For grown-ups

The grown-up check

Anything that changes an important setting, or could leave the app, asks for a grown-up first. You hold a button for three seconds, then answer a short sum. Every check shows the same line, so children learn what it means:

“Thank you. Keeping children safe is our top priority.”

The check comes up before:

• turning the internet on, or turning on error reports;
• turning two-device play back on, and pairing two devices;
• opening a web link or sharing the app;
• removing a player.

If you are happy for an older child to manage settings, you can choose Skip grown-up checks on this phone in For grown-ups. Sharing always asks, whatever you choose.

The For grown-ups settings

Tap ⚙ Settings on the home screen (or ⚙ above the board), then the For grown-ups tab. There you can:

• see each child's progress;
• choose whether the internet is used at all;
• switch the optional error reports on for one report;
• switch two-device play off or on;
• delete saved games (players are kept).

The internet and error reports

Chessosaurus works fully without the internet, and the internet setting starts off. Nothing is sent anywhere unless a grown-up turns it on.

Error reports: one at a time

If something goes wrong in the app, an error report helps us fix it. Reports are off unless a grown-up switches them on, and then only one report is sent: the next time something goes wrong, one report goes and error reports switch themselves off again. The app tells you this when you switch them on.

A report holds the app's name and version, the Android version, the phone model, the language and what went wrong inside the app. It never holds names, contacts, location, photos or anything typed. Reports are deleted after 30 days. While the internet is off, a report waits on the phone and is deleted after 7 days if it can't be sent.

The full details are in our privacy policy.

Playing on two devices

Two children can play each other on two phones or tablets in the same room, over home Wi-Fi or directly between the devices.

• Pairing needs a grown-up. One device shows a code; a grown-up scans it with the other device's camera, after the grown-up check.
• The camera only reads that code. No picture is taken, kept or sent.
• Only chess moves travel, encrypted, straight between the two devices. There is no chat and nobody can type a message to the other player.
• If a friend leaves, the other child sees a kind dinosaur message with buttons to save the game or start a new one.
• You can switch it off. In For grown-ups, turn off Play on two devices. The option is then greyed out with a Wi-Fi-off sign. Turning it back on needs the grown-up check.

Players: no names needed

Each child can have their own player, and a player is their favourite dinosaur. Nobody types a name, so the app never holds one. If two children pick the same dinosaur, the second gets a number, for example “Queenie 2”.

Progress, stars, stickers, settings and saved games stay on the device. They are not backed up and do not move to a new phone.

Calm by design

• No adverts and no accounts. The app never asks for an email address.
• No timers, no streaks to lose, and no reminders pulling children back.
• Gentle captures by default: pieces are captured without biting or charging.
• The 👋 Bye! button ends a session kindly, and the app goes quiet when the screen turns off.
• Lessons and quiz questions can be read aloud, and an easy-to-read font is one tap away (Aa).
• The learning quiz between games can be switched off, and is never shown between two-player games.

Questions? See Help and contact.