Add a task
Put a job into the household's shared list — who can do it, when it is due, how much effort it really takes, and how to do it.
Where to find it
Tasks tab → Add → Add a task
Tasks are the raw material of everything else in Equal House. The score, the rebalancing and the children’s pocket money all come from them.
- On the Tasks tab, tap Add, then Add a task.
- Give it a name, or tap one of the ready-made jobs under the name to fill the form in one go. See all opens the full list.
- Tap the faces of whoever can do it (see below), and set a due date if it has one.
- Set the difficulty under Effort. This matters more than people expect.
- Tap Add task in the bar at the bottom. The line beside it says who, when and how pressing, so you can check before you save.
Who does it
Who you tap changes what the task is, and the line under the faces says which:
- Nobody picked: anyone old enough can do it, and Auto-Balance shares it out with the rest of the week’s work.
- One person: only them. Auto-Balance won’t move it.
- Two or more: one task that any of them can do, whoever gets to it first (“Sam or Alex”), not a copy each. Auto-Balance only moves it between those people. On a new task that doesn’t repeat, you can choose Split it between them instead (see below), from version 1.16.0 of the app.
Picking a child makes the task one a child can do, and adds the Rewards card (below). When you hand a task to someone later with Reassign…, anyone it isn’t for is greyed out with the reason, such as “Grown-ups only” or “Not for their age”.
Splitting a job between people
From version 1.16.0 of the app.
Some jobs are better done together: two children tidying the playroom, say. Pick everyone who is doing it, then choose Split it between them under the faces. Each person gets their own part, worth an even share of the job, to tick off on their own. A child earns their own share of the stars and pocket money, and their board says who they’re sharing it with (“Your part, with Mia”).
You can split a job that’s already on the list too. Open it and tap Share it out:
- Split it between people: a part each, as above. Nobody’s part is done yet.
- Some of it is done: whoever started gets credit for what they did, and the rest becomes a job for someone else.
Between them, the parts are never worth more than the whole job. A job can be split between up to six people. A job that’s finished, or waiting for a grown-up to check it, can’t be split.
When
The due date is optional. A task without one sits in the No date group at the end of the list until someone gets to it. Turn on Repeat for a chore that comes round again; the date then reads Start date (optional), and without one it starts today. See repeating tasks.
A task has no reminder of its own. Your phone tells you once a day how many tasks you have; see Today’s tasks.
Difficulty is the important field
Difficulty is how Equal House knows that unloading the dishwasher and doing the weekly shop are not the same job. It drives the Fairness Score, and for children it drives pocket money. The Effort card also asks how long it takes, how unpleasant it is and how much skill it needs, and shows the effort points they add up to.
Set it honestly rather than generously. A household where everything is difficulty 5 is a household with no fairness information at all.
How to do it
How to do it (optional) is a note on the job: plain words or a few lines of steps. Whoever picks the task up sees it with the task, and a child sees it on their own board when the chore is theirs, so they can follow it themselves. On a repeating chore the note stays with every one.
Priority
Low, Medium, High or Urgent, from how soon it needs doing. High and Urgent tasks wear a coloured badge on the list. Priority is only a label: it doesn’t change the effort points or the order of the list.
Rewards
When a child could do the task, a Rewards card appears with the stars and pocket money it earns. See pocket money.
Adding a lot at once
- Ready-made tasks, under Add, gives you a list to pick from — see starter chores
- Magic Add, also under Add, reads a newsletter or a photo and suggests what is hidden in it. With Pro you can Speak it instead.
Ticking it off
Tap the circle beside it on the Tasks tab. If a grown-up needs to approve a child’s completion, it waits for that.
Updated 15 October 2026. Something here wrong or missing? Tell us — we'd rather fix the page than answer it twice.
