Devices & the SentLive App

One of the most tricky aspects of setting up the SentLive service has been to try and make sure that it both works and is easy to use on whatever device it is being accessed from, whether that is a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet or a mobile phone, and whether those are made by Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony etc, and whether the operating system (OS) is Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android etc, AND on top of that which version of the OS is being used! And this is one of the major reasons that, after initially launching SentLive as an app that could be downloaded from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store, we have now switched to a Progressive Web App (PWA) set up that is better in almost every way than a standard mobile app, both from a user’s and our perspective. Here is a quick list of the advantages of the SentLive PWA compared to the mobile app:

1. More flexibility – new features can be conceived, implemented and introduced as quickly as we are able to think of and code them; we don’t have to create two new versions of an app (one for iOS, one for Android), submit them for approval and wait;
2. More choice for mobile device users – our service now can be accessed on any touch screen device capable of browsing the internet, as well as desktop and laptop computers, whereas before the only mobile users who could access it were those with iOS or Android devices;
3. Lower prices – with our previous mobile app, anywhere from 15 – 30% of our sales revenue was going to the app stores; now we no longer have that overhead so can offer much lower prices;
4. No downloads – the SentLive PWA is available virtually instantly with the ‘Add To Home Screen’ facility (see below); no need to search the store, then wait for an app to download, or be prompted to give it a star rating (although we do of course want you to tell us what you think, we just won’t bug you about it!). If you want to give us a review, you can do so here, if you are a member and logged in (and you can earn more Sents by doing so!).

Adding SentLive to your mobile device #

It is a simple task to get SentLive on your device, but, as always, this does differ slightly between devices and browsers, notably iOS devices, although this has been announced by Apple to change sometime in 2023. Below are general instructions that should work for most non-iOS devices, followed by instructions for iOS devices – more detailed information and an install button is available via the button inside the orange button at either the top right (when not logged in) or top left (when logged in) of the screen; please refer to that if the instructions below do not work for you:

Android and other non-iOS devices #

1. Open your normal browser on your mobile device – we recommend Google Chrome for the best experience;
2. Enter ‘sentlive.com’ in the address/search bar and hit Go or equivalent;
3. Once the site has loaded, a small window should appear at the bottom of the screen asking if you would like to add SentLive; tap OK or Yes;
4. A bigger window appears with an Install button; tap Install;
5. A small on screen message may appear saying ‘Adding SentLive’ and then a banner confirming the installation should appear;
6. Exit the browser, and navigate your mobile device screens until you see the SentLive icon; tap the icon to open SentLive;
7. Please note that you do not have to be registered or logged in to install the app, and you can register using the app;
8. The first time you visit SentLive and/or log in on your mobile device, you will be shown a message from us asking to allow our Safety Alerts at a certain point – this varies by device and browser; if you click Allow, you may also get a second message (from the browser) asking the same thing; after logging in you can then choose which notifications you wish to receive, as follows:
   1. Safe Alerts
   2. Not Safe Alerts
   3. No Response Alerts
   4. SentLive Updates
   1, 2 and 3 will only be Alerts made by your Friends on SentLive, or fellow Group members if you are in a Group with the Alert facility, while 4 will be news and information about SentLive, including new features, any temporary maintenance work that might impact the site, and planned promotions etc. If you prefer Email notifications, similar options are available for those instead or as well. Push notifications are also sent for Scheduled and Requested Checks, but these cannot be turned off.

iOS devices #

1. Open the Safari browser on your iOS device;
2. Enter ‘sentlive.com’ in the address/search bar and hit Go;

3. Once the site has loaded, at the middle bottom of the screen you will see the icon shown;
   
   
4. Tap the icon, then scroll down until you see something like the image shown (this varies depending on iOS version);

5. A new full screen then opens with ‘Cancel’ and ‘Add’ options at top left and top right of the screen, and beneath that it should show the SentLive logo and the text ‘SentLive – Simple, Smart, Safe’ with the web address beneath it. Below that in small text it should say ‘An icon will be added to your Home Screen so you can quickly access this website’. Tap ‘Add’ and the browser will close and the SentLive app should open; if it does not, close Safari and you should see the SentLive icon somewhere on your screen. Tap the icon and the app will open.
6. Apple have recently updated iOS to play nicely with PWAs and Push Notifications, but only for devices running iOS 16.4 or higher; when you visit SentLive and/or log in on an updated device, you will be shown a message from us asking to allow our notifications; if you click Allow, you may also get a second message (from the device) asking the same thing; after logging in you will then be given a choice of which notifications you wish to receive, as follows:
   1. Safe Alerts
   2. Not Safe Alerts
   3. No Response Alerts
   4. SentLive Updates
   1, 2 and 3 will only be Alerts made by your Friends on SentLive, or fellow Group members if you are in a Group with the Alert facility, while 4 will be news and information about SentLive, including new features, any temporary maintenance work that might impact the site, and planned promotions etc. If you prefer Email notifications, similar options are available for those instead or as well. Push notifications are also sent for Scheduled and Requested Checks, but these cannot be turned off.
7. For iOS users who can’t update their device, we have added the facility for Email alerts instead, which can be set by tapping the Email Notifications button and choosing from similar options.

iOS Users
Please also see this article regarding the known current issues when using SentLive on an iOS device.