You've been invited to a family art gallery
Someone in your family keeps their children's drawings in Crayon Years and wants you to see them. Joining takes a minute.
Sharing the kids' drawings with you in Crayon Years.
What is Crayon Years?
Crayon Years is an iPhone and iPad app that keeps every drawing your child makes, age by age, in your own iCloud.
Parents snap each drawing in a few seconds and the app sorts it by the child's age. When they invite you, you see every drawing in their gallery, and new ones turn up as soon as they are added. No ads, and nothing to sign up for.
What you need
- An iPhone or iPad with iOS 18 or laterIn Settings, General, About you can see which version you have.
- Signed in to iCloudWith your own Apple ID, the one you already use for the App Store.
- That's allThe app is free, there is no account to make and no password to remember. The person who invited you pays for sharing, you never do.
How to join
Already have Crayon Years? Skip straight to tapping the link.
- Get
Download Crayon Years from the App Store on your iPhone or iPad. It is free.
- Tap
Open the invite message on the same iPhone or iPad and tap the link.
- Join
Crayon Years asks if you want to join the gallery. Tap Join, and the drawings appear.
What you can do
The person who invited you picks your role. Grandparents join as Viewer, the other parent as Co-parent.
As a grandparent or friend Viewer
- See every drawing, sorted by age
- Send a heart when one makes you smile
- Record a voice reaction
Viewers can't add drawings at launch.
As the other parent Co-parent
- Add drawings, from your weekends too
- Edit titles, dates and firsts
- Delete drawings (they can come back within 30 days)
- Keep your own copy in your own iCloud, on by default
Does it use space on my iCloud?
Not as a grandparent or other viewer. The gallery lives in the iCloud of the person who invited you.
Co-parents are different on purpose: they keep a copy of the gallery in their own iCloud, so the drawings stay with both homes, whatever happens. That copy uses the co-parent's own iCloud space.
Is it private?
Yes. The drawings are shared only with the people the parent invited.
Crayon Years has no server for children's art. The gallery is kept by Apple in the parent's iCloud, and we never see a drawing, a name or a voice. The app shows no ads and does not track you across other apps. The privacy page explains exactly what leaves a phone.
Do I need to pay anything?
No. The person who invited you has Pro, and it covers everyone in the gallery.
I don't have an iPhone or iPad. Now what?
Crayon Years is only for iPhone and iPad for now, and there is no Android or computer version yet. Ask the parent to send you a PDF of the gallery. They can make one from Settings in the app, or print you a book of the favourites.
Something not working?
Check that you opened the link on the iPhone or iPad that is signed in to iCloud, and that it runs iOS 18 or later. The help center has more answers, and how sharing works explains the whole family set-up. Or email support@crayonyears.com and a person replies within 2 working days.