Phone notifications

The Fetchply mobile app can alert your phone when a conversation needs you, even while the app is closed, so no customer is left waiting unnoticed. Tap an alert to open the conversation it is about.

What your phone is alerted about

Each kind of alert has its own switch, so you can keep the ones you need:

• Assigned to you — a teammate hands you a conversation, from the web dashboard or from the app. Taking a conversation yourself does not alert you.
• Mentions — a teammate mentions you in a private note.
• Customer replies — a customer writes in a conversation you have taken or are following.
• Waiting for a teammate — a customer is waiting for a person and nobody has taken the conversation yet. This happens when a customer asks to talk to a person, when they write again while still waiting, and when an email arrives that the AI is not set to answer. It goes to everyone on your team who can reply in that agent, so the first person free can pick it up. A customer sending several messages in a row alerts each phone about once every two minutes, not for every message.
• New conversations — a customer sends their first message, or writes again after about 12 hours of quiet, on any channel. You hear about it even while the AI is answering, so you can step in if you want to. If the customer asks for a person straight away, you get Waiting for a teammate instead of both.
• Reminders — nobody has replied to a waiting customer yet. Fetchply reminds you 10 minutes after the customer's last message, and again after an hour. A conversation someone has taken reminds that person; one nobody has taken reminds everyone who can reply. After an hour, the agent's owner is reminded too. For WhatsApp, you are also warned an hour before you can no longer send an ordinary reply (see the WhatsApp reply window).
• New leads — someone leaves their contact details, through a lead form or an Instagram comment automation. This goes to the agent's owner and to teammates who can see leads. The same person sending the form again shortly afterwards does not alert you twice.
• Account problems — a channel such as WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger disconnects or stops working, or your account runs out of messages and the AI stops replying to customers. Channel problems go to the people who can manage integrations; running out of messages goes to the account owner. The same channel problem alerts you at most once an hour, and running out of messages once per billing period.

What an alert shows

Alerts read like a chat app: the customer's name on top and what they wrote underneath, for example Maya Khan — Where is my order? The name is the same one the Inbox shows. If the customer has not given one, you see their email or phone number, or Website visitor, Customer or Email customer.

Alerts that are not a new message say what happened after the name, with the customer's latest message underneath:

A few more details:

• Photos, voice messages, videos and files show as 📷 Photo, 🎤 Voice message, 🎥 Video or 📎 File, with the caption or what was said when there is one. An email shows its subject before its first words.
• Long messages are shortened to fit, and line breaks are shown as spaces. Open the conversation to read everything.
• If you can open more than one agent, the alert also names the agent: on an iPhone in the small line under the name, on Android after the name.
• If a message cannot be shown, for example because it was deleted before the alert went out, the alert says what happened without the message, such as New customer reply — In Support. Open Fetchply to reply.
• Alerts about one conversation are grouped together on an iPhone.

Alerts that are not about a conversation, such as account problems or a lead that did not come from a chat, open the app without opening a conversation. Use the web dashboard to fix a channel or add messages.

Keep alert text private

Anyone who can see your phone's screen can read an alert. You decide how much it shows:

• Hide names and messages on this phone. In Settings, under Notifications, turn off Show previews. Alerts then name only the agent, for example New customer reply — In Support. Open Fetchply to reply., and never a customer, what they wrote, or a lead's details. Each phone keeps its own choice.
• Hide them only while the phone is locked. This is your phone's own setting, and it applies to every app, as it does for your chat apps:
  • iPhone: open Settings, then Notifications, then Show Previews, and choose When Unlocked.
  • Android: open your phone's Settings, then Notifications, and turn off showing sensitive or private content on the lock screen. The exact wording differs between phone makers.

When your phone stays quiet

Fetchply checks again just before sending, so you are not alerted about something that no longer needs you:

• You did it yourself, such as replying or taking a conversation.
• The conversation is already open on your screen. New messages appear in front of you instead, without a banner over the top.
• You have already read the message, on the web or on another phone.
• Someone else already took the customer who was waiting.
• A teammate already replied to the customer, so the reminder is no longer needed. A reply counts wherever it was sent: the web dashboard, the app, email, or the WhatsApp Business app. A private note does not count, because the customer never sees it.
• The conversation was resolved or ended.
• The chat is a test in the Playground. Your own tests never alert anyone.
• You can no longer open that agent, or no longer have the permission the alert needs, for example to see leads.
• The alert could not be sent within an hour. By then it is out of date, so it is skipped. The Inbox and the Unassigned tab still show everything waiting.
• You turned that kind of alert off, turned the agent off, or paused alerts.

Turn notifications on

The first time you sign in, your phone asks whether Fetchply may send you notifications. Choose Allow.

To check whether they are on, open Settings in the app and look at Notifications. When everything is working it says On for this phone. If it says something else, the message explains what to do, and the troubleshooting below covers each one.

If you chose Don't Allow, open Settings in the app and tap Turn on notifications. If your phone will not ask again, the button is Open phone settings instead: allow notifications for Fetchply there, then return to the app. An iPhone only ever asks once, so on an iPhone it is always Open phone settings. Fetchply notices the change by itself.

Choose your alerts

Open Settings and go to Notifications:

• Use the switches to choose which kinds of alert this phone gets. A change is saved as soon as you move a switch. New switches start switched on.
• Show previews decides whether alerts show the customer's name and what they wrote. It does not turn any alert on or off. See Keep alert text private.
• Under Alerts by agent, turn an agent off to stop its alerts on this phone. Account problems still come through, because a broken channel or running out of messages needs fixing whichever agent you follow. This list appears when you can open more than one agent.
• Under Pause all alerts, tap For 1 hour or Until tomorrow for a meeting or the end of your day. Until tomorrow lasts until 8:00 the next morning, by your phone's clock. While a pause is on, Settings shows when it ends; tap Resume alerts to end it early. A pause ends by itself.

Your choices belong to this phone. A work phone can have every alert while a personal phone only gets Assigned to you, and changing one leaves the other alone.

Several phones, signing out, and switching accounts

Every phone you sign in on gets its own alerts, with its own choices.

Signing out stops alerts on that phone straight away and clears Fetchply's alerts from it, so the next person to use it does not see yours. If someone else signs in on the same phone, it only alerts them, about their own work.

If you turn notifications off for Fetchply in your phone's settings, Fetchply stops sending to that phone the next time you open the app. Turn them back on and open the app, and alerts start again.

Troubleshooting

I am not getting any notifications

Work through these in order:

1. Open Settings in the app. Under Notifications it should say On for this phone. If not, follow the message shown there.
2. Check that the kind of alert you expected is switched on, that the agent is not turned off under Alerts by agent, and that alerts are not paused.
3. In your phone's own settings, check that notifications for Fetchply are allowed. On Android, also open Fetchply's notification categories and make sure Conversations is on. On iPhone, open Settings, then Notifications, then Fetchply: Allow Notifications should be on, with Lock Screen, Notification Centre, and Banners ticked.
4. Turn off Do Not Disturb or any Focus mode, or allow Fetchply through it. On iPhone, open Settings, then Focus, choose the Focus you use, and add Fetchply under Apps.
5. On Android, check that battery saving is not restricting Fetchply. Set its battery use to Unrestricted or Optimised rather than Restricted.
6. Remember who is alerted: customer replies only reach people who have taken or are following the conversation. While the AI is handling a conversation on its own, the rest of the team hears about it once, when it starts (New conversations), and not about each message after that. Use All or Needs agent in the Inbox to see those.

Settings says Notifications are off

Fetchply is not allowed to notify you. Tap Turn on notifications and choose Allow. If the button says Open phone settings, your phone will only accept the change from its own settings: allow notifications for Fetchply there, then come back to the app.

If your phone's settings do not open, open them yourself, find Fetchply, and allow notifications.

Settings says Notifications are not available

This copy of the app cannot receive notifications. The message says why:

• Expo Go cannot receive them — install the Fetchply app itself.
• A simulator cannot receive them — use a real phone.
• This build of Fetchply is not set up for notifications — install the latest version of the app.
• This phone does not have the Google Play services Android needs — some Android phones sold without Google services cannot receive notifications from any app that relies on them. Use another phone, or check the Inbox in the app or on the web.

Settings says Notifications are not set up yet

The phone could not finish setting up, usually because the connection dropped. Fetchply tries again when you come back to the app and when your connection returns. You can also tap Try again.

Your change was not saved

The switch moves back to where it was so it never shows a choice that was not kept. Check your connection and try again. If it keeps happening, sign out and back in on that phone.

Alerts arrive without a sound or a banner

On Android, open Fetchply's notification settings, choose Conversations, and allow sound and pop-up on screen. On iPhone, open Settings, then Notifications, then Fetchply, and turn on Sounds and Banners. Also check that your phone is not on silent.

On iPhone, alerts arrive late, several at once

Fetchply may be in your iPhone's Scheduled Summary, which holds alerts back and delivers them together at set times. Open Settings, then Notifications, then Fetchply, and choose Immediate Delivery. A Focus that does not allow Fetchply also holds its alerts until the Focus ends.

My alerts do not show the customer's message

Work through these:

1. Open Settings in the app and check that Show previews is on under Notifications. Each phone has its own switch.
2. If the phone is locked, it may be hiding alert text until you unlock it: Android shows Contents hidden and iPhone shows only Notification. Unlock the phone to read the alert, or change the setting described in Keep alert text private.
3. Make sure the app is up to date. Install the latest version from the App Store or Google Play.
4. Some alerts never carry a message: account problems and running out of messages. And if a message was deleted before its alert went out, the alert says what happened without it.

Customer messages show on my lock screen

That is your phone showing alert text while it is locked, as it does for your chat apps. To keep it private, follow Keep alert text private: hide the text only while the phone is locked, or turn off Show previews to keep names and messages out of every alert.

I get alerts about conversations I am not working on

Waiting for a teammate, New conversations, and Reminders go to everyone who could pick the customer up. If someone else covers that, switch the ones you do not need off in Settings. For customer replies in a conversation you no longer need, open it, tap the three dots, choose Assign and follow, and tap Stop following. To stop everything from one agent, turn it off under Alerts by agent.

I get an alert for every new chat

That is New conversations: every customer who starts a conversation alerts the team, even when the AI answers them. On a busy website this can be a lot. Switch New conversations off and keep Waiting for a teammate on: you are then only alerted when a customer needs a person.

I got a reminder, but someone already replied

Reminders stop as soon as a person replies to the customer. If the reply was sent in the same moment the reminder went out, both can arrive; the next reminder will not. A private note is not a reply, so a conversation with only notes since the customer's last message still sends reminders.

I expected a reminder and did not get one

Reminders are only sent while a person is expected to answer: the customer asked for a person, someone has taken the conversation, or it is an email the AI is not set to answer. Conversations the AI is handling send none. Each new message from the customer starts the count again, so the first reminder comes 10 minutes after their latest message. Check that Reminders is switched on.

What is the WhatsApp reply window alert

WhatsApp only lets a business send an ordinary reply within 24 hours of the customer's last message. After that, you can only send pre-approved message templates until the customer writes again. About an hour before the 24 hours run out, the person who has the conversation is warned with an alert such as Maya Khan · reply window closing, or WhatsApp reply window closing with Show previews off. If nobody has taken it, everyone who can reply is warned. Reply before the window closes to keep the conversation going normally.

An account problem alert came, but the app shows nothing

Account problems tell you something needs fixing on the web dashboard. The alert's title names the problem, for example WhatsApp disconnected, and its text starts the explanation. Open Fetchply in a browser for the rest: a channel problem is explained in full on that channel's page under Integrations and in the notification bell, and running out of messages is fixed on the Billing page.

A lead alert opened the app but not a conversation

The lead did not come from a conversation the app can open, for example a form filled in outside the chat. Open Leads on the web dashboard to see the lead's details.

Alerts stopped after reinstalling the app or changing phones

Sign in on the phone, allow notifications when asked, and open the Inbox once. The phone sets itself up again.

Two people share one phone

The phone only alerts the account signed in on it. Sign out before handing the phone over, and the next person signs in with their own account.

An alert opened a conversation that is no longer available

The conversation was deleted, or you can no longer open its agent. Ask a workspace owner if you expected to still have access.

Alerts came late, or not at all, while my phone was off

An alert sent while your phone is switched off or out of signal waits for it for up to 12 hours, and arrives when the phone reconnects. An alert Fetchply could not send within an hour is skipped, because it is usually out of date by then. Check the Inbox and the Unassigned tab when you are back.

There is no number on the Fetchply app icon

That is deliberate. The Inbox queues and the Unassigned tab show the current counts, which stay accurate in a way an icon number would not.