Who sees what on a shared family calendar
Roles and private events let the whole family share one calendar while the surprise party stays a surprise. Here is who sees what in Quok.
The Quok Team
A shared family calendar works because everyone can see it. That is also the first worry most parents raise. Will the birthday girl spot her own surprise party? Does the babysitter need to see the whole month? Can a seven-year-old delete the dentist appointment by accident?
The answer is not a second calendar for the adults and a third for the helpers. In Quok, two things decide what each person sees: the role they have in the family, and whether an event is private.
Five roles, one family
Everyone in a Quok family has a role. Most households only ever use two or three of them, but it helps to know what each one is for.
Organizer. The person who set up the family. They plan like any adult, and they also manage family settings and who holds which role.
Adult. Parents, partners, anyone who co-runs the household. Adults see the whole calendar, add and edit any event or list, and invite others.
Kid. Kids take part in the plan. They can add their own events and check items off, but they cannot change anyone else’s plans.
Guest. A grandparent or family friend who wants to stay in the loop. Guests see the family calendar and lists and can check items off, but they do not create or edit plans.
Provider. A nanny, babysitter, or tutor. On the calendar, providers see only the events assigned to them.
The full breakdown, action by action, is in family roles and permissions.
A young child does not need an account
Most young kids never sign in. An adult adds them as a profile with a name, a color, and optionally a birthday. Events and list items can be assigned to them, and their plans show up in their color for everyone. There is no email address or password for the child. When an older kid gets their own phone, the family can invite them by email instead. The child profile guide covers both.
Private hides it from the kids, not from the other adults
Every event is visible to the family by default. Organizers and adults can switch an event to private when they create or edit it. A private event is visible to the adults in the family, to whoever created it, and to the kids or providers assigned to it. Kids and providers who are neither do not see it, and guests never do.
The surprise party. Make it private and leave the birthday kid off it. The other adults still see it and can help plan.
The gift shopping trip. Private, so nobody spots it on the calendar the week before a birthday.
A sensitive appointment. Private keeps it off the kids’ and the babysitter’s view while the adults still know where everyone is.
That limit is deliberate. Adults see the whole calendar because they are the ones running it, so no adult is planning around an event they cannot see. The details, including who can edit what, are in keep an event private on a shared family calendar.
Helpers see their part of the plan
A babysitter needs to know about Tuesday’s pickup, not the family’s whole month. With a provider account, a helper sees only the events assigned to them on the calendar and can update those events when a time changes. They also see the family’s lists, so the shopping can get checked off on the way over. Nanny and babysitter accounts are part of Quok Plus.
The same rules everywhere the calendar goes
Search. Results follow the same rules, so a private event never turns up in someone else’s search.
Calendar feed. The optional feed that shows family events in another calendar app never includes private events.
AI assistants. A connected AI app acts as the person who connected it and sees only what they can see.
Private tasks. A task on a list can be private too: only the person who created it and the people assigned see it.
Other families. Every family is kept separate. Nobody outside yours sees your calendar.
Set it up once
Open Members and check that each person has the role that fits. Add the younger kids as profiles. Then, the next time a plan should stay between the adults, switch it to private. That is the whole setup, and the calendar stays one shared plan instead of three partial ones.
Roles decide who sees an event; assignees decide who it belongs to. Our guide to seeing who is doing what covers the second half, and the shared family calendar setup guide covers getting everyone on board. Quok is free to start on iPhone and the web.