Everything you need, in one app

CommonGround is a messaging app for co-parents. At the heart of it is one conversation between you and the other parent. Around that sit a shared calendar and a place for all the paperwork that comes with raising children across two homes.

Messaging

One conversation for everything you say to each other.

Messages between you and the other parent all sit in one conversation in the app, instead of being spread across texts, WhatsApp, email and a few voicemails you keep meaning to delete.

Every message is saved with the date and time it was sent. So when you need to check what you agreed about the school trip, or who's doing the Tuesday pick-up, it's still there.

Once a message is sent, neither of you can edit it or delete it. Nobody gets to go back and change what was said, or quietly remove it.

Messages show a read mark once they've been opened, the same as most messaging apps. What you won't find is a "last online" — neither of you can watch the other one's comings and goings.

Good to know: You can attach photos and documents to a message. They're kept with the conversation, instead of getting lost among your other photos.

Shared calendar

Handovers, holidays and school dates you both see.

One calendar, shared between both homes, in the same app as the conversation. Handovers, school terms, inset days, doctor and dentist appointments, birthday parties, football training.

Either of you can add something or change it. You don't need to ask the other one first, and changes show up for both of you straight away. Every change is dated, so it's always clear what the plan is now.

Good to know: The calendar opens on the month, with dots on the days that have something on them. Tap any day to see that day's plans in full underneath.

Shared documents

School letters and health paperwork, all in one place.

School reports, jab records, permission slips, copies of passports, letters from the doctor. Send them in the chat or add them to the documents area — either way you can both see them, on both phones.

No more sending photos of letters to each other, and no more finding out at the airport that the passport copy is on the other phone.

Good to know: Everything is sorted by child, so if you've got more than one, nothing gets mixed up.

Shared tasks

Keep track of practical things

Create shared tasks for the everyday things that come with co-parenting, so both parents can see what needs doing and what’s already been sorted.

That could be buying school uniform, completing a form, organising something for Beavers or Brownies, packing for a trip, or remembering something your child needs for the week ahead.

Shared tasks help keep the small but important things visible, organised and less likely to be forgotten.

Good to know: completed tasks stay clear, so you can both see what’s been sorted.

Your private space

A part of the app only you can see.

Not everything needs to be shared. Your private space is a separate part of the app for notes and documents that are yours alone.

The other parent can't see any of it. Nothing moves from your private space into the shared part unless you move it yourself.

Good to know: If you later want to share something from your private space, such as a receipt or a letter, it takes a couple of taps.

A history of what happened

A dated list of what you agreed, and when.

This is a list of everything that's happened in your account, newest first: calendar changes, documents added, plans updated. Entries are added as things happen, and neither of you can edit or remove one afterwards.

It's there so that in six months' time, neither of you has to rely on memory about when you agreed the summer dates, or when the new school details went in.

Good to know: You both see the same history. There's no hidden version that only one of you can see.

Reports you can download

A PDF taken straight from your chat, for any dates you choose.

You pick the dates and tick what to put in: messages, calendar entries, and a log of documents added. The app makes you a PDF you can save or send on, with every entry showing the date and time it was saved.

Nothing is rewritten on the way. The messages in the PDF are the messages in your chat, word for word and in order — because neither of you could have changed them in the first place. What you download is the record as it stands, not a tidied-up version of it.

Some parents keep a copy for themselves. Some send it to a solicitor or mediator, so everyone is looking at the same facts instead of two different memories. Both are fine. It's simply there if you need it.

Good to know: Making a PDF doesn't tell the other parent, and it doesn't change anything in your account. It's a copy of what's already there, taken at a moment in time.

Professional access

Let a solicitor or mediator see what you choose.

If you're working with a solicitor, a mediator, a counsellor or anyone similar, you can let them see the parts you choose.

You decide what they can see, and you can shut off their access at any time. You don't have to discuss it or give a reason. They don't need an account with us, and there's nothing for them to install.

Good to know: Bringing someone in doesn't change what the other parent can see, and it doesn't change how the app works for either of you.

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Everything about your children, in one place

Free to start. Available on iOS and Android.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play