Support — Family Beacon

Family Beacon lets family members send messages (and photos) to a loved one’s device. One device is the receiver (Owner) and one or more devices are senders.

Getting Started

What’s the difference between Owner and Sender?

Owner — This device receives messages. The Owner creates the family group and shares an invite link with senders. Messages appear in the Owner’s Inbox.
Sender — This device sends messages. The Sender pastes the Owner’s invite link to join, then can send text messages (and photos on iPhone) that appear on the Owner’s device.

Choose carefully — the role can only be changed by resetting the app.

How does setup work?

Open the app and enter your name. (It will be shown on messages you send.)
Choose your role: Receive messages (Owner) or Send messages (Sender).
Owner: Tap “Create Family Group.” Once created, tap “Share Invite Link” and send it to your family members.
Sender: Paste the invite link you received from the Owner device and tap “Join Family.”

Does the app require an account?

No account needed — Family Beacon uses your existing iCloud account. Both the Owner and Sender devices must be signed into iCloud.

Sending Messages

How do I send a message?

On the Send screen, type your message in the text field. On iPhone you can also add a photo from your library or camera. Tap Send when ready.

Can I send photos?

Yes, on iPhone. Tap Add Photo to choose from your photo library or take a new one with the camera. Photo sending is not available on Mac.

What happens if a message fails to send?

If a send fails, the message is saved locally and shown in your History tab with a “Failed” status. Tap the retry button on the failed message to try again.

How do I know if my message was read?

Open the History tab. Each message shows its delivery status: Sent (delivered but not yet opened) or Read with the time it was read.

Receiving Messages

Where do I see incoming messages?

On the Owner device, messages appear in the Inbox tab. New messages show an unread badge on the tab.

How do I mark a message as read?

Tap the message card in the Inbox to mark it as read.

Can I pin messages?

Yes. Swipe or use the message menu to pin a message — pinned messages stay at the top of your Inbox.

How do I delete a message?

Swipe the message card to delete it. Deleted messages move to a Deleted view (use the Inbox/Deleted toggle at the top). You can restore them from there.

Managing Your Family Group

How do I add more senders?

Go to Settings and tap “Share Invite Link” to share the link again. Anyone who taps the link and pastes it into the app can join as a sender.

How do I change my name?

Go to Settings and tap Edit next to your name.

A sender hasn’t joined yet — what should I check?

Make sure:

They have the app installed
They’re signed into iCloud
They pasted the full invite link (starts with https://www.icloud.com/…) and tapped Join Family

How do I start over?

Go to Settings and tap Reset App. This clears all local data and settings, and walks you through setup again. On Mac, the Owner can also use Wipe All Data to permanently delete all messages and disconnect all senders from iCloud.

iCloud & Data

Is iCloud required?

Yes, both the Owner and Sender devices need to be signed into iCloud for messages to deliver.

Where is my data stored?

All messages are stored in your personal iCloud account using Apple’s CloudKit. The app has no servers — your data never leaves Apple’s infrastructure.

My message isn’t delivering

Make sure both devices are signed into iCloud
Check that iCloud is enabled for Family Beacon in Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud
Make sure the Sender has successfully joined the family share (Settings shows “Joined” with a green checkmark)
Check that both devices have an active internet connection

Mac App

What’s different on Mac?

The Mac app is designed as the Owner (receiver) device. It shows the Inbox and supports a widget to display the latest message. On Mac, the Owner can also:

Link a calendar to show upcoming events in the Calendar tab
Use Wipe All Data in Settings to permanently delete everything and disconnect all senders

How do I add the Mac widget?

Right-click on your desktop or notification center, enter Edit mode, and search for Family Beacon to add the widget. It displays the most recent message from your senders.

Troubleshooting

The app shows “You haven’t joined the family share yet”

This banner appears on a Sender device that hasn’t completed the join step. Go to Settings, tap “Join family share…”, paste the invite link from the Owner, and tap Join Family.

The app won’t open

Try force-quitting and restarting the app. If the problem persists, restart your device.

I’m not receiving notifications

Go to Settings > Notifications > Family Beacon and make sure notifications are allowed
Check that Focus/Do Not Disturb isn’t blocking notifications
Verify your iCloud connection

Contact Us

If you need further assistance or want to report a bug, please fill out our support form:

Contact Support

We typically respond within 24-48 hours.

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