Guide · For parents
Parent guide
Getting your child onto HALO, requesting their first ride, and what to look for during an active trip.
This is the full end-to-end walkthrough for parents — from the very first launch of the app through booking your first ride and beyond. Use the sidebar to jump to the section you need, or read top to bottom.
If your child started the signup
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What that email looks like, and what to do:
- childInvited.item1
- childInvited.item2
- childInvited.item3
- childInvited.item4
- childInvited.item5
If this email arrived out of the blue and you weren't expecting it — e.g. you don't recognise the name — ignore it. We don't create child profiles without an adult signing in and confirming. The unconfirmed signup auto-expires in 72 hours.
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First launch & sign-in
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- firstLaunch.item1
- firstLaunch.item2
- If you used email, HALO will send a verification link — open it from your inbox on the same device.
- You're back in the app, signed in.
Create your account
New to HALO? After verifying your email, HALO asks for a small profile:
- createAccount.item1
- createAccount.item2
- createAccount.item3
createAccount.p2
Pick your role
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Add your children
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- addChildren.item1
- addChildren.item2
- Optional: add a photo to help the driver recognise them at pickup.
- addChildren.item4
Verify consent for each child
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Right after you add a child, HALO emails you a one-time confirmation link. The email comes from HALO with a clear subject line — “Confirm consent for [child's name] on HALO”. On the same device you're signed in on, tap the link.
- Open the email and tap the confirmation link.
- consent.item2
- consent.item3
- The child profile is activated. You can now book rides for them.
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Join your community
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There are two ways to join:
- joinCommunity.item1
- joinCommunity.item2
Request a ride
There are two ways to book on HALO depending on what your community has planned. The standalone request is the more common one when you're first starting; jumping into an existing carpool happens automatically once your drivers post regular routes.
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- requestRide.item1
- requestRide.item2
- requestRide.item3
- requestRide.item4
- requestRide.item5
- requestRide.item6
- requestRide.item7
- requestRide.item8
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Join an open carpool
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- openCarpools.item1
- Browse carpools in your community. Each card shows the driver, the route, the date / time, and how many seats are left.
- Tap the carpool to see details — including the driver's vehicle, verified badge, and rating from other parents.
- openCarpools.item4
- The driver gets a notification; in most cases they accept on the spot.
Monitor an active ride
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- monitorRide.item1
- monitorRide.item2
- monitorRide.item3
- monitorRide.item4
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Notifications & alerts
HALO uses push notifications to keep you informed without making you stare at the app. Make sure notifications are enabled — iOS and Android will ask the first time the app needs to send one.
You'll get a notification for:
- Driver accepted your request
- Driver is on the way to pickup
- Driver arrived at pickup
- Child boarded
- Child arrived at destination
- Ride cancelled or rescheduled by the driver
- SOS escalation events on a ride you're linked to
- Community announcements from your admin
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The SOS button
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- Tap the SOS icon on an active ride.
- The SOS confirmation screen appears with a 5-second hold prompt. If you tapped by accident, just back out.
- sos.item3
- Your community admin sees the incident immediately with live ride context — passenger, driver, route, current location.
- sos.item5
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Read the full safety brief →Ride history & receipts
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Founding-cohort communities use HALO free during early access, so there are no money receipts today. When pricing arrives we'll add a Payments tab and email an itemised receipt for every paid ride.
Managing multiple children
Each child sits on your account as a separate profile, and bookings are per-child — so a parent with two kids running in opposite directions can have both routes active at once with two different drivers.
- Add as many children as you have. Each one needs its own consent confirmation.
- Active rides for different children appear stacked on the Home tab. Tap to switch between them.
- multipleKids.item3
- Drivers see only the rider they're carrying — not your other children's schedules.
Troubleshooting
Common things that come up the first week:
- troubleshooting.item1
- troubleshooting.item2
- troubleshooting.item3
- troubleshooting.item4
- troubleshooting.item5
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Delete your account
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