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Get your schedule on track with these cool family organizer apps

Are you trying to balance ballet lessons, karate, and workouts at the gym along with homework, tutoring sessions and hockey and soccer practice? It’s tiring just thinking about the juggling act parents do on a daily basis with busy work and school schedules, plus all those extracurricular activities. It’s easy for things to fall through the cracks when trying to ensure everyone gets where they need to be on time.

Teamsnap keeps the kids’ sports organized, but what about everything else? What family schedule organizer do you use? A color-coded calendar in the kitchen, a traditional monthly or weekly planner, or the built-in calendar on your smartphone? If your family organizing system is letting you down or so complicated no one else in the family understands it, don’t worry. There is an app for that and we’ve got the top family organizer apps to keep everyone’s schedule in the house on track.

couple using family organizer app on their smartphones

Cozi Family Organizer

The app is a perfect pick for busy families. Its design allows you to keep everyone’s appointments, practices, and activities all in one place. A color-coding system lets you keep track of who is doing what, much like that bulky calendar system or wall chalkboard. Instead of being stuck in the kitchen where you can forget what’s on tap for the afternoon, Cozi goes on the go with you on your smartphone. The app also has other cool features including virtual class schedules to see where the kids are during the day, the ability to keep tabs on upcoming school events, and the ability to make a grocery list. Cozi is free to download on Apple and Samsung phones.

CloudCal

This android app lets you organize your daily, weekly, and monthly schedule much like a traditional pen and paper planner. It also lays out all the activities scheduled for the day so you can plan accordingly. Magic circles give you a heads up about your busiest times of the day as well as when you have a few minutes to kick back. If you want to keep track of other family members, you will need to sync those calendars. CloudCal is free to download.

Google Family Calendar

If you’re looking for a family organizer that doesn’t require an app to download, check out the Google Family Calendar. With this organizer, you’re able to add up to five family members. Once you create a Google Family Calendar, all of the members are able to see what’s on tap for the day as well as upcoming events. Members can also add and delete events. Directions on how to set up a Google Family Calendar can be found under Google’s help icon.

Picniic

For a multipurpose family organizer, check out Picniic. This free app features a color-coded calendar where you can keep track of everyone’s schedule, birthdays, anniversaries, and more along with location and photo sharing, to-do and shopping list options, and activity alerts. You can even message family members through the app and keep files with important medical and household information.

calendar organizer

FamilyWall

FamilyWall is another type of family organizer offering a color-coded calendar to keep track of everyone’s activities. The calendar will send alerts so no one is late for practices or games. Through the app, you can generate shopping and to-do lists. It also features a family locator option, messaging, photo sharing, and a contact directory. The basic FamilyWall app is free to download. There is a FamilyWall Premium which does have a monthly fee following a free trial period. FamilyWall Premium offers meal planning and recipe importing, can connect to your Google calendar, and more.

Flayk

This app offers users a customizable option along with its daily calendar, to-do list feature, and event organizer. The event organizer can also be utilized within the extended family which makes planning holidays and reunions a whole lot easier. Downloading the basic version of Flayk is free, but a Flayk Premium is available for a monthly fee. Flayk Premium has the same features but offers a rewards system to encourage the kids to complete the chores on the to-do list, a monthly calendar option as well as the ability to sync with other families and groups. The premium version of the app is free of any advertising.

Trello

Typically used to manage team projects at work, some users have found Trello helpful in organizing tasks and homework assignments at home. While not a daily calendar for keeping track of appointments and practices, Trello can be used to keep tabs on kids’ class schedules and homework as well as other chores and projects around the home by using the corkboard feature.

Life is extremely busy and that just multiplies when you have a family. As children get older, their activities increase and it gets harder to keep tabs on everyone. With a family organizer, you can map out when and where everyone needs to be. Traditional wall calendars and planners are helpful, but most of the time they’re hanging on the wall in the kitchen or on the counter. With a family schedule organizer app, you can keep track of everyone’s schedules right on your smartphone. Unlike that kitchen wall calendar, your smartphone travels with you and it’s always at your fingertips. Family organizer apps also offer other features to help you stay on top of busy days. These seven organizer apps are free to download. FamilyWall and Flayk do have premium versions with monthly fees offering additional options.

Editors' Recommendations

What is the best family locator app? Here are a few to check out
Black woman looking at phone on a city street

Technology has changed the way parents and their kids interact. Gone are the days of kids taking off to hang out with friends, out of contact with parents for hours. Modern technology allows parents to not only call and text their kids at any time but also keep track of their whereabouts with GPS-based apps. Family locator apps are a boon to busy parents, allowing them, with a few swipes and a couple of taps, to know exactly where their kids are at any given moment. In a world that's gotten a bit scary, the peace of mind these apps can provide is priceless.

But, as with most apps, the market is absolutely flooded with apps designed to help you keep track of your busy family and it can be tricky to pin down the perfect one for your situation. We're taking the confusion out of shopping for family locator apps. Read on to find out our top picks and have some peace of mind for yourself.
Life360
Life360 is a one-stop shop for family safety in the digital age. Though it requires a paid subscription, this app is worth it. Life360 is not just a GPS location service with place history and location alerts, it also offers 24/7 emergency dispatch that can be contacted with the push of a button, silent SOS emergency calls to family members or emergency services, and identity theft protection for the whole family ensuring that users' sensitive digital data is kept out of the wrong hands. Tiered plans are available with more features at higher levels but even the basic plan will save you some stress and provide peace of mind when it comes to your family's safety. Life360 is available for both iOS and Android.
Wondershare FamiSafe
FamiSafe is another great option if you want to do more than just track your family's location. This full-featured app allows parents to control screen time, filter web content, block certain apps, and control ads on their children's devices. FamiSafe was the 2021 Family Choice Award Winner and was named the Best Family-Friendly App from the Mom's Choice Awards. The app allows you to view explicit content that has been viewed on your child's phone as well as view your child's TikTok history. This app definitely packs a parental control punch and is guaranteed to give you peace of mind when it comes not only to your child's location but also their social media activity.
GeoZilla-Find My Family
Find My Family is the only GPS-locator app on our list that helps promote safe driving. Parents can monitor their children's speed and get an alert if they are texting or using their phones while driving. The app will also send an alert to the user's emergency contacts if a traffic accident is detected.
Glympse
Glympse is a low-key, easy-to-use GPS-locator app. It doesn't have the bells and whistles of some of the other locator apps, but you can't beat the price point — Glympse is totally free and no subscription is required.
Family Locator
Family Locator is a full-featured location service. This app sends notifications when family members arrive at their destinations, provides a family map so you know where everyone is with just a glance, and allows the setup of safe zones so you're alerted when a family member leaves the zone. And best of all, it's free!
Google Family Link
Google's Family Link is a no-brainer for Android users. The service allows you to keep an eye on your child's Google activity, monitor screen time, and keep track of them when they're away from home. It integrates seamlessly into Google's suite of apps and is full of family-friendly features.

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Coordinating family events is simple with these apps in your back pocket
busy-family-calendar

Keeping everyone on schedule and organized has always been a challenge for busy families. Coordinating school, work, extracurriculars, sporting activities, family events, and carpools takes a lot of organization and teamwork to make sure everyone gets to where they need to go and on time. If you're still relying on a handwritten family calendar or notes stuck to the fridge to keep everyone organized, it's time to coordinate family events using a simple family events app.
Busy families know that organization is the key to success in getting everyone where they need to be on time, which is why these family event apps make planning and coordinating schedules so simple. If you've been feeling overwhelmed by your busy calendar and are looking for some help, check out these family event apps to take some of the stress out of coordinating your family's busy schedule.

Cozi Family Organizer
Cozi is a family organizer app that will help keep everyone in the household on schedule. The free download lets you track all family appointments and activities in one place as well as school events, virtual class schedules, grocery lists, and even track chores. Cozi has a color-coded calendar that lets you view the entire family's schedule on one page or allows you to filter by each family member. Their Cozi Today functionality lets you view and share the day's schedule to ensure that no one misses an important appointment or event. It can also be used with other calendar apps like Google Calendar, Outlook, and Apple Calendar.

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Don’t miss these apps designed specifically for military families
A military family hugging and smiling.

If you are a military family, you know the hardships that can come up when separated from your person for any length of time. From not knowing how to get ahold of your loved one to not knowing how to deal with things after your person is deployed, there are so many things thrown at you that need to be navigated. Thankfully, technology can be helpful in these kinds of situations.

There are so many apps specifically created to uplift military families and guide them through the unique circumstances they deal with on a daily basis. Whether you are on base with your loved one or at home while they are overseas, these military apps for families are there to help.

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