How to turn on notifications
Switch notifications on for each browser and device separately, then send a test to prove it works.
What are notifications? reach you once a device is switched on. In a browser, you do that in User menu › Account settings, in the Notifications section. Each browser and each device is its own decision, so turning them on for your laptop does nothing for your phone.
How do you switch them on in a browser?
- Open User menu › Account settings and find Notifications.
- Press Turn on notifications.
- Allow notifications when your browser asks.
- Press Send test notification.
The page confirms with "Notifications are on for this device." The test says it should pop up in a moment. Always send one, because it proves the device really buzzes.
To stop them on that device, press Turn off in the same place.
How do you get them in the iPhone app?
The Tideswell iPhone app asks for permission itself, straight after you sign in. Tap Allow and that iPhone is switched on, with no button to press.
The app is in private beta alongside the rest of Tideswell. See Using Tideswell on your phone.
How do you get them on an iPhone or iPad browser?
Add Tideswell to your home screen first. In Safari, tap Share, choose Add to Home Screen, open Tideswell from the new icon, and come back to Account settings.
Then press Turn on notifications as above. Until Tideswell is on the home screen, the Notifications section shows these instructions in place of the button.
Why is the button not working?
Four causes, in the order they come up.
Notifications are blocked for Tideswell in your browser's settings. The page says so and tells you to allow them there, then reload. A block you set once, possibly months ago, is remembered by the browser, so change it in the browser's own settings.
The browser is too old. The page asks you to try a current version of Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox.
On an iPhone or iPad browser, Tideswell is not on the home screen yet. See above.
The network is blocking notifications. After about twenty seconds the page reads "Something went wrong turning notifications on. Try again." Try again on another network.
If the test reads "Test could not be delivered", turn notifications off and on again on that device.
Do you have to do this on every device?
Yes, on each one you want to buzz. Every device you switch on gets the same buzzes, shaped by the same settings. A device you never switch on stays quiet.
What happens when you tap a notification?
It opens the thing it is about. A chat notification opens the message, and one about a reply in a thread opens that thread, scrolled to the message.
A task notification opens the task, and an alert opens the screen it is about. In the iPhone app, chat and task notifications open the channel or the task, and other alerts open the app.
Where do you find a notification you missed?
In Work › Inbox. Chat mentions and replies, tasks assigned to you, comments, suggested changes and stock and order alerts all leave a row there, read or unread. See How to see what needs you.
A few buzzes point at a page where the work already waits. A task reminder opens the task, also on Work › My tasks, and an approval request waits on Buying › Approvals. What are notifications? lists them.
What next?
Shape what reaches you rather than accepting everything. Quiet hours and a sensible chat default do most of the work, and both are in How to set quiet hours and your default chat level.
If notifications are on and still not arriving, see Why you are not being notified.
What are notifications?
How Tideswell tells you something needs you, through your Inbox, a buzz on your devices and a count in your browser tab.
How to set quiet hours and your default chat level
Choose the nightly window when nothing buzzes, and how much chat notifies you before you tune individual channels.