Help & FAQ

FamilyHarbor is $10 USD per family per month for up to 10 Android phones. Eligible families can start a seven-day free trial with a payment method in Account → Subscription, then pair their phones. One trial is available per family, email address and payment card. Your first monthly charge is at the end of the trial unless you cancel beforehand.

Choose Manage subscription to cancel, update a payment method or download invoices. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your trial or paid period. If a renewal payment fails, you have seven days to update it. After access ends, controls and monitoring pause when phones next check in. Offline phones keep their last settings until they reconnect. Your saved settings return when you renew.

You can still sign in, export data, remove phones and delete your account. Deleting the family owner’s account stops future subscription billing before the family is deleted. For billing mistakes or refund requests, contact us.

1. On the child’s phone, open Download and install FamilyHarbor.
2. In the parent dashboard, choose Add device. Enter its pairing code on the phone.
3. Review what will be shared together, then enable the features you want.

Keep the separate 10-digit parent code somewhere private.

In the parent dashboard, open Devices, choose the phone, then select Parent code at the top. Choose Create new code and save or copy the ten digits.

On the child’s phone, open FamilyHarbor and tap Sync now. The new code replaces the previous one once it syncs. Use it to unlock Parent settings or protected Android settings.

On the phone, open Settings → Apps → FamilyHarbor → the three-dot menu → Allow restricted settings. Then open Accessibility and turn on FamilyHarbor app blocking. Menu names vary; on OnePlus, Accessibility is usually under Additional settings.

If the option is missing, use the phone’s Settings search for “restricted settings” or “Accessibility”. Other permissions, including notifications and location, are listed in Parent settings in the app.

Open Parent settings on the phone. Allow unrestricted battery use and notifications. For location, choose Allow all the time. For web filtering, enable Always-on VPN and Block connections without VPN.

Unlock the phone once after restarting. Check the dashboard’s latest check-in. Force-stop, safe mode and some manufacturer settings can still interrupt protection.

In Controls, set a daily limit for the app and choose a separate allowance. For example, Messages can have 240 minutes while other apps share 180 minutes. Group limits still apply.

Saved changes reach a connected phone on its next check-in, usually within seconds. Offline phones use their saved rules.

Check that the VPN is running. Set Android Private DNS to Automatic or Off and turn off competing VPNs. On Android 17, allow local-network access for printers and casting.

Filtering uses domains. It cannot inspect encrypted page contents or reliably block every proxy or custom encrypted connection. If a site is blocked by mistake, add a domain exception in Controls.

SMS and available carrier MMS can be collected after you enable them. Google Messages/RCS coverage is partial: messages, history and attachments can be missed. A quiet dashboard does not mean every conversation was checked.

Photos & videos includes only shared storage the phone permits. Originals upload when requested or automatically if enabled. Private app folders and cloud-only files are unavailable. Photo/video contents are not classified by AI.

Choose Forgot password on the sign-in page. Check Spam or Junk for the code and mark it as not spam. If two-step verification is on, you also need your authenticator or a recovery code.

A new IP address requires email verification. Changing Wi-Fi, mobile data or VPNs may trigger this. If you have lost both your authenticator and recovery codes, contact us; email access alone will not switch off two-step verification.

Update the phone to FamilyHarbor 0.7 or later. In the dashboard, choose Remove device and confirm your password. The phone clears its restrictions and monitoring when it next connects. The dashboard shows whether removal is waiting or confirmed.

Offline? On the phone, open Parent settings with the 10-digit code and choose Stop managing this phone.

Finally, turn off Always-on VPN and Block connections without VPN in Android’s VPN settings, then uninstall. Until you turn these off, the removed app keeps an unfiltered connection working. Removing a phone keeps its saved history. In Removed devices, choose Delete saved data to erase it.

FamilyHarbor 0.8.5 has automatic updates on by default. If you previously turned them off, that choice stays saved.

1. On the phone, open Parent settings with your 10-digit code. Find or reset your code.
2. Choose Automatic updates → Allow installation.
3. Turn on Android’s Allow from this source switch.

Updates wait for Wi-Fi. Turn on Use mobile data in the same screen if needed. Battery and storage must also allow installation.

With automatic updates off, a notification opens the download page when a new version is available. If Android needs installation confirmation, tap the notification or Confirm update in FamilyHarbor. Allow notifications so you don’t miss either notice.

Install over the existing app to keep pairing and rules. Don’t uninstall first.

Open Account → Export family data or Delete account. An owner deletes the whole family; another parent deletes only their access. You’ll confirm your password and, if enabled, a second factor.

See what is deleted and what remains.