Getting started
Once Lantern Home is installed (Installing Lantern Home), open its address in a browser. Everything else happens there.
Set up the household
Section titled “Set up the household”The setup wizard asks for the setup token first: the one in APP_SETUP_TOKEN, or the one the web server prints until setup is done. Then it walks through:
- The household: its name, time zone, language and region, clock, the day the week starts, units, and where you are, for the weather.
- You: the first admin, with a login of your own.
- The family: everyone else, each with a name, a colour, and a role. You can skip this and add people later in Settings → Family.
Then it creates the household and signs you in.
Who can do what
Section titled “Who can do what”| Role | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Admin | Everything, Settings included. |
| Adult | Plan and change the household’s things: events, chores, lists, meals, and rewards. |
| Child | Check off their own chores and to-dos, log habits, and ask for rewards. |
| Contributor | See the family’s photos, and nothing else: for a grandparent who’d like the pictures. |
A member needs a login only to use Lantern on their own phone or computer. Children often do without one, and use the wall display instead.
Each adult and admin can also have a PIN, set in Settings → Family. On a wall display, an adult’s PIN unlocks grown-up actions, such as planning meals or editing a chore, without signing in there.
Pair the first display
Section titled “Pair the first display”A wall display is any screen with a browser that the family sees: a monitor in the kitchen, a tablet, or a TV.
- On the screen itself, open Lantern’s address followed by
/display. It shows a pairing code. - On your phone or computer, open Displays and choose Pair a display, then enter the code.
The display opens on the household’s Home. Its own settings, such as which members it shows or when it sleeps, are in Displays beside its name. Displays covers turning a mini PC or a Raspberry Pi into one, and Using a wall display what it does.
Bring the phones in
Section titled “Bring the phones in”Everyone with a login can open Lantern on their phone and add it to the Home Screen: in Safari, Share, then Add to Home Screen; in Chrome, the menu, then Install app. It opens like an app, and keeps working when the connection drops.
To get reminders on a phone, open More → Notifications and turn them on there (Getting Lantern’s notifications on a phone or computer).