Becoming an admin
The first person who creates the family is automatically the admin. Multiple admins are allowed — any current admin can promote another family member to admin status.
Setting up your PIN
1
Open the Admin Panel
Settings → Family → Family Admin Panel. If you don't have a PIN yet, you'll be prompted to create one.
2
Pick a 4-digit PIN
BRYKK uses a custom keypad (never the system keyboard) so other apps can't snoop on your PIN entry. Choose 4 digits, then enter them again to confirm.
3
Lockout policy
5 wrong attempts triggers a 60-second lockout. Subsequent failed sets escalate: 5 min → 15 min → 1 hour → 24 hours. The PIN hash is stored in Keychain with a per-install salt — even Apple can't recover it.
What admins can do
- Edit the family name
- Promote other members to admin
- Demote admins (except yourself if you're the only one)
- Mark members as supervised (kids/dependents who can't leave the family on their own)
- Remove members from the family
- Dissolve the entire family group (irreversible)
- Change the admin PIN
Supervised mode (kid lock)
When you mark a family member as supervised, two things change:
- They can no longer leave the family on their own — they have to ask an admin to remove them
- Their phone shows a small “Ask an admin to leave” message in place of the Leave Family button
💡
Combine supervised mode with the “Show Custom Messages = OFF” toggle on the kid's device, and you get a complete kid-safe configuration: they're in the family, they get safety alerts, and they can't see personal messages meant for adults or accidentally leave.
Recover Admin Access
What happens if the original family creator gets a new phone, deletes BRYKK, or loses iCloud access? The family is stranded — nobody is admin anymore. Solution:
- Any non-supervised family member can open Settings → Family
- They'll see a “Recover Admin Access” button
- Tapping it makes them an admin immediately and notifies the family in the chat
This is a permissive design — any adult member can claim admin status — because the alternative (locked-out families) is worse. If somebody mistakenly claims admin, an existing admin can demote them.
Changing your PIN
Settings → Family → Family Admin Panel → Security → Change Admin PIN. You'll be asked for your current PIN, then to enter a new one twice.
If you forget your PIN, you can reset it by removing yourself from the family and rejoining. Your family code stays the same, but you'll lose admin status until somebody promotes you back.