Step-by-step guides for common tasks.

Complete a chore

1. Open the client at / (or the Chores tab on Android). Today's assigned chores appear in the main list grouped by type.
2. Tap or click the chore you have finished.
3. If the chore requires proof — a camera icon is shown — attach a photo from your camera or gallery before submitting. Chores that require proof will not accept a completion without one.
4. Tap Complete. The chore moves out of the active list, your points balance increases, and your streak is extended if this is your first completion of the day.
5. If the chore is part of a chain (for example, Hang clothes follows Wash clothes), the follow-up task is automatically scheduled for the assigned member once you submit.

On Android, the speed dial FAB gives quick access to the most common completion shortcut so you can finish a task without navigating through the full list.

Handle overdue chores

Chores whose due time has passed without a completion appear in the Overdue section above the regular chore list on both web and Android, highlighted with a prominent alert style.

1. Tap the overdue chore — the completion flow is the same as a regular chore.
2. Completing an overdue chore still awards full points unless the admin has configured an overdue penalty in household settings.
3. If you cannot complete the chore yourself, use Request takeover to hand it to another member.

Request or grant a takeover

A takeover lets one household member cover another's assigned chore.

1. Open the chore you want covered.
2. Tap Request takeover. A notification is sent to the relevant member.
3. The receiving member sees the request on their device. They can accept — which reassigns the chore to them — or decline, which returns it to the original assignee.
4. Once accepted, the chore appears in the new member's active list and points for completion are credited to whoever finishes it.

Redeem a reward

1. Open the Rewards tab (web or Android). Your current points balance appears at the top.
2. Browse the enabled rewards. Each card shows the reward name, description, point cost, and an eligibility badge if the reward is restricted to a specific member type.
3. Rewards you cannot yet afford show a dimmed Redeem button. A cooldown notice appears on any reward you must wait before redeeming again.
4. Tap Redeem on the reward you want. A confirmation dialog opens.
   • For standard rewards, the dialog shows the point cost and your remaining balance after redemption.
   • For daily-exclusive rewards (shown with an upcoming-bookings list on the card), the dialog asks you to pick a target date — today up to 14 days ahead. Dates already booked by another household member are flagged with a conflict notice and cannot be confirmed.
5. Confirm the redemption.
   • If the household uses automatic approval, points are deducted immediately and you receive a confirmation.
   • If the household requires approval, a pending request is created. Your points are held until an admin or parent approves or rejects it. The request appears in your History tab with a Pending status and, for daily-exclusive rewards, the booked date.

Check redemption history

1. Open the Rewards tab and switch to the History tab (web) or expand the My Redemptions section (Android).
2. Each entry shows the reward name, the points deducted, the request date, and the current status: Pending, Approved, or Rejected.
3. Rejected requests show the admin's note if one was provided.

Reschedule a reward booking

If you booked a daily-exclusive reward for a date that no longer works, you can move it without losing your booking.

1. Open the Rewards tab. Your upcoming bookings appear on the relevant reward cards with the booked date and a Reschedule button.
2. Tap Reschedule. A dialog opens with a date picker limited to today through 14 days out.
3. Pick the new date. If that date is already taken by another member, a conflict notice appears and the confirm button is disabled.
4. Confirm.
   • If the original booking was still Pending, it is updated in place to the new date.
   • If it was already Approved, the original booking is cancelled and your points are refunded, then a new pending booking is created for the new date.

Approve or reject a reward redemption (admin / parent)

When a member redeems a reward and approval is required, a badge appears on the Rewards nav item showing the number of pending requests.

1. Open the admin UI at /admin and navigate to Rewards, then switch to the Approvals tab. On Android, the pending queue appears directly in the Rewards tab for admin and parent users.
2. Each pending row shows the member's name, the reward they requested, the point cost, and the request time.
3. Tap Approve to deduct the points and notify the member.
4. Tap Reject to decline without deducting points. An optional note field lets you explain the rejection — the member sees this note in their history.

Enable starter rewards (admin)

TaskBandit seeds twenty-three starter rewards into every new household, all disabled by default. They span six categories — screen time, treat & food, privilege & passes, activity & experiences, and allowance — including extra screen time, pick tonight's dinner, vote for takeout, homework-free night, skip dinner cleanup, extended curfew, family ice cream trip, choose a weekend outing, host a sleepover, and bonus allowance. Three of the starter rewards (Pick tonight's dinner, Vote for Takeout Tonight, and Pick the Game Night Game) use the daily-exclusive workflow: only one member can book each reward on any given date.

1. Open the admin UI and navigate to Rewards.
2. The catalogue is grouped by category. Each row has a toggle on the right.
3. Flip the toggle next to any starter reward to enable it. It becomes immediately visible in the member-facing shop.
4. Click a reward row to open its editor and adjust the point cost, limits, or eligibility, then save.

Create a custom reward (admin)

1. In the admin Rewards page, click + Add custom reward.
2. Fill in the reward editor:
   • Title — what the member sees in the shop.
   • Description — optional extra context shown below the title.
   • Category — groups the reward in the catalogue (screen time, treat, activity, privilege, allowance, or custom).
   • Point cost — how many points the member spends.
   • Max redemptions per child — optional lifetime cap per member; leave blank for unlimited.
   • Cooldown (days) — optional minimum gap between redemptions; leave blank for no cooldown.
   • Eligibility — All members, Children only, or Adults only.
   • Workflow type — Standard (default) for normal one-off redemptions, or Daily exclusive for household-level once-per-date rewards where members book a specific date in advance and only one booking per date is allowed across the whole household.
3. Click Save. The reward is created but disabled. Flip the toggle in the catalogue list to make it visible in the shop.

Turn off reward approval (admin)

For households that want instant redemptions without a parent review step:

1. Open the admin UI and navigate to Settings.
2. Find Require reward approval and turn it off.
3. From that point, all new redemptions are approved instantly and points are deducted at submission. Existing pending requests in the queue are not affected automatically — approve or reject them manually.

Import starter chore templates (admin)

1. During the household setup wizard, a list of starter template groups is shown with checkboxes. Select the routines that apply to your household — laundry, kitchen, cleaning, bedding, bins, plants, and others.
2. Click Import selected. The templates are added as normal editable templates.
3. If you skipped the import during setup, access it later from the admin Templates page using Import starters.
4. All starter templates are translated into English, German, and Hungarian. The language shown on member-facing chore cards follows each member's language preference.

Set up a chore chain (admin)

A chore chain automatically schedules a follow-up task when a preceding chore is completed — useful for routines like laundry (wash → hang → fold) or kitchen cleanup.

1. Open the admin Templates page and find or create the chore that should trigger the follow-up (e.g. Wash clothes).
2. In the template editor, find the Follow-up field and select the template to schedule next (e.g. Hang clothes).
3. Choose the assignment for the follow-up: same member, round-robin, or a specific member.
4. Save. Whenever a member completes Wash clothes, Hang clothes is automatically added to the schedule for the assigned member.

Invite a household member (admin)

1. Open the admin UI and navigate to Members.
2. Click Invite member, enter their email address, and select the role — child, parent, or admin.
3. An invitation email is sent. The recipient clicks the link, creates a password, and joins the household automatically.
4. If email is not configured, generate a one-time invite link from the same dialog and share it manually.

Connect the Android app to your server

1. Install the APK from the latest GitHub release — find it on the Releases page or at github.com/kriziw/TaskBandit/releases. Enable Install from unknown sources in Android settings if prompted.
2. Open the app. On the sign-in screen, tap the server URL field and enter your public API base URL (e.g. https://api.taskbandit.example.com).
3. Enter your household email and password, then tap Sign in.

Use the speed dial FAB (Android)

The floating action button in the bottom-right corner expands into shortcut buttons on tap.

1. Tap the FAB — it fans out into labelled shortcuts for common actions.
2. Tap the relevant shortcut, for example to mark the topmost due chore complete without scrolling to it.
3. Tap anywhere outside the expanded FAB, or tap it again, to collapse it.

Update the Android app in-app

When a newer APK is available, a floating update bubble appears in the corner of the app.

1. Tap the update bubble. A prompt confirms the version and asks whether to download now.
2. Tap Download & install. The APK downloads in the background.
3. When the download completes, a system install prompt appears. Accept it to update.
4. If you dismiss the bubble, it reappears the next time you open the app until the update is installed.

Use the app offline (Android)

The Android app queues actions when there is no network connection and flushes them automatically when connectivity is restored.

• Chore completions and reward redemption requests submitted while offline are saved locally and sent to the server the next time the app has a connection.
• Points and streaks are updated once the queued actions are successfully synced.
• If a queued action conflicts with a server-side change (for example, the chore was already completed by another member), the server resolves the conflict and the app updates accordingly.