Set up Penny Time in about five minutes

What you need

• Your phone, with Penny Time installed.
• Your child's phone or tablet. It can be their own or a family device, and it can use a parent's App Store or Google Play account.

Penny Time works best for kids aged 8 to 14.

Step 1: Create your account

Open the app and sign up with your email, Google, or Apple. This is your parent account.

Step 2: Add your child

Add your child with a nickname and an age. That is all Penny Time asks for. There is no email or password for your child.

Step 3: Set the allowance

Choose an amount and how often it lands, such as weekly, every two weeks, or monthly. You can change it or pause it later.

Step 4: "Does your child have access to a phone or tablet?"

Penny Time asks this next, and your answer sets up the rest.

Yes. You will see a short note about screen time, then set a growth budget. A growth budget is a small amount your child can earn from as they take on quests and make money choices in the app, and it is what unlocks quests. The app suggests starting with a small weekly amount, around 2 to 5 in your currency. After that, you tap "Connect your child's phone or tablet."

No. Penny Time starts in allowance-tracking mode. You set the allowance, track the balance, and handle cash-outs from your phone. You can connect a device later from your child's card.

Step 5: Connect their device

Install Penny Time on your child's phone or tablet. Open it, tap "I am a child," and hold the device up to the code on your screen.

The code expires after a few minutes and works only once, so have their device ready before you start. You can get a fresh code any time from the "Connect your child's phone or tablet" option on their card.

What your child sees

On their own phone or tablet, in the Penny Time app, your child sees:

• A hello with their nickname.
• Their balance.
• The time until their next allowance.
• Their quests.
• A cash-out button that sends you a request to approve.
• Their history.
• An avatar they pick.

If something goes wrong

• The code expired. Generate a new one from your child's card, under "Connect your child's phone or tablet."
• A web page opened instead of the app. That means Penny Time is not installed on that device yet. Install it first, then scan the code.
• A camera-permission prompt appeared. Allow it once so the device can scan the code.

If your child has not signed in yet, the app sends you a reminder.