthly view. You can give your kids points (or take them away) for behavior and chores. One nice aspect is that much of the behaviors and chores come pre-loaded.

Picniic looked good on paper, but the signup process made me want to quit before I got started. I powered though the ten-minute “quick start.” It actually made me select a time to talk to my family about the app. Ugh. Also, I couldn’t see a way to add kids who don’t have email addresses or phone numbers. I liked the look of everything, though. The calendar, grocery list, and task lists are easy on the eyes and the grocery list comes pre-loaded. It also has a neat feature that allows you to add Alexa or Siri skills.

Google Calendar was low on my preference list. Yes, it’s already on my phone and it’s easy to link with family members. However, you have to choose the event colors every time you add something and it doesn’t have the extra options that I need.

I tried Family Wall next. There wasn’t much that I disliked about this app. The only time that I wanted something that required an upgrade to premium was to get the safety feature that allows you to request notifications when a user arrives or leaves different locations. Most organizer apps that offer this service do so only in the paid version, so that was no surprise. Groceries, check; to-do list, check. I could assign a to-do list to a specific person, or make one available to everyone. That’s a bonus because I could use it for chores, packing lists, homework, etc. I also like that I can add children who don’t have phones or email addresses.

The last one I downloaded was HUB Family Calendar Organizer. The setup process was painless, although all members do need a phone number or email address. One annoyance is putting in a country code for each person’s phone number. It’s got a clear, uncluttered, clean view of lists and the calendar. There are no extras (you can’t message other users), but it doesn’t seem to be overloaded with distracting ads. It’s no-frills and gets the job done.

In the end, Family Wall and HUB are my top two choices. HUB is simple and easy for families with older kids who don’t need the frills. I’m going with Family Wall because I like the extras that come in the free version, like pictures and messaging, and the ability to add non-tech kids. Here’s to a year of football practice notifications and no missed meetings. Oh, but don’t worry, I’m still carrying an old-fashioned hard copy in my purse. Old habits die hard.

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Suzanne Kennedy is a former middle school teacher who lives in Pendleton with her husband and four children.