Vibration, sounds, Bric and animations

When something you did has saved, your phone gives a short buzz — so you know it went through without having to look for a message.

When	What you feel
You tick a task off	A light tap
You mark several done at once, or confirm a child’s job	A firmer “done”
You finish the last of your tasks for today, or the last job for a party	A firmer “done”
You finish your own routine, or tick the last thing on the shopping list	A firmer “done”
A meal plan you asked for is ready	A firmer “done”
You send someone a thank-you	A firmer “done”
Your very first tick, finishing setting up with Bric, or joining a family	A “done”, then a tap
Pro switches on, on the phone you upgraded from	A firmer “done”
You tick something on the shopping list	A tiny click
A task you ticked, or a child’s job you confirmed, didn’t save	A sharp warning buzz

It only ever buzzes for things you did yourself, once they have saved. Never for a task your partner ticked, a score going up or down, or a delete. Auto-Balance doesn’t buzz either, even for whoever pressed it: sharing the week out belongs to the household, and it isn’t anybody’s win.

For the bigger moments, the buzz arrives as Bric lands, a moment after the save. With a screen reader on, it comes straight away.

The Done moment, and Bric

When you tick something off, a page with Bric fills the screen and says what was done. Bric reacts, and a big green tick pops up beside him as he lands. It stays just long enough to read: about three seconds for a single tick, a little longer when there’s more to say, and never more than seven. A line above the buttons shows how long is left. In a run of ticks he stays still after the first for a while, so it keeps meaning something. Tap anywhere to skip it. It then leaves a slim bar at the bottom with Undo for a few seconds more — and, for a single task, Follow up to add a new event or task after it. You can also Undo straight from the moment.

With large text, or with your phone on its side, the words may not all fit on the screen. When they don’t, the moment doesn’t count down: it waits until you tap, however long you take. Tap More, or scroll, to read the rest. Undo still goes at its usual time.

He celebrates properly — confetti and all — when you finish your part of today (two or more of your own tasks due today, all done), once a day, and when you tick off the last job for a party.

When you confirm a child’s job, he holds up a star on his open hand and the moment says Well done passed on to Mia. The star means well done, never a count. In a run of confirmations he holds it up once, then keeps it still. Once a week for each child, the bar underneath also offers Say thanks to Mia — see approving completions.

If you use a screen reader, the moment waits until you close it, and Undo stays on offer for a minute.

To hide Bric, switch off Bric reactions in More → Settings → Celebrations. You still get the tick, the words and Undo.

Smaller moments

Three things end with a smaller moment and no Undo bar, because there is nothing waiting to be undone:

• That’s your routine done: you ticked the last step of your own routine. Once a day for each routine — untick and tick it again and nothing more happens.
• That’s the shopping done: the tick that finishes a shopping list of three or more things. Once a day for each list; unticking everything, or taking the ticked things off, starts it over.
• Your meal plan is ready: while a plan is being made, the ring on the waiting screen turns into Bric, he hops, and the plan opens.

Firsts

Some things only happen once, so Bric makes a bit more of them — confetti, and a “done” followed by a tap:

• Your first one! Your very first tick in Equal House. It is for people who are genuinely new: your own tick (not one somebody ticked for you), never before in any family, within a month of joining. Anyone who was already using Equal House before this version never sees it.
• Your house is ready. You pressed Finish at the end of setting up with Bric, the first time. Skipping it shows nothing, and neither does running it again from More → Set Up with Bric.
• Welcome to the Taylors, with your family’s name. You joined a family and pressed Get started at the end of the welcome pages. Skip shows nothing.

One big first a day on each phone. If two of these happen on the same day — joining a family and then finishing setup, say — the second is a smaller moment with the same words and a firmer “done”.

Pro is on isn’t a first, but it is said once: when a household upgrades, on the phone that did it, once you are back on one of the main tabs. Anyone else in the family just finds Pro unlocked.

When the household gets somewhere

Some things aren’t one person’s doing, so Bric saves them for the next time you open Equal House, not the moment they happen. That way the person who ticked the last task isn’t told twice, and everyone gets the same moment:

• That’s today done: everything due today is done, and there were at least three things.
• Beautifully balanced this week: the Fairness Score for the week is 90 or more, with two or more grown-ups.
• That’s the week done: your week in review, on the first visit of a new week.
• A thank-you: somebody thanked you since you last looked.
• Tasks were shared out: another grown-up shared tasks out this week — with Auto-Balance, or by accepting a fairer week ahead — so some may be on your list now. Bric stays still, it names nobody, and it comes at most once a week — never on the phone of whoever did it.

Each is said once on each phone, and only one at a time: anything else waits for a later visit. Opening the app again after a few minutes away counts as a visit. These don’t vibrate, because nobody holding the phone just did anything.

One at a time

Big moments never stack: one goes before the next appears, with a pause in between, and something you have just done always comes first. Your house is ready, Welcome to … and Pro is on wait until you are on one of the main tabs — never over a form, a sheet, the lock screen or the keyboard. One that has had to wait shows without a buzz, and if you don’t get back there for a while it is skipped rather than shown out of the blue later.

Quiet places

Nothing of Equal House’s own celebrates in Safe Space, in the Wellbeing screens (My Journal, Take a Breath, Reach Out and the helplines), or while the microphone is on — Magic Add, house notes, the journal and Safe Space voice notes.

• No buzz, no sound, no Bric and no confetti. A tick that finishes saving as you go in arrives as a plain bar — “Done — Hoover the stairs” — with Undo, and nothing else on it.
• Anything celebrating when you go into Safe Space or Wellbeing stops at once, and anything waiting its turn is dropped. The microphone only holds it back until you have finished.
• Coming back out of Safe Space or Wellbeing never sets off a celebration. The next one waits for the next time you open Equal House.
• Messages that arrive while you’re there go quietly into your notifications, without a sound, a vibration or a banner.

Two things still sound, on purpose. Reminders your phone has scheduled — Today’s tasks, an event, a routine or a check-in — go off at their time wherever you are. And Safe Space’s conversation timer still buzzes and chimes when the time is up:

• On Android, the chime no longer stops your music, and it stays quiet while your phone is on Silent or Do Not Disturb, or on a call. The timer tells you so before you start. On Vibrate it still chimes, at your media volume. On Silent there’s no buzz either, so you’ll only see it on the screen: the timer turns amber and says “Time’s up — tap to restart”.
• On an iPhone, it chimes as it always has.
• With a screen reader on, your phone says “Time’s up”.

While a child has the phone. With a child’s board open on a grown-up’s phone, a grown-up’s moments don’t buzz, sound or appear. A tick of yours still saving arrives as its plain bar. The child’s own board carries on as normal.

Turn vibration off, or feel each one

1. More → Settings → Celebrations.
2. Switch Vibration off, or tap any row under Try them to try it — including A big first. On an older version of the app these rows are under Feel them, and each one only buzzes.

From version 1.17.0 of the app, these rows are under Try them, and each one shows you the celebration as well as playing its buzz: a sample task, “Bins out”, ticked off and back again, with the Done moment in between; the Done moment for a batch, with Bric; your first one, with its confetti; “Milk” ticked on a shopping list and back again; and a tick that didn’t save, with the message you’d see. It’s only a preview: nothing is ticked or saved. They follow your settings: with Animations off the movement is turned down, with Bric reactions off Bric isn’t there, and with Vibration off you see them without the buzz. A big first plays the ta-da only when Sounds is on, as a real first does. On Android, if your phone is on Silent, the row says “Your phone’s on Silent, so you won’t feel it”.

Nothing vibrates while your phone is on Silent. On Android this switch is the one that decides — you don’t need your phone’s own touch-feedback setting on. On iPhone, Equal House follows the System Haptics switch, which is in your iPhone’s Settings under Sounds & Haptics.

Sounds

Sounds are on Android phones and tablets for now. They are off unless you turn them on: More → Settings → Celebrations, then switch on Sounds.

What you’ll hear is one short ta-da when you finish your part of today, so at most once a day, and the same ta-da with each of the three firsts above while you’re new. A first that has had to wait its turn has no buzz and no sound. The day’s second first, the smaller moment, still gets its firmer “done”, but no ta-da. Nothing else plays one: not a single tick, a routine, the shopping or a thank-you.

• It plays as Bric lands, with the buzz. Tap the moment away before he lands and there’s no sound, and Undo stops it. With a screen reader on, it plays as soon as the task saves.
• It never stops your music or turns it down.
• It plays at your media volume, the one your music uses, and it plays when your phone is on Vibrate too.
• There’s no sound between 22:00 and 07:00, or while your phone is on Silent or Do Not Disturb, or on a call.
• There’s never one in the quiet places above, on the family wall, with a notification, or while a child has the phone.

Try it, just under the switch, plays the ta-da, even with Sounds off, so you can hear it before you choose. The line under it says “Playing…” while it plays. When your phone won’t let it be heard, the line says why: Silent, Do Not Disturb, ringing or on a call, or your media volume at zero.

Sounds has nothing to do with the Vibration or Animations switches: turning motion down doesn’t silence it, and it plays with Vibration off. Children’s boards have their own sounds, which a grown-up turns on for each child — see Kid Zone.

Animations

Animations turns movement down in Equal House: screens appear without sliding, pictures stay still, a ticked task leaves the list without folding away, and there is no confetti. Bric still shows how he feels, just without moving. If your phone’s own accessibility settings already reduce motion (“Remove animations” on Android, “Reduce Motion” on iPhone), Equal House follows them and the switch says so.

Things worth knowing

It is per phone, not per household. Everyone sets their own.

Some buzzes aren’t covered by this switch. Safe Space’s conversation timer still buzzes when the time is up, and reminder notifications vibrate according to your phone’s notification settings for Equal House. The timer’s chime isn’t covered by Sounds either: it chimes with Sounds off, and turning Sounds on doesn’t change it.

Bric’s moments aren’t part of Pro. A household on the Free plan gets every one of them. Asking Bric about your week is what Pro adds.

A child’s board has its own rules, the same on their own phone or tablet as on a grown-up’s phone handed over. It gives a light tap when “I did it!” reaches a grown-up, a tiny click for each routine step, and a firmer “done” when a routine is finished. On a Lively board, children aged 4 to 9 also get a firmer “done” when they send the last of the day’s jobs and the “Every job done!” card appears, and when a routine tick takes them past a star milestone.

A Calm board keeps just the first three, which only confirm what the child did, and a Quiet board doesn’t vibrate at all. From 19:30 until 06:00 every board is Calm at most. Choose each child’s board in More → Settings → Children’s boards; Kid Zone says what else each level changes. A grown-up’s phone with Vibration switched off doesn’t vibrate when it’s handed over, too.

A child’s board can make sounds, on Android, only if a grown-up turns on that child’s Sounds in More → Settings → Children’s boards: a pop when they finish a routine, or a twinkle instead when it takes them past a star milestone, on a Lively board for ages 4 to 9, between 07:00 and 19:30, and never for a bedtime routine. Bric tells the child first, and the board makes none until he has. On a grown-up’s phone handed over, that phone’s own Sounds must be on too.