Is there a shared view for everyone, e.g. on the iPad in the kitchen?
Yes: the Display. It shows the week at a glance – who does what when, plus family appointments, weather and a photo. The screen stays on, and whoever finished a task ticks it off right on the tablet. The same display is available as a secret address for an e-ink screen or a browser.
Part 1
Start the display on the iPad
The display is part of the app. It needs an iPad (or iPhone) signed in to the household – an old iPad in a stand on the kitchen wall, for example.
- Sign in with the parent account
Open collabDoo on the tablet and sign in with an adult’s account. The tablet itself does not need its own profile.
- Open the “Display” tab
On the iPad there is a Display tab at the bottom. On the iPhone you find the same entry under More → Display (kitchen display).
- “Start display”
Tap Start display. The app switches to full screen and the screen stays on.
- Leave only with a long press
So nobody closes the display by accident: hold for 2 seconds on the ✕ at the top.
The tab only appears for owners and admins and not in the simple view. In the iPad settings under “Display & Brightness” set auto-lock to “Never” so the tablet does not go to sleep.
Part 2
Set up the display: layout, weather, calendar, photos
Settings live in Manage. Changes to switches, layout, location and calendars only apply with “Save”; photos take effect immediately.
- Open the settings
Manage → Display (kitchen display) – or Set up display on the display’s start screen.
- Choose the layout
Under Layout: Days 5 days (Mon–Fri) or 7 days, plus the switches Show weather, Show calendar events, Show photo and Change photo (daily or on every refresh). Refresh sets how often the tablet fetches data.
- Location for the weather
Under Location for the weather search for the place (e.g. “Essen”) and pick a result. Weather comes from Open-Meteo in the EU; only the location’s coordinates are transmitted.
- Connect a calendar
Add calendar: enter a name (e.g. “Family”), a colour and the public iCal address of your calendar. Apple: Calendar → Share calendar → “Public calendar” → copy link. Google: calendar settings → “Secret address in iCal format”. Then Check address – the app fetches the calendar once and shows how many events are due in the next 7 days.
- Add photos
Under Photos → Add photos choose up to 50 pictures from your library. Drag to reorder via “Edit”, swipe to delete.
- Save
Apply with Save. The display picks up the new settings on the next refresh.
From the calendars the server stores only title and time of events within the visible week window and refreshes them every 15 minutes. Events are not written into the household.
Part 3
Complete on the tablet
The display is not just for looking at. Every task can be ticked off directly – and is credited to the right person.
- Tap the task
Tap the task in the week grid (Tap to complete).
- “Who is doing this?”
The profile grid appears. Tap your own picture – or Ich bin’s nicht if you tapped by mistake.
- Enter the PIN
If the profile has a PIN, it is requested. Then: Danke, Max! – the points go to Max and the tablet stays in display mode.
Tasks with a required checklist, photo or signature cannot be ticked off on the display – open them in the app for that. Tasks that belong to nobody yet appear in the grid as zu vergeben.
Only an admin can change the display settings on the tablet: choose profile and enter PIN – the tablet’s profile stays unchanged.
Part 4
E-ink display or browser: the display address
Instead of a tablet, an energy-saving e-ink display (TRMNL, for example) or any browser can show the display – via a secret address.
- Enable the public display address
In the display settings switch on Public display address active and save. The tablet mode in the app works independently of it.
- Generate the address
Under E-ink / TRMNL tap Generate display address. You get two addresses: a web page (…/d/<token>) and an image for the e-ink display (…/d/<token>.png) – plus a QR code.
- Enter the address into the display
For the e-ink display store the image address (with TRMNL as a custom plugin with image URL); in a browser simply open the web page address. Size and greyscale of the image can be adjusted via the address – the details are shown in the app next to the address.
Anyone who knows the address sees tasks and appointments. The address is shown only once. If it gets lost or a device should lose access: Neue Adresse erzeugen (the old one becomes invalid) or Adresse widerrufen.
collabDoo · All for one. Done by all.
The week on the kitchen wall.
An old iPad is enough – or an e-ink display with the secret address.
iPhone & iPad · iOS 17 or later · Android to follow
