FAQ

Questions families ask

How consent, privacy circles, invites and the family graph work — and what happens to your data along the way.

Consent & relationships

Can someone add me to their tree without asking?

They can propose the relationship, but it stays pending until you confirm it. Nothing appears as a real connection in the shared graph without both people agreeing.

What happens if a relationship ends?

Nothing is deleted. You can dispute a relationship or dissolve it after a two-step confirmation. The edge stays in history with its status changed, and the change is written to your activity log.

I received a request I never made — can I remove it?

Yes. Pending requests show whether they were sent by you or claimed about you. You can cancel your own request or mark an incoming one as "not related"; the record is kept as dissolved for the audit trail.

Privacy & visibility

Who can see my profile and posts?

You assign every relative to a circle — close family, extended, long relations or friends — and each circle controls profile visibility, messaging and feed access separately.

Can I block or report someone?

Yes. Any profile or chat has a safety menu for blocking and reporting. Blocking removes messaging and feed access immediately in both directions.

Where are my photos and chat media stored?

Avatars, chat media, post media and stories are kept in private storage buckets with per-path access rules, so only people your circles allow can load them.

Invites & sign-in

How do I invite relatives who aren't on the app?

Create a managed profile for them and send a secure invite link over WhatsApp, SMS, email or a copied link. When they open it and verify the token, they can claim the profile at signup.

Do invited relatives need a password?

No. Invite links open a passwordless sign-in that emails a 6-digit code. Password and Google sign-in remain available as alternatives, and you can reset a password from the sign-in screen.

Using the app

Is Family Matrix installable on my phone?

Yes. It is a progressive web app with an offline-capable service worker, so you can install it to your home screen on Android and iOS without an app store.

Can I change how the tree looks?

There are five layouts — list, vertical, horizontal, radial and graph. Radial and graph support drag-to-pan and pinch-to-zoom, and node positions you drag are remembered on your device.

What are badges and XP for?

Adding, confirming and discovering relationships unlocks milestone badges and XP across a ten-level ladder. The achievements page lists every badge you have unlocked with timestamps.

Still have a question?

Read how we handle data in the privacy policy, or the rules of the service in the terms.