How to use Hom-I

Hom-I is a household hub: one place for your calendar, meal plan, recipes, grocery list, and to-dos. Here's how to get set up in a few minutes.

Create an account

Go to app.hom-i.net/register and sign up with your email. No app install required; Hom-I runs entirely in your browser.

Your first look at the dashboard

After signing in you'll see the main dashboard: a widget-based home view that surfaces upcoming events, today's meals, active tasks, weather, and more at a glance. Navigation lives in the sidebar: collapsible on desktop, and accessible via the menu button on mobile.

• Calendar: your shared event calendar
• To-Do Lists: household tasks and synced external task apps
• Meal Planner: rolling 7-day meal plan
• Recipe Book: your saved recipes
• Grocery List: smart shopping list
• Memories: shared family photo journal
• Notes: shared household notepad
• Garden: shared garden tracker
• Chat Assistant: voice and text AI assistant
• Settings: integrations, household, and account settings

Customising your dashboard

The dashboard is made up of widgets you can rearrange, resize, and hide. Drag a widget header to move it; resize using the handle at the bottom-right corner. Your layout is saved per user, so each household member can have their own view. To restore the default layout, use the dashboard layout menu and select Restore Defaults.

Household sharing

Hom-I supports family groups so everyone shares the same data. All calendar events, meals, recipes, grocery items, notes, and memories are visible to everyone in the household. Contact your household admin to get added, or create a new household from Settings › Household. See Family Sharing below for details.

The dashboard is your household's home base: a customizable grid of widgets that surfaces the information you care about without opening separate screens.

Available widgets

• Calendar: upcoming events at a glance
• Next Up: your nearest event and upcoming tasks
• Tonight's Dinner: tonight's planned meal with a link to the recipe
• To-Do Lists: active tasks across your lists
• Meal Planner: today's meals preview
• Grocery List: outstanding shopping items
• Weather: current conditions and short-range outlook
• Memories: recent family photos
• Notes: pinned household notes

Rearranging and resizing widgets

Drag a widget's header bar to move it to a new position. Resize by dragging the handle at the bottom-right corner. Changes save automatically.

Adding and removing widgets

Click the + Add Widget button (or the layout menu) to add a module to your dashboard. To remove a widget, click the × in its header. Hidden widgets can always be re-added later.

Restoring the default layout

Click the layout menu icon in the dashboard header and select Restore Defaults to reset your layout to the standard out-of-the-box arrangement.

The calendar shows a full month grid with event indicator dots. Click any day to see that day's events in the right panel.

Adding an event

• Click + Add in the day panel (or select a day and click the button)
• Fill in the title, start time, duration, and optional location or notes
• Duration presets run from 15 min up to 4 hours; there's also an All Day option
• Click Add Event to save

Viewing and editing an event

• Click any event dot in the day panel to open its detail view
• Click Edit to change details, then Save
• Click Delete to remove the event

Where dinner shows now

Hom-I now surfaces dinner status through the dedicated Tonight's Dinner dashboard widget. That widget opens the meal planner or linked recipe directly, while the calendar stays focused on event planning.

Connecting an external calendar (optional)

Hom-I can sync from Google Calendar, Apple iCloud, or Microsoft Outlook. See Integrations & Setup below. External events sync into the calendar automatically; you don't need to do anything after initial setup.

The dashboard shows your to-do lists with incomplete tasks and anything you've already completed today. Tasks update instantly for everyone in your household.

Adding a task

• Click + Add Task and give your task a title
• Choose which list to put it in from the dropdown
• Click Add to save

Completing and removing tasks

• Tick the checkbox to mark a task done; it moves to the "completed today" section
• Click the trash icon to delete a task permanently

Filtering which lists appear

In Settings › To Do, you can choose which named lists show on the dashboard. This is handy if you have many lists and only want to see a few at a time.

Connecting an external to-do app (optional)

Hom-I can sync tasks from Microsoft To Do, Todoist, Trello, and Google Tasks. See Integrations & Setup. Tasks from connected providers merge into your named lists automatically.

The meal planner shows a rolling 7-day window: today plus the next six days. Open it from the Meal Planner link in the sidebar.

Planning a meal

• Click an empty slot on the day you want to plan
• Type the meal name and hit Enter (or click Save)
• Optional: add notes, or link to a saved recipe using the recipe picker

Recipe linking and auto-link

If your meal name exactly matches a recipe in your recipe book (case-insensitive), it auto-links on save; no extra steps. Linked meals show a book icon. When a recipe is linked, its ingredients flow automatically into your grocery list.

Configuring meal types

By default, only Dinner is shown. In Settings › Meal Planning you can add Breakfast, Lunch, and Snacks to your daily rows.

Editing and deleting meals

• Click an existing meal to edit its name, notes, or linked recipe
• Click the × button to delete a meal
• Press Escape at any time to cancel without saving

Your recipe book stores structured recipes with ingredients, cook time, servings, and instructions. Open it from the Recipe Book link in the sidebar.

Adding a recipe manually

• Click + New Recipe
• Fill in the name, cook time, serving size, and instructions
• Add ingredients: each has a quantity, unit, and name
• Expand the details chevron per ingredient to add a brand, alternate brand, or store
• Click Save, then optionally upload a photo by clicking the image area

Generating a recipe with AI

If AI recipe generation is enabled by your admin, you'll see a + New with AI button. Click it, describe what you want (e.g. "a quick weeknight pasta with sun-dried tomatoes"), choose an ease-of-cooking level, and click Generate. The AI fills in all fields; review and save when you're happy with the result.

Searching your recipes

Use the search bar in the left panel to filter recipes by name as you type.

Linking recipes to meals

When you add a meal in the planner, use the recipe picker to link it. Or simply name the meal the same as a recipe; it auto-links. Once linked, ingredients flow into your grocery list automatically.

The grocery list combines ingredients from your meal plan recipes, one-off manual items, and recurring staples into a single list. Open it from the Grocery List link in the sidebar.

Recipe ingredients

Any meal with a linked recipe automatically contributes its ingredients to the grocery list. If the same ingredient appears in multiple recipes, the quantities are consolidated into one line item with the total. Each ingredient shows which meals it came from.

Adding a manual item

• Click + Add Item
• Type the item name and optionally expand the details section to add brand, store, or quantity
• Manual items stay on the list until you remove them

Staples

Staples are items you buy every week. Set them up once in Staples › Manage, then click Generate Staples for the week to copy them onto the active list. Checking off a staple removes the weekly copy only; the template remains for next week.

Checking off items

Check off items as you shop. Checked recipe ingredients are removed from the list; confirming the removal excludes them from future lists until you mark the meal's groceries as ordered.

AI category grouping (optional)

When AI features are enabled, a Categorize button groups items by department (Produce, Dairy & Eggs, Pantry, etc.) to match typical store layout. You can also override any item's category manually.

Kroger integration (optional)

If your account has Kroger integration enabled, you can connect your Kroger account in Settings › Stores and push resolved grocery items directly to your Kroger cart.

The Chat Assistant lets you interact with your household data using natural language, by voice or text. Open it from the Chat Assistant link in the sidebar.

What you can ask

• Today's summary: "What's on today?" gives you events, meals, and tasks from live household data
• Calendar events: "Schedule a dentist appointment Thursday at 2pm"
• To-do items: "Add 'call the plumber' to my to-do list"
• Meal planning: "Plan pasta for dinner on Friday"
• Recipe generation: "Create a recipe for a quick weeknight stir fry"

Voice mode

Click the microphone icon to switch to voice input. Speak your request and the assistant transcribes and responds. Click the microphone again (or the stop button) to end recording. You can switch between voice and text at any time.

Answers from live data

The assistant reads from your actual household data (events, meals, and tasks) rather than generic responses. Asking "what are we having for dinner this week?" pulls directly from your current meal plan.

Availability

The Chat Assistant is powered by AI managed by the Hom-I team; there's nothing to configure on your end. If the chat icon isn't visible or the assistant returns an error, reach out to support at support@hom-i.net.

Memories is a shared photo journal for your household. Everyone in the group can upload photos, add captions, and browse a running visual timeline of family life.

Uploading a photo

• Open Memories from the sidebar
• Click + Add Memory (or the upload area)
• Select a photo from your device, add a caption and optional date
• Click Save: the photo appears in the shared timeline immediately

Browsing the timeline

Photos are displayed in reverse chronological order. Click any photo to view it full size. The Memories widget on the dashboard shows the most recent uploads at a glance.

Deleting a memory

Open the photo and click Delete. Only the uploader or a household admin can delete a memory.

Family Notes is a shared notepad for the whole household. Jot down quick reminders, pin important info, or keep a running list of things to discuss.

Adding a note

• Open Notes from the sidebar, or click + Add Note from the Notes widget on the dashboard
• Type your note content and save it inside the notes modal
• Use Active and Archived views to keep day-to-day notes tidy

Shared access

All notes are shared with every member of your household. Anyone can add, edit, or delete notes. There's no private notes mode.

Chore Rotation lets you assign recurring household chores to members of your household and rotate responsibilities automatically each week.

Setting up chores

• Open Settings › Chores (or the Chores section from the sidebar)
• Click + Add Chore, give it a name and frequency (daily, weekly, etc.)
• Assign it to one or more household members
• Save: the chore appears in the household rotation schedule

Automatic rotation

Chores assigned to multiple members rotate automatically on the configured schedule. At the start of each week, Hom-I reassigns chores to the next person in the rotation.

Marking a chore complete

Tick the checkbox next to a chore to mark it done for the current period. The chore resets at the next rotation.

The Garden tracker is a shared journal for everything you're growing. Log plants and plots, record care notes, and keep a running history your whole household can contribute to.

Adding a plant or plot

• Open Garden from the sidebar
• Click + Add Plant or + Add Plot
• Give it a name and any relevant notes, then save

Recording care notes

Open any plant entry and click + Add note to log a care activity — watering, fertilizing, pruning, or anything else. Each note is saved with a timestamp and appears in the plant's care log. You can delete individual entries at any time.

Editing plant details

Click the edit icon on any plant card to update its name or notes. Changes are saved immediately and visible to all household members.

Shared access

All garden entries are shared with every member of your household. Anyone can add plants, edit plant details, add care notes, or remove entries.

The Weather widget on the dashboard shows current conditions and short-range outlook tied to your household settings.

Location

Weather location is driven by the ZIP code in Settings › General. If the ZIP is blank, Hom-I prompts you to set one.

What's shown

• Current temperature and conditions (sunny, cloudy, rain, etc.)
• 3-day outlook with high/low temperatures
• Refreshes automatically in the background

Hom-I is built around households: a group of people who share the same data. Every household member sees the same calendar events, meals, grocery list, recipes, notes, memories, and chores.

Creating a household

When you sign up, a household is created for you automatically. Household members share planning data, shared settings, and integrations.

Inviting someone

• Open the family-group area in account settings
• Use the invite flow provided for your account rollout stage
• Once accepted, new members get access to the same shared household planning data

Roles

• Admin: can invite/remove members, manage integrations, and delete household data
• Member: can view and edit all shared content but cannot manage household membership or billing

Leaving or removing a member

An admin can remove a member from Settings › Household › Members. A member can leave the household from their own account settings. Leaving does not delete shared content.

Per-user settings

Dashboard layouts and account identity are still per-user. Changes you make to your layout don't affect other household members.

All external integrations are opt-in. Hom-I works great without any of them; they're extras that pull data from apps you already use.

Google Calendar

Open Settings › Calendar, enable "Sync External Calendar", choose Google Calendar, and follow the on-screen steps to authorize. Hom-I will start importing your Google events within 30 seconds.

Apple iCloud Calendar (CalDAV)

iCloud requires an app-specific password, not your regular Apple ID password. To generate one:

1. Go to appleid.apple.com and sign in
2. Under Security, click App-Specific Passwords › Generate
3. Label it "Hom-I" and copy the four-group password (e.g. xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx)
4. In Hom-I: Settings › Calendar › provider = CalDAV, paste the password, and enter your iCloud CalDAV URL

Finding your CalDAV URL: Apple doesn't display this URL prominently. The simplest approach is to enter https://caldav.icloud.com; iCloud supports auto-discovery from this base address, so many CalDAV clients can resolve the full server path automatically from it. If Hom-I needs the full URL and auto-discovery doesn't apply, the easiest source is an existing CalDAV client that already has your iCloud account configured:

• macOS Calendar: System Settings › Internet Accounts › iCloud shows the CalDAV server address
• Thunderbird or another CalDAV client: open the iCloud calendar's properties; the resolved server URL is listed there

The full URL follows the pattern https://p<nn>-caldav.icloud.com/<account-id>/calendars/<calendar-name>/. The p<nn> server number is unique to your Apple account; copy it from whichever client already has iCloud configured.

Microsoft Outlook Calendar

Open Settings › Calendar, choose Outlook, and authorize via the sign-in prompt. Hom-I uses the Microsoft Graph API with read/write calendar scope.

Microsoft To Do

Open Settings › To Do, enable external sync, and choose MS To Do. Click Connect; the app shows a short code and a URL. Visit the URL on any device, enter the code, and authorize. Hom-I picks up the authorization and starts syncing automatically.

Todoist

Open Settings › To Do, choose Todoist, and click Sign in with Todoist. You'll be redirected to Todoist to approve access, then returned to Hom-I automatically. Requires your admin to have set up Todoist OAuth credentials.

Trello

Open Settings › To Do, choose Trello, and click Connect Trello. You'll be redirected to Trello to authorize, then returned automatically. Requires your admin to have configured the Trello API key.

Google Tasks

Open Settings › To Do, choose Google Tasks, and click Connect Google Tasks. Authorize on the Google consent screen and you'll be returned to Hom-I with sync active.

Kroger

If Kroger integration is enabled on your account, open Settings › Stores and click the Kroger connect button. After authorising, resolved grocery items can be pushed directly to your Kroger cart from the grocery list.

Kiosk Mode

Kiosk mode is supported today and lets you dedicate a display (such as a wall-mounted tablet or TV) to an always-on household dashboard. Setup is currently assisted; the Hom-I team will be available to help you configure a kiosk device.

A simpler self-serve setup flow is in progress. In the meantime, contact support@hom-i.net to get help configuring your kiosk.

• Calendar events for the day
• Tonight’s dinner from the meal plan
• Household tasks and to-dos

AI provider setup

AI provider keys and provider selection are managed in the admin console, not as per-user settings fields. Household-level recipe preferences still live in Settings › Recipe.

"Could not connect": iCloud CalDAV

This almost always means your iCloud app-specific password has expired or been revoked. App-specific passwords are invalidated whenever you change your Apple ID password. Fix: generate a new one at appleid.apple.com and update it in Settings › Calendar. Your URL and username don't change. Only the password.

MS To Do tasks aren't syncing

MS To Do uses a time-limited auth token. If sync stops working, go to Settings › To Do and click Connect again to re-authorize. The process is the same as initial setup: enter the code at the provided URL and Hom-I will pick up the new token automatically.

Todoist connection expired

If Todoist sync stops and you see a Reconnect button on the Todoist card in Settings, click it to re-authorize. This re-runs the OAuth redirect without disconnecting your integration.

Meal ingredients aren't appearing in the grocery list

Check that the meal in the planner has a linked recipe (look for the book icon). If there's no link, click the meal, open the recipe picker, and select the matching recipe. Ingredients will populate within a few seconds.

Recipe AI generation isn't working

AI features are managed by the Hom-I team; there's nothing to configure on your end. If you see an error or the New with AI button isn't visible, contact support at support@hom-i.net.

Calendar events aren't updating after connecting an external calendar

External calendars sync every 30 seconds in the background. Wait a moment and refresh the page. If events still don't appear after a minute, go to Settings › Calendar and test the connection to confirm your credentials are still valid.

Still stuck?

Reach out at support@hom-i.net and we'll help you sort it out. You can also submit a feature request or bug report from Settings › Account inside the app.