Users with iOS or Android devices can opt-in to receive Critical Alert/Urgent notifications in the event of an emergency. Critical Alerts is a special push notification classification that always appears at the top of your lock screen above all other notifications and plays a sound and sends alarm notifications, even if the device is muted or in Do Not Disturb mode.
How to configure Critical Alerts
iOS
Android
iOS
To enable Critical Alerts:
- Enter the iOS device settings on the device that will receive the Critical Alerts.
- Scroll down to the app list and tap Evertel.
- Tap Notifications.
- Tap the Allow Critical Alerts toggle to enable or disable Critical Alerts
Note: The option to enable Critical Alerts in the app is available as a pop-up prompt when logging into the app for the first time or logging into a new version of the app for the first time.
To customize the alert sounds:
- Go to Settings and tap Notifications.
- Select an app under Notification Style.
- Under Alerts, choose the alert style you want. If you’ve turned on Allow Notifications, you can choose when you want the notifications to be delivered – immediately or in the scheduled notification summary.
Note: With iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, you can turn on Critical Alerts so notifications come through even if your iPhone is muted or you have set up a Focus. When you use Focus*, it delays the delivery of notifications on iPhone to prevent interruptions. You can schedule a time to receive a summary of the notifications you missed.
*For more on Focus settings please read Apple’s knowledge article regarding the device feature. Click here!
Android
NOTE: Steps to resolve will vary by phone model and OS.
Basic Troubleshooting
- Confirm that your phone is connected to the internet.
- Your phone is not in airplane mode. Android phone Settings > Network & Internet > toggle to turn Airplane mode on and off.
- You have enabled cellular data.
- If are on a campus or corporate Wi-Fi that has firewall restrictions in place, contact the network administrator.
- Check that your provider allows WebSocket connections.
- Make sure that your VPN or other apps are not restricting Evertel’s ability to connect to the internet.
- Update to the latest version of Evertel Android.
- Update the Google Play services app on your phone.
- Update the Android System Webview app on your phone.
- Upgrade your Android OS to the latest version that is available for your device.
- Confirm that the date and time settings for your phone are set correctly for your time zone. Compare to the time set by https://www.time.gov/ or by https://time.is/.
- Check if the notification appears in your Android notification bar or tray.
- Check that you have enabled notifications on your phone.
- Android Settings > Apps (then Manage Apps for some users) > Evertel > Check on Show notifications.
- Evertel’s settings> Notifications > Enable message notifications.
- Confirm you have not blocked the contact.
- Confirm you have not muted notifications for the contact or group thread.
- Check if your linked Evertel Desktop has already viewed the message.
- Check that you have free space in internal memory, not the SD card. You can free up space by deleting apps that are not on the SD card.
- Confirm you have enabled WiFi or cellular data while your phone is asleep. Android phone Settings > Wi-Fi > Advanced > Always keep Wi-Fi on during sleep.
OS-Specific Settings
- Disable WiFi optimization. Android phone Settings > Wi-Fi > Menu > Advanced > uncheck Wi-Fi optimization.
- Enable background data. Android phone Settings > Data usage > Menu/More > Auto-sync data > OK to enable auto-sync data.
- Confirm notifications are enabled for Evertel.
- Android phone Settings > Sound and Notification > App/Application Notifications > Evertel > confirm Block is disabled.
- Confirm Evertel is enabled to work when ‘Do not disturb’ mode is on.
- Android phone Settings > Sound and Notification > App/Application Notifications > Evertel > Enable Set as priority.
- Enable background data.
- Android phone Settings > Data usage > Cellular data usage > Evertel > Background data > Enable Unrestricted data usage.
- Android phone Settings > Data usage > Menu > Make sure Evertel is allowed to work if you’ve selected ‘Restrict app background data’.
- Make sure all of Evertel’s permissions are granted.
- Android Settings app > Apps & Notifications (depending on your device, this may look different) > Evertel > App Permissions (depending on your device, this may look different) > Turn permissions on.
- Confirm Evertel is enabled to work when ‘Do not disturb’ mode is on.
- Android phone Settings app > Sound > Do not disturb > Disable.
- Check that Evertel is excluded from battery optimization.
- Advanced settings toolbar icon > Battery optimization > select ‘All apps’ > Evertel > select ‘Don’t optimize.’ > Done > Restart your phone.
- Android phone Settings > Apps > Advanced settings toolbar icon > Special access > Battery optimization > select ‘All apps’ > Evertel > select ‘Don’t optimize.’
- Android phone Settings > Battery > MENU > Battery optimization > select ‘All apps’ > Evertel > select ‘Don’t optimize.’
- Android phone Settings > Apps > Advanced settings toolbar icon > Ignore optimizations > select ‘All apps’ > Evertel > select ‘Allow.’
- Enable background data.
- Android phone Settings > Data usage > Cellular data usage > Evertel > Background data > Enable Unrestricted data usage.
- Follow steps for Android 6 above.
- Enable background data.
- Android phone Settings > Data usage > Data saver > If data saver is disabled, stop here. If data saver is enabled go to Unrestricted data access > Enable Evertel.
- Follow steps for Android 6 above.
- Enable Evertel to run in the background.
- Android phone Settings > Apps > App Info > tap our app > Battery > turn on the ‘Background activity’ option.
- Android phone Settings > Data usage > Data saver > If data saver is disabled, stop here. If data saver is enabled go to Unrestricted data access > Enable Evertel.
- Follow steps for Android 6 above.
- Check battery settings. Android phone Settings > Battery > Adaptive preferences > turn off Adaptive Battery.
Phone-Specific Settings
Asus/ZenFone
- Android phone Settings > Power management > Auto-start manager > DOWNLOADED page > select ‘Allow’ for Evertel.
HTC
- Boost+ app > Optimize background apps > Evertel > select ‘Off.’
Huawei
- Android phone Settings > Apps > Apps > Evertel > Power Usage Details > App Launch > Set to Manage Manually and enable these options: Auto-Launch, Secondary Launch, and Run in Background.
- Phone Manager app > Battery manager (or Energy Saver) > Protected apps > Enable Evertel.
- Android phone Settings > Advanced Settings > Battery manager (or Energy Saver) > Protected apps > Enable Evertel.
- Android phone Settings > ‘All’ tab > Protected apps > Enable Evertel.
- Phone Manager App > Protected apps > Enable Evertel.
- Android phone Settings > Apps > Advanced/Special Access > Ignore battery optimizations > All Apps (drop down) > Enable Evertel.
- Android phone settings > Battery > Launch > Evertel.
- Android phone settings > Apps > Evertel > Data usage > Background Data > Enable.
- Android phone Settings > Notification panel & status bar > Notification center, find Evertel and activate Allow Notifications and Priority Display.
Lenovo
- Android phone Settings > Power manager > Background app management > add Evertel to the unrestricted list or allow Evertel to auto-start.
Nokia
- Android phone settings > Battery > Background activity manager > ensure that the toggle is disabled for Evertel.
OnePlus
- Android phone Settings > Apps > Gear icon > Apps Auto-launch > Enable Evertel start-up in the background.
- Android phone Settings > Battery > Menu > Aggressive Doze & App Hibernation > Disable this mode or prevent Evertel from being limited in this mode.
- Android phone Settings > Apps > Menu > Auto Run > Disable this mode or prevent Evertel from being limited in this mode.
Oppo
- Apps > Security center > Privacy permissions > Auto-run management (or Startup manager) > Enable Evertel.
- Android phone Settings > Application management > Running tab > Enable Everel.
Samsung
- Android phone Settings > Apps > Evertel > Mobile data > Allow background data usage
- Android phone Settings > Security > Auto-start management > Enable Evertel.
- Android phone Settings > Wi-Fi > Advanced > Always keep Wi-Fi on during sleep.
- Android phone Settings > Device Maintenance > Battery > MENU > App Power Monitor > Disable or selectively choose apps to sleep from Settings > Device Maintenance > Battery. Make sure to exclude Evertel from the sleep list.
- Android phone Settings > Device Maintenance > Battery > Power saving mode > Disable ot adjust to MID.
- Android phone Settings > Battery > Detail > Evertel > Turn off.
- Apps drawer > Smart manager > Battery > Detail > Evertel > Turn off.
- Android phone Settings > Battery > Battery usage > MENU > Optimize battery usage > select ‘All apps’ > Disable Evertel.
- Android phone Settings > Battery > Unmonitored apps > Add apps > Evertel > Done > Restart your phone.
- Samsung 8: Android phone Settings > Apps > Menu > Special Access > Optimize battery usage > select the drop down which likely states ‘apps not optimized’ and switch to ‘all apps’ > find Evertel and tap on the switch to turn it off.
- Settings > Device care > Battery > More > Settings > Put unused apps to sleep > Set sleep delay to a date higher than 3
Sony
- Android phone Settings > Storage & memory > turn off the ‘Smart cleaner’ option or continue to tap the three dots at the top right > Advanced > add Evertel to the whitelist.
- Android phone Settings > Power management > Tap STAMINA mode > Apps active in standby > add Everel to the whitelist.
Vivo
- Apps drawer > iManager > App manager > Autostart manager > allow Evertel to auto-start in the background.
Xiaomi / MIUI
- Apps drawer > Security app > Permissions > tap Autostart > Enable Evertel.
- Android phone Settings > Services > Security > Permissions > Autostart > Enable Evertel.
- Android phone Settings > Additional Settings > Battery and Performance > Manage apps’ battery usage > turn ‘Power saving modes’ off > open the Security app > navigate to Permissions > add Evertel to Autostart > invoke Task Manager > find Evertel > drag it downwards until the padlock icon appears.
- Android phone Security app > Settings > Data usage > Allow background data.
Unlisted phone/OS
If your phone or OS is not listed, you can search for specific settings on your phone in the following categories
- Notifications
- Priority mode
- Battery power and optimization
- Background permissions
- Autostart
Other Settings
- Edit your VPN or firewall settings.
- Android phone Settings > More (Under Wireless & Networks) > VPN then disable Wi-Fi Assistant.
- Make sure you allow *.whispersystems.org, TCP ports 80, 443, and 31337, and all UDP. If you have a transparent or reverse proxy it needs to support WebSockets.
- Reset your Google Account.
- Android phone Settings > Applications > Manage applications > All (Swipe right on some phones for this list, if not listed in Downloaded).
- Choose Google Play services > Clear data.
- Choose Google services framework > Clear data.
- Temporarily unlink your Google account from the phone.
- Reboot the phone.
- Re-associate your Google account.