armful · Time with your children, daily

A diary of time, not of grievances. A calm app for parents who share the care of their children.

QR code linking to armful on the App Store

Free to download · iPhone, iPad and Mac

Story

Why armful exists

The armful home screen: the week, today, the month summary, the memories gallery and the latest days

I have a difficult divorce behind me. It took a long time before everything was decided, and that is when it became clear how much it helps to have written down when the children were with me, what we did together and what things cost.

Piecing it all together afterwards, from photos, payments, calendars and old messages, was exhausting. In the end it all came together and the matter was settled. But the thought stayed: this should be easier.

Because technology is close to my work, armful is being built: a calm app for parents who share the care of their children. It records time with the children, expenses and the everyday run of the days. It lives only on your device, has no account and no server, and the other parent does not need to use it.

It is not meant to be a pile of complaints, but a safe harbour. It puts the good moments with your children first and speaks the language of a parent, not of an official. And if it ever happens that someone claims you did not look after the children, did not pay for them or are wrecking the plans made for the children, you have the truth at hand, dated and without digging.

Features

What armful does

armful keeps together the four things a parent after a divorce deals with most: when the children will be with you, how that time went, how much you spent on them, and how to pull it all out again in one clear piece. Plus a calm reminder and a lock, so it stays only yours.

Calendar

From a regular or irregular schedule, armful works out the days with your children on its own, and handles several schedules at once when the arrangement changes over time. You can always add an extra day or take one away by hand, with a note why, one day at a time or in bulk for a whole period. You can save a special day as a PDF straight from the calendar.
Diary

One factual entry per day, no long writing, you can just dictate it too. You pick your child's mood by tapping one of five levels, plus a name for the day, one nice moment and photos. They come back to you in the memories gallery on the home screen. Any problems can be written down too, they just stay tucked under a quiet disclosure, so the diary stays mainly about the children, not the dispute.
Expenses

An amount and a category in two taps, plus a photo of the receipt. Six categories (health, school, clubs, clothing, free time, other) are ready to use, or make your own with a picked icon and colour. You set the currency of your expenses yourself, every currency your phone knows is on offer. In Expenses you see a summary by category, and on the home screen the total for the month.
Lock

You can lock the app with Face ID, Touch ID or your device passcode. It locks itself the moment you leave and hides its own preview in the app switcher too, so no one who borrows your device can look inside.
Reminders

A calm daily reminder in the evening, so no day is left without an entry, and you can move the time or turn it off entirely. Plus an automatic notice at the start of a day with your children.
Backup and PDF overview

Back up your data to a file at any time. You can also turn it into a PDF for what you need it for: an authority or court, expenses and child support, communication, or just memories, for the period you choose, from a month to the whole history. The first 2 PDF overviews are free, armful PRO unlocks them without limit.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Does the other parent need the app too?

No. armful is a single-user, purely local app. It works without the other parent's cooperation, consent or knowledge.

Can an armful overview be used for a court or child welfare authority?

Yes, and I know from my own experience how much that can matter: I have been through a situation where a dated, factual record like this ended up being the one thing that showed how it really was, even when the other side claimed something different. Before you export the overview to PDF, you choose what you need it for (an authority or court, expenses and child support, communication, or memories) and for which period, so you share out exactly as much as you want. No overview can promise to settle a dispute on its own, but having a calm, factual record on hand genuinely helps.

What if the other parent claims things that are not true?

That happens, and it is one of the reasons armful exists. An entry made as you go, with a date, an amount, a photo of a receipt or a screenshot of a message, shows factually when the children were with you, what you paid for them, what you contributed to (activities, school) and what you did together. It embellishes nothing and accuses no one. How it is used is always decided by an authority or a court.

How much does armful cost?

armful is free for the first 10 days you add a diary entry or an expense to. The first 2 PDF overviews are free too. armful PRO then unlocks an unlimited number of days and PDF overviews as a monthly or yearly auto-renewing subscription. Photos and expense categories are never limited, even on the free version.

Which languages does armful speak?

Czech, English, Slovak, German, Polish, French and Spanish. You pick the language on first launch and can change it any time in Settings. If your phone uses another language, the app shows English. The Privacy Policy and Terms of Use are available in Czech and English.

Where can I download armful?

armful is available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Mac with Apple silicon. The download is free, and the first 10 days and 2 PDF overviews are free even without a subscription.

Where is my data stored, is it safe?

Everything stays on your device, armful has no server and no cloud backup. That also means losing your device without a backup of your own means losing your data, which is why the app has a backup to a file. You can also lock the app with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode, so no one else can look inside.

How can I try armful before everyone else?

Send us your email through the side panel on this page. We will let you know as soon as we are looking for testers.

What armful looks like

Plainly said

A few things, plainly said

Privacy

Everything stays on your device. No account, no server, no tracking. The other parent does not need to use the app, and if you lock it with Face ID or a passcode, no one who just borrows your device can look inside either.

Calm, not stress

No red colour or exclamation marks where it is just ordinary information. armful is meant to be a safe harbour, not an app for collecting ammunition.

A diary of time, not of grievances

armful does not collect complaints. It puts the good moments first and keeps problems in the background.

Why armful, of all names

The English word armful is as much as fits into a parent's arms. The name says nothing about a dispute, it says something about closeness.

Time with your children, daily

Why armful exists

What armful does

Calendar

Diary

Expenses

Lock

Reminders

Backup and PDF overview