Picniic is a new iOS app that allows you to simplify your everyday family life. The dashboard incorporates various programs that allow you to keep track of schedules and family members, plan the evening meal, plan group events, and ensure everyone knows what sport activities are taking place.

Picniic was started by Michael Cole, whose previous venture was Fit Brains, a brain-training software with 20 million users, which he eventually sold to Rosetta Stone Inc. in 2014 for $12 million. Now he has set his sights on organizing both his family and yours.

We look at how you can simplify your family life with one iOS app and ensure everyone stays on the same page.  

Get started with Picniic

Currently Picniic is only available for iOS, with an Android version due out later this year. To get started, you can download the Picniic iOS app from the App Store. The iOS app is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and requires iOS 8.3 or later.

The free version of the app provides you access to some of the Picniic features like the family calendar and to-do-list.

While the company also offers in-app subscriptions ranging from $15/month to $100/year for the whole family. The premium subscription gives you additional Picniic features like the meal planner and information locker.

Picniic features

Family calendar

The family calendar allows you to view what all your family members are up to at a specific time.

To create a new event, open the Calendar tile > tap the ‘+’ icon, in the bottom right > tap Add Event. Add your event title, the duration and include any other family members. You can also opt to have the event repeat on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, add a location, an alert, or attach a list to the event.   

Tip: You can get a quick view of what your family members are up to over the next 48 hours by tapping their picture at the top of the dashboard.

You can also sync your work calendar with your Picniic family calendar or visa versa. Work events will appear as grey blocks of time in the Picniic calendar.

Picniic also integrates with sports team management tool, TeamSnap allowing you to update your calendar with various sports schedules, rosters and team news for your kids.

Store important information

The encrypted Info Locker in the Picniic app allows you to store important information, accessible by all family members. The Info Locker is split into three sections, Key Contacts, Medical Information, and Household Information. Information can be added using the templates or you can customize your own fields.

To add a passcode for the Info Locker, tap Add a Passcode and enter a four digit code.

Note: If you forget the code, tap Forgot Passcode, but this does mean all your entered information will be deleted.

Assign tasks to others

The To-Dos & Lists is where your family can add various lists and notes, which can then be assigned to one or more family members.

Plan the evening meal

Picniic allows you to search for recipes from the likes of Jamie Oliver, Bon Appetit and Martha Stewart. Simply tap the button to add a specific recipe to My Recipes, or tap the Add to Grocery List button and add all the items to your list. Add your own recipes by tapping the Write a Recipe button and it will be saved to the app and can be added to your Meal Planner.

The Meal Planner allows you to add recipes to specific days of the week or get suggestions from other family members. All family members will be able to see what is planned for the evening meal.

The Grocery List displays as a tile on the Picniic dashboard, where all family members can view and add to it.

Know when the kids are home

Using your device’s location, the Family Locator will be able to pinpoint the location of all family members. The feature doesn’t run in the background so each person will actually have to update other family members on their location.

To update your position on the map and alert your family, simply tap the Family Locator tile in the Picniic app.

Easily plan group functions

Use the polling feature in Picniic called Group Events to plan a date and time for an event that suits everyone. Select specific dates and times and send the poll to all invitees, even if they aren’t Picniic users. The invitees will be directed to a web page where they can either decline the event or select a date and time that suits them.

As the event planner, tap the Group Events tile in the app to see the selections of various people.

Images via: Picniic