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iCloud and sync

Why iCloud matters, what the little clock means, and what to do when iCloud is full.

4 answers
PRO

Pro and billing

Plans, the free trial, Family Sharing and cancelling.

5 answers

Top questions

How do I get my drawings onto a new iPhone?

To get your Crayon Years drawings onto a new iPhone, sign in with the same Apple ID, check that iCloud is on, then install Crayon Years. Your gallery comes back by itself. A big gallery can take a little while to come down.

Why is there a little clock on some drawings?

A little clock means the drawing is safe on your phone and waiting to go into iCloud, usually because you are offline or your iCloud is full. The clock disappears once the drawing is in iCloud.

The other parent can't see the drawings I added. What now?

When a co-parent can't see your drawings, check three things: your drawings show no clock, the gallery owner's Pro is active, and the co-parent accepted the invite with the Apple ID they use on their iPhone. See how invites work.

Do I need iCloud to use Crayon Years?

Crayon Years needs iCloud to keep drawings safe and to share them. Without iCloud, drawings stay on one iPhone only and are gone if it is lost. There is no Crayon Years server: see what leaves your phone.

How do I cancel Pro?

To cancel Crayon Years Pro, open your iPhone's Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions. Every drawing stays yours after you cancel, and you can still view and export all of it.

Can I move my drawings to another app?

You can take your drawings out of Crayon Years at any time. In Settings, choose Export and save everything as a ZIP of the original photos or as a PDF of the whole gallery, on Free or Pro.

Answers by topic

Getting started

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Add your first child

Open Crayon Years and add a name and a birthday, then pick a colour. From then on every drawing shows the age it was made at. Add brothers and sisters whenever you like: Free covers unlimited children.

Snap a drawing

Tap Snap and point at the drawing. Crayon Years finds the edges, straightens it and cleans the background on your iPhone, and the original photo is always kept. Add a second photo for the back of the page or a craft with depth.

Import from Photos

Tap Import from Photos and pick drawings you already photographed. The date comes from each photo, so they land at the right age. On Free, imports count toward the 24 new drawings a year, and the import screen tells you before you choose.

Add a widget

Touch and hold an empty spot on your Home Screen, tap Edit, then Add Widget, and search for Crayon Years. Free includes 1 widget in any size, with a new drawing every day. Pro adds as many as you like, plus StandBy and Then & Now.

iCloud and sync

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Why Crayon Years uses your iCloud

Crayon Years runs no server for your drawings. They live in your own iCloud, under your Apple ID, so they are safe if your iPhone is lost, show up on your iPad too, and can be shared with family. See exactly what leaves your phone.

Turn on iCloud for Crayon Years

Open your iPhone's Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, and check that Crayon Years is switched on in the list of apps using iCloud. Come back to the app and it picks up from there.

What to do when iCloud is full

When iCloud is full, new drawings stay safe on your phone with a little clock. Free up space or choose a bigger iCloud plan in Settings, and they go into iCloud by themselves. Apple gives apps no way to see how much space is left, so we cannot warn you early.

Does it work offline?

Crayon Years works offline. Every drawing is saved on your phone first, so you can snap on a plane or at the campsite. It goes into iCloud as soon as you are back online.

Sharing with family

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Invite the other parent or a grandparent

Sharing is part of Pro. In the Family tab, invite the other parent, a grandparent or anyone else with a link. They need an iPhone or iPad with iOS 18 or later, signed in to iCloud, nothing else, and it uses no space on their side. How invites work.

Who can do what

In a shared gallery, co-parents add, edit and delete drawings. Grandparents join as Viewer: they look, send hearts and record voice reactions. Everyone uses their own Apple ID. See the full role table.

Whose iCloud does the family use?

The family gallery lives in the owner's iCloud, so everything anyone adds counts toward the owner's storage. If that iCloud is full, nobody in the family can add until there is space. Drawings wait safely on each phone in the meantime.

Separated parents

Crayon Years works for separated and divorced parents. Each parent uses their own Apple ID, and co-parents keep a copy of the gallery in their own iCloud (Settings, Your copy). If sharing ever ends, that copy becomes their own gallery. Someone in the family for less than 7 days keeps only the drawings they added. Read how sharing works for two homes.

What happens to sharing if Pro ends

When the owner's Pro ends, sharing pauses, but nobody is removed and nothing is deleted. Everyone can still see every drawing. Turn Pro back on and the family picks up where it left off.

Pro and billing

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Free and Pro plans

Free costs nothing and keeps 24 new drawings a year, for unlimited children. Pro is €19.99 a year with 14 days free, or €2.99 a month, or €44.99 once and yours forever. It adds unlimited drawings, family sharing, all widgets and the yearly recap. Compare the plans.

What counts toward the 24 free drawings

The 24 free drawings a year count every new drawing across all your children, imports included. You see a counter from the 18th, and the count starts again a year after the day you started. Drawings you already have always stay.

The free trial

Pro yearly starts with 14 days free. We remind you 2 days before the trial ends. Cancel before then in Settings and you pay nothing.

One purchase for the whole family

With Apple Family Sharing on, one Pro purchase covers your whole Apple family. Co-parents and grandparents in your shared gallery never need to pay: your Pro covers them.

Restore on a new iPhone

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My iPhone was lost or broken

If iCloud was on, your Crayon Years gallery is safe in your iCloud. Sign in to the new iPhone with the same Apple ID, install Crayon Years and it comes back. Only drawings that still had a clock on the old phone were not in iCloud yet.

Only some drawings came back

After a restore, drawings come back in stages: small previews arrive first and the full photos follow. Keep the app open on a good connection and a big gallery fills in over time.

Widgets and Face ID on the new phone

Widgets, the Face ID lock and reminders are set per device, so set them up again on the new iPhone. Your drawings, children and titles come back by themselves.

Get back a deleted drawing

Deleted drawings wait in Recently deleted for 30 days, so you can bring them back. After that they are gone for good.

Export your drawings

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Export everything

In Settings, choose Export. Pick a ZIP of the original photos or a PDF of the whole gallery. Export works on Free and Pro.

Can I export after Pro ends?

You can export after Pro ends. Every drawing stays yours: you can view and export all of it, forever, whether you pay or not.

Print a book

With Pro, every year gets its own recap and a print-ready book of that year's drawings.

Paid for Pro but don't see it?

Purchases belong to your Apple ID, not to an account with us, so getting Pro back takes a few taps.

  1. OpenCrayon Years and tap your initial, top right, to open Settings.
  2. TapPlan, then Restore purchases.
  3. Checkthat this iPhone uses the Apple ID you paid with. Pro comes back within a few seconds.

Paid on a family member's Apple ID? With Family Sharing on, one purchase covers your whole Apple family. Co-parents and grandparents in a shared gallery never need to restore: the owner's Pro covers them.