How to set up a rotating chore
Tap +, then Add Chore, pick a room and tasks, choose family members under Assignments, tap Rotate under Assignment Type, set Rotation Settings and Recurrence, then tap Save. Rotation needs premium.
A rotating chore lets family members take turns. Chore Boss keeps track of whose turn it is and moves to the next person on your schedule. Rotation is a premium feature. If you are on the free plan, rotating chores you already have keep working and can still be edited.
Set up a rotating chore
- Tap +, then Custom chore.
- Under What needs doing?, type the chore. Or tap Pick a room (optional) and choose one, then tap Add Tasks and pick one or more tasks.
- Under Assignments, tap the family members who will take turns.
- Under Assignment Type, tap Rotate.
- Under Rotation Settings, choose how often the turn changes:
- Rotate every: a number, then day, week or month. You can pick 1 to 30 days, 1 to 10 weeks, or 1 to 12 months.
- Turn order: everyone taking turns, in the order their turns come. The person at the top starts. Drag a name by the handle on the right, or press and hold it, to move it.
- Rotation starts: the day the first turn begins, today or a later day. The text under it tells you when the turn changes, for example "The turn changes every Monday at midnight."
- Hold rotation until complete: see below.
- Set the Recurrence, which controls when the chore is due.
- Tap Save.
Recurrence decides when the chore shows up. Rotate every decides who does it. For example, a chore can be due every day while the turn changes once a week.
Change the order of turns
- Edit the chore: tap it, tap the three dots at the top right, then tap Edit.
- Under Rotation Settings, drag the names in Turn order into the order you want. The person at the top starts.
- Tap Save.
Every phone in your home shows the same order, and the same upcoming turns, once it has synced. Someone you add to the chore joins the end of the order. If you remove the person at the top, the next person in the order starts instead.
You can also ask the Assistant, for example "Change the order of the Kitchen rotation to Mia, then Sam, then Alex".
When the turn changes
The turn changes at midnight, counted from the Rotation starts day. A weekly rotation that starts on a Monday changes over every Monday. A monthly rotation that starts on the 31st changes on the 31st, or on the last day of a shorter month.
The Chores Day in your home settings has nothing to do with rotation. It only sets the day for weekly chores that have no day picked.
If you pick a later day, the chore still shows up on its normal schedule before then, and it is the first person's turn.
To have several chores rotate together, for example each child on a different chore each week, give them the same Rotation starts day and Rotate every. Keep the people in the same order on every chore, and start each chore from a different person. For example, with Mia, Sam and Alex: Kitchen as Mia, Sam, Alex; Bathroom as Sam, Alex, Mia; Trash as Alex, Mia, Sam. If you only drag a different person to the top on each chore, the order changes, and two chores can land on the same child.
Hold rotation until complete
This setting is on for new rotating chores. It does not appear for chores that are due only Once.
- On: the turn stays with the same person until they finish every missed occurrence of the chore. Once they catch up, the turn moves to the next person, and the next turn is counted from that day. So if a turn is finished late, the day the turn changes moves too.
- Off: the turn moves on schedule, even if someone missed their turn. If the app was not opened for a while, it catches up and moves to the right person, and the turn keeps changing on the same day.
If you want the turn to always change on the same day, turn Hold rotation until complete off.
Examples
These examples assume everyone finishes on their turn. With Hold rotation until complete on, a missed turn pauses the rotation until it is done.
Alex, Jordan and Sam share a daily kitchen chore, rotating every 1 day:
| Day | Turn |
|---|---|
| Monday | Alex |
| Tuesday | Jordan |
| Wednesday | Sam |
| Thursday | Alex |
The same chore rotating every 1 week:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Alex | Jordan | Sam |
After the last person, the turn goes back to the first.
See whose turn is next
- On the Home tab, pick a future day in the calendar. The chore shows who is expected to have the turn that day.
- Tap the chore, then tap the person shown on it to see the upcoming turns and the date each one starts.
- On the Chores tab, tap the chore to see the Current Turn, how often it rotates and on which day (for example "Rotates every 1 week on Monday"), and the Rotation Order, starting with the person who starts first.
Skip or change a turn
A Household Manager can move the rotation by hand. These options are not available for chores that are due only Once.
- On the Home tab, tap the rotating chore.
- Tap one of the options under the person whose turn it is:
- Skip this turn: moves to the next person. Any unfinished occurrences for the current person are passed over and no reward is given for them.
- Set rotation to…: pick who has the turn now.
Good to know
- Only the person whose turn it is can check off the tasks. A Household Manager can check them off on anyone's turn.
- The reward goes to the person whose turn it was, even if a Household Manager checked the tasks off for them.
- To change who goes first, edit the chore and drag that person to the top of Turn order.
- To move a rotation to another day, edit the chore and pick a new Rotation starts day. When you save, the turns start again from the person at the top of Turn order on that day.
- Skip this turn and Set rotation to… start the new turn today, so the following turn is counted from today.
- If you remove the person whose turn it is, the turn moves to the next person in the order, starting today.
- An overdue turn can also be skipped from the overdue list on the Home tab. See How to handle overdue chores.
Troubleshooting
Two phones show a different person for the same day. Update Chore Boss on every phone, then open it on the phone of the person who owns the home, so it can save the order everyone else follows.
"It's not your turn to complete this chore." Someone else has the turn. Switch to that person's profile, or ask a Household Manager to use Set rotation to….
The turn is not moving on. Hold rotation until complete is on and the current person still has an unfinished occurrence. They can finish it, or a Household Manager can tap Skip this turn.
The turn changes on the wrong day. Edit the chore and pick a new Rotation starts day on the weekday you want. If Hold rotation until complete is on, a late turn moves the day; turn it off to keep the day fixed.
"Pick today or a later day." The first turn can't start in the past. Pick today or a later day.
Rotate has a lock on it. Rotation needs premium. See What's free and what's premium in Chore Boss.