Horizons: kids make every page their own

By Dan, PointUp's founder · · Shipped in 3.21.0

A child's Family screen with the Planet scene running behind the top bar and the greeting sitting on the scene

Hi, I'm Dan, PointUp's founder. Every message sent through the app's support form lands with me, and when several families ask for the same thing it moves up the list. Kids love making things their own. This release started with the theme picker, which had not changed since PointUp was first built. We set out to polish it, which then grew legs: now every child can create a look for PointUp that is theirs.

Why we did it

Children pick a theme when they join, and it colours their pages. But once a theme was chosen, every child's screens still looked much the same. Kids want to create, not just pick a colour, so we gave them more to work with: a scene, a page colour, and a way to see the result before they keep it.

How kids make it theirs

Every theme now comes with its own Horizon, a small animated scene across the top of every page. There are ten:

  • snowy mountains under drifting clouds
  • a forest with falling leaves
  • a city at night
  • a giant planet over rocky hills
  • a beach
  • a sunset over the sea
  • the northern lights
  • the ocean
  • speakers and cassettes under a neon sky
  • light trails

Your child can keep the scene their theme brings, swap it for another, or have none, so the mix is theirs.

Making it theirs can also mean keeping it simple. Some children find a busy screen harder to settle with, so a calm page is a choice just like a scene: pick None for no scene, turn the Banner off, and choose a quiet page colour. Fewer moving things on screen is a common tip for children who are easily distracted, including many with ADHD, and it is only a tap away.

The Horizon screen with the ten scenes two to a row and the Planet scene ticked

They pick a page colour too, from nine that suit their theme.

The Background screen with nine colours for the child's theme and the other themes' colours below

The Banner runs the scene up behind the top bar for a bigger picture. Turn it off and the scene sits just below the bar instead.

The same Family screen with the Banner off, the top bar showing the PointUp logo and the scene underneath it

A live preview of their own Family screen shows every change before they save it, so they can try ideas freely, and Apply tries a new colour on the page first. Horizons and the Banner come with PointUp Pro. Page colours are free for everyone.

Also in this release

Picking a theme is simpler: tap the card you like, then Choose. A streak that has gone out now waits on a glowing coal, trying to catch, so your child can see one quest will light it again. Lists scroll more smoothly, the Rewards search stays at the top, and searching quest history keeps the keyboard open.

What is next

Every release starts with what you ask for, so keep asking. If you have already asked for something and it is not here yet, it is on the list, and every extra family asking for it moves it up. The support form in the app comes straight to me, and so does support@point-up.co.uk.