When a family shares its readers with you, they appear on your Home page under "Shared with you". You can follow how each reader is getting on, and a guardian can also read with them on a device of their own. Everything that changes a reader's account stays with the family.
On your Home page
Each shared reader has a card with their first name, their picture, their age group and how many books have been made for them. A label says "You can look" or "You can sign them in", depending on the choice the family made. The "Open" button with the reader's name takes you to their page.
If you have no readers of your own, a box called "What you can do here" sums up your role for each reader. If the family has not added a reader yet, the section says there is nothing to see for now.
The section does not name the family. Their name, or their email address if they have not given a name, is listed in Settings > Sharing with other grown-ups, under "Families you read along with".
On a reader's page
A shared reader's page has no tabs and nothing to change. It shows:
- when they last read, or "Not read in the last fortnight"
- the last seven days in four figures: "Minutes read", "Books finished", "Days read" and "Words tapped for help"
- "This week", a chart of the minutes read each day, with an estimate of their reading level once there are enough books to give one
- "Recent reading", which lists their recent reading and their newest books
- "Finished books", up to 20 of their most recent books that are ready to read, each with its title and reading level
The books cannot be opened from this list.
What stays with the family
You do not see:
- books that are still being made, are being checked, were stopped, or that the family put away or has not yet looked over
- the reader's settings, time limits, bedtime or topics to leave out
- safety alerts, or anything the reader typed
- the family's plan, payments, card or the notices they agreed to
- the other grown-ups the family shares with
There is no button on these pages that changes anything for the reader or the family.
Reading together as a guardian
If the family chose "Can look and sign readers in", you are a guardian for their readers.
- Open the reader's card or page on the device you want to read on, and press "Start" with the reader's name, for example "Start Mia reading".
- If the device is not set up yet, that button sets it up for your account on the way. You do not need a card check for this.
- The reader's sign-in screen opens, and the reader signs in with their own PIN or pictures.
If you have no readers of your own, your Home page also has a "Reading on this device" box. It offers "Set this device up" until the device is ready, and then "Who is reading?" and "Forget this device".
A device is set up for one account at a time. If it was set up for a different account, we ask "Use this device for your readers?" before moving it to yours, because that account's readers could not sign in on it until a grown-up from that account set it up again.
When they have finished, you need your own password to get back to your pages. Who is reading, and the Grown-ups button explains how.
If you can only look, you will not see a "Start" button. The family can make you a guardian from their settings.
Emails about the family's readers
We send the family's emails to the family. The one exception is a reader turning thirteen: about a month before a shared reader turns thirteen, we email you as well. The email mentions changing the date in the reader's settings, which only the family can do, so tell them if the date looks wrong. When your child turns thirteen explains what changes then.
Where to go next
- To stop reading along, see Accept an invitation to read along, which explains the "Leave" button.
- Trusted devices, and why your child needs one explains how long a device stays set up and how to forget one.
- For anything else, ask us through Help in your dashboard.