New here? Watch the 40 second walkthrough.
Our families keep growing. When everybody buys for everybody, the shopping gets expensive fast, and it stops being even. Some children end up with a pile and others get very little.
So we split it up. The children are shared out between the families, and each family shops for a few of them. A child can only be picked by one family, so two people never buy for the same child, and the app keeps count of how many children still need a buyer so nobody is left out.
The children are shared out per family, not matched to how many children you brought. A household with no children of its own still takes part and shops for its nieces and nephews exactly like everyone else.
Join with the code
Whoever set this up will send you an eight character code, or a link that fills it in for you. Open the app, tap "Join with a code", type it in and tap Continue. Then pick your family from the list, or choose that you are a new family and type your family name. The app asks you to sign in or make an account first, because every household signs in as itself.
Add your own children
On the Exchange tab, tap "Add Kid" and fill in the name, age, gender and what they are into. Your children then sit further down that screen under your family name. Tap a child, then "Add Gift Info", to paste a wish-list link or type ideas, sizes and anything else the buyer should know. Anyone in the exchange can add a child, so have a quick look first in case the organizer already added yours.
Pick the children you are shopping for
On the Exchange tab, look under "Kids to pick". Tap a child to open their row, then tap the Pick button with their name on it. They show as taken to everybody else straight away, and that is what stops two families buying for the same child. You never buy for your own children. The app works out how many you pick from the number of children and families, so the number moves as more people join.
Stay on budget
The organizer can suggest an amount to spend on each child, which keeps every gift about the same value. You will find it on the Details tab and at the top of the Exchange tab. It is only a suggestion, and the app never asks what anyone actually spent. Once you have bought a gift you can tick the box beside that child in your own picks. That tick is a private note for your family, and nobody else can see it.
Stuck on what to buy
Tap Advisor at the bottom of the screen and ask for ideas for any child in the exchange. It goes on the age and interests their parents typed in, and it gives rough price ranges rather than live prices. It cannot save anything for you, so copy the ideas you like into that child’s card with "Add Gift Info", where everyone shopping for them can see it.
Turn up to the party
Everything about the party is on the Details tab: the date, the start time, the host, the address, the theme and anything you have been asked to bring. Tap the address to open it in your maps app. If the organizer sets the party date at least a week ahead, everyone who joined with their own account also gets one reminder email a week before.
Exchange The main screen. Your family, your children, and the children you are shopping for.
Advisor Gift ideas for any child in the exchange.
Details The party. Date, start time, host, address, theme, what to bring, and the suggested budget per child.
Settings Your account, your invite code, and the way to join or start another exchange.
Your eight character code is in Settings, with "Copy invite link" and "Send invite" beside it. Send it to every household. Each family joins with its own account and adds its own children.
Relatives who will not use the app can still take part. On the Exchange tab, tap "Add family", then use "Add Kid" and choose that family.
If people are slow to pick, "Fair Distribution" shares every child out in one tap. Once picks exist that same button becomes "Re-shuffle all", which is what you use when a family joins late and finds nobody left to buy for. Both need at least two families. "Clear every family's picks" starts the whole thing over, and clears the purchased ticks with it.
Fill in the date, start time, host, address, theme, what to bring and the budget per child on the Details tab, and write your note there too. Your note appears at the top of this screen for everyone you send the app to.
Can two families buy for the same child? No. The moment a family picks a child, that child shows as taken to everyone else and the Pick button is gone, so they cannot be picked twice. The tick box beside your own picks is just your shopping list. Nobody else can see it, so the picking is what keeps everyone safe, not the ticking.
What if one family has four kids and another has one? Nearly always it comes out even, because the children are shared out between the families rather than matched to how many you brought. The one exception is when a single family brought most of the children. Since nobody buys for their own, everyone else ends up carrying a little more, and the app says so when it happens. Tap "See the family balance" on the Exchange tab to see every family side by side.
Will a child be missed? Every child gets exactly one buyer, never two, so nobody ends up with a pile while another child gets nothing. If the organizer taps "Fair Distribution", every child is handed out in one go and none can be left over. If families are picking one at a time instead, the Exchange tab shows how many children still need a buyer, and the organizer can share the rest out at any time.
Can I see who has whom? Yes. The quickest way is "See the family balance" on the Exchange tab, which lays out every family next to the children they are shopping for. Open one of your own children and it tells you which family is buying for them.
I picked the wrong child. Can I undo it? Yes. In your family picks, tap the small bin beside that child and they go straight back on everyone else’s list. "Clear my picks" empties your whole list at once. Neither one touches any other family picks.
Does everyone need to have the app? No. The organizer can add a household and its children by hand, so relatives who will not use a phone app still take part and still get gifts. They will not get the reminder email, because that goes to the people who joined with their own account.
Everything here works on its own. If a child's parent also uses our Happy Gift Day app, they can paste that child's Gift Day Card here, and whoever is shopping for them sees the wish list and how the year has been going right on the child's card.