# A chore rota app for the bins and the school run

To keep a chore rota in Ethos, add the job to your family group as a shared routine, turn on "Take turns", and tap the people on the rota in the order it should go round. Ethos then works out whose turn it is, each time or each week, and only that person sees the job on their Today. If someone is away, the turn can be passed on, skipped or given to someone else.

## Setting up a rota

A rota lives in a group, the same as any routine you share. On the group's page, add a routine (the bins, the school run, the dishwasher) with its tasks, their times and the days they fall on. Then turn on "Take turns". In Ethos's words: it goes round the people you pick, one at a time, and only whoever's turn it is sees it on Today.

Pick at least two people. The order you tap them is the order it goes round, and number 1 has the next turn. Then choose how often the turn moves on:

- Each time: the turn passes to the next person after every time the job comes round. Good for a job that happens once or twice a week, like the bins.
- Each week: one person has it for the whole week, then it moves on. Good for the school run or the washing up.

Whoever made the group sets up the routine and its rota. Making a group and inviting people comes with [Ethos Plus](/#plus); joining one is free.

## Who's on, and who's next

On the group's page, each rota shows whose turn it is and who's after them, in a line such as "Your turn · then Elisha" or "Sam's turn this week · then you".

The person whose turn it is sees the job on Today like any other task, marked with the group and "your turn". Everyone else keeps a clear Today: the job doesn't appear on theirs until it comes round to them.

On the morning of your turn, Ethos sends a notification, "Your turn: Bins", with the time ("Today at 19:30.") and who's after you ("Elisha's after you."). For a weekly turn it says "All week, from" the time. It arrives at your morning summary time, or an hour before the job if that's earlier, and it has two buttons: Done, which ticks it, and "Pass to" the next person.

You can also ask Siri, "Whose turn is it in Ethos", or name the routine: "Whose turn is Bins in Ethos".

## Passing, skipping and swapping a turn

Weeks don't always go to plan. Press and hold the routine on the group's page and a menu offers three things.

1. "Skip, pass to" the next person. They do this one, and their next turn comes back to you, so nobody does more than their share. This is the one to use when you're away.
2. "Nobody this time". For a week when the job doesn't need doing at all, like a bank holiday with no bin collection. Nobody owes it that time, and the rota carries on as it would have.
3. "Give it to" anyone else on the rota. They take this turn and you take their next one. Giving it back to whoever had it undoes a skip.

The people who take turns at a routine can change its turns, and so can whoever owns the group. The change reaches everyone's devices through iCloud, and the turn line updates to match.

## Nudging whoever's turn it is

If it's someone else's turn and the job is still waiting after its time, tap their face on Today, or press and hold the routine, and send a nudge. They get a notification with Done and Later, and Later brings it back in half an hour. When they've done it, you can send a cheer. Anyone who'd rather not be nudged by a particular person can mute them from the group's page. [Sharing routines with your family](/blog/shared-family-routines) covers cheers, nudges and notes in more detail.

## Looking back at the week

Turn on "This week together" on the group's page and Ethos sends one quiet notification on the week's last evening, at six. It says what you kept together and whose turn it is next week, so the handover happens without a conversation. It's off unless you turn it on, and each person in the group chooses for themselves.

A rota sits alongside the rest of what a household shares, including [one shopping list](/blog/shared-shopping-list). The [family organiser](/family-organiser) page shows how it fits together.

## Questions

### How does Ethos decide whose turn it is?

It goes round the people on the rota in the order you tapped them, moving on each time the job comes round or each week, whichever you chose. A pass or a swap hands the next turn back, so nobody ends up doing more than their share.

### Can I swap a turn with someone?

Yes. Press and hold the routine on the group's page and choose "Give it to" and their name. They take this turn and you take their next one.

### What if nobody needs to do the job one week?

Choose "Nobody this time". Nobody owes the job that time, and the rota carries on as it would have.

### Does everyone see every chore?

No. Only the person whose turn it is sees the job on their Today. The others see it on the group's page, with whose turn it is and who's next.

Source: https://ethosplanner.app/blog/chore-rota-app