Manage notifications: push, WhatsApp and email

Nowistay notifications keep you and your team informed about missions, guest requests, messages and other events that need attention. You choose Mobile and/or Email for each notification type. Once a phone with push active has received a notification, push replaces eligible WhatsApp notifications and covers more types of events. Push on a computer is added on top and does not replace WhatsApp. Tapping a push notification takes you to the relevant information in Nowistay.

Push notifications appear directly on your phone or computer, like other app alerts.

Where to manage your notifications

Open Notifications in your account menu. The page has two tabs:

• My notifications: choose what you receive and manage your own push devices.
• Team notifications: choose what your team receives and see which members have activated push.

Your settings and your team’s settings are separate. Activating push on your own phone does not activate it for your team.

How do Mobile, push, WhatsApp and Email work?

Mobile is the notification channel. Nowistay automatically chooses how to deliver it for each recipient:

• Push active on a phone that has already received a notification: the notification goes to all of that recipient’s active push devices. The same event is not also sent through WhatsApp.
• Push active only on a computer, or on a phone that has not received any notification yet: the push is sent, and WhatsApp is still used for notification types and recipients that support it.
• No active push device: WhatsApp is used only for notification types and recipients that support it.
• Mobile switched off: neither push nor WhatsApp is sent for that notification type.

Email works independently. Leave both switches on to receive a mobile alert and an email, or keep only the channel you want. Despite its name, Mobile also covers push notifications on a compatible computer.

The text below each notification explains whether WhatsApp is available. Some notifications require push for mobile delivery. For example, Mission not completed is not sent through WhatsApp, even when no push device is active. Its Email setting remains independent.

For host notifications, WhatsApp availability also depends on the host phone number configured for the property concerned. For team members, a valid phone number must be present in their profile. Having a phone number does not make every notification available on WhatsApp.

Choose your personal notification preferences

1. Open Notifications, then My notifications.
2. Scroll to the notification groups: Team & missions, Guest messages & AI, Bookings & payments, and Property & integrations.
3. For each editable notification, turn Mobile and Email on or off.

Changes are saved automatically. There is no separate save button on this page.

For example, you can keep Mission completed on Email only, while receiving New direct booking on both channels. These settings control alerts; they do not change bookings, missions or the messages sent to guests.

Two notifications in Bookings & payments are off by default. Turn on Mobile and/or Email to receive them:

• New OTA booking: a guest booked on Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia or Vrbo. It is separate from New direct booking, so you can keep one without the other. Bookings received through an iCal link are not included, and a large import, for example when you connect a channel, does not send one alert per booking.
• Guest checked in: a connected smart lock detected the guest’s first entry, with their door code or access link. You receive it once per booking, with the arrival time in the property’s local time.

Neither is sent through WhatsApp: the Mobile alert requires an active push device.

Activate push on your phone or computer

Activate each device on which you want to receive notifications. To receive them in the installed Nowistay app, open that app before activating push.

1. Open Nowistay on the device concerned and sign in.
2. Go to Notifications > My notifications.
3. In Push notifications, select Enable push on this device.
4. Accept the notification permission request from your browser or device.
5. Check that the device appears under Your active devices.

When at least one device is active, the page displays “Push replaces eligible WhatsApp notifications once a phone has received it; from a computer it is added on top. Email is independent.” With no active device, it displays “WhatsApp will be used on mobile. Email is independent.” The WhatsApp availability shown under each notification still applies.

On iPhone and iPad

Push notifications require the app to be added to the Home Screen, with iOS or iPadOS 16.4 or later. Open the appropriate Nowistay page in Safari, use Share, then Add to Home Screen. If shown, enable Open as Web App, then select Add. Open the new Home Screen icon and activate push inside that app. Apple’s installation instructions explain the current Safari menus.

On Android or a computer

Open Nowistay in a compatible browser and follow its installation option if you want to use the installed app. Then activate push from the app. A compatible desktop browser can also receive push without installing the app. See how to install Nowistay on your phone.

Check that notifications are allowed on your phone

Enable push on this device asks your phone for permission only once. If you refused it, or changed it later, the phone stays listed under Your active devices but nothing appears on the screen, and WhatsApp is not used as long as the phone has received at least one notification before. Check the settings below, then open Nowistay once so its status refreshes.

On iPhone

1. Use the Nowistay icon on the Home Screen, not Safari. If it is missing, open app.nowistay.com in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen, turn on Open as Web App and tap Add.
2. Open Settings > Notifications, then tap Nowistay under Notification Style.
3. Turn on Allow Notifications and tick Lock Screen, Notification Center and Banners.
4. If Notification Delivery is shown, select Immediate Delivery.
5. Check that no Focus, such as Do Not Disturb, is silencing Nowistay.

If Nowistay is not listed under Notification Style, push was never activated from the Home Screen app: open it and select Enable push on this device.

On Android

1. Open Settings > Notifications > App notifications. Switch Most recent to All apps if needed, then tap Nowistay (or Chrome if you use Nowistay in the browser without installing it).
2. Turn the app’s notifications on.
3. In Chrome, open the More menu > Settings > Site settings > Notifications: the switch must be on, and app.nowistay.com must not be blocked.
4. Check that Do Not Disturb is off.

Menu names vary slightly between brands; on some phones the path is Settings > Apps > Nowistay > Notifications.

Set up notifications for your team

Team notifications contains one shared set of preferences for your current, new and reactivated members. You no longer choose Email or WhatsApp separately in each member’s details. Each event still goes only to the members concerned by their role, properties or mission assignment.

1. Open Notifications > Team notifications.
2. Review the Missions and Guest requests groups.
3. Set Mobile and Email for each editable notification. Each change is saved automatically and applies to the team.
4. Check Team push activation to see who has Push active, Push not active, or is an Inactive member.

If you see Team notifications are now managed together, the shared settings were initialized with Mobile and Email enabled, replacing previous individual choices. Review them, then select Understood to dismiss the notice.

The Missions group includes two briefs for the member assigned to a mission. Next-day mission brief is sent the evening before at 6 pm, property time, with the mission time and the next arrival. Its email also lists the accepted guest requests to prepare for that arrival, such as a baby bed or extra linen. A paid extra appears only once the guest has paid. Day-of mission brief follows on the morning of the mission. The next-day brief is on by default for Mobile and Email and is not sent through WhatsApp.

What each team member needs to do

Team members activate push from their own dashboard, not from the host’s account. The host app and team dashboard are separate apps: each member must install and open their personal dashboard link.

1. Open the personal dashboard link supplied by the host. On a phone, add that page to the Home Screen and open the installed team app.
2. Select Log in, then Send me the link.
3. Enter the code from the email in 6-digit code, then select Verify code. Entering the code inside the installed app keeps the login in that app.
4. Open Push notifications, select Enable push on this device, and accept the permission request.

An email address must be recorded on the member’s profile to receive the login code. Repeat activation on any additional device. The host can find each member’s dashboard link in Teams.

Open a mission or request from a notification

Tap the notification to open the related conversation, booking, mission or guest request. Nowistay uses the matching installed app when your browser and device support it, with the browser as a fallback: host notifications lead to the host app, and team notifications lead to that member’s dashboard.

For team missions, you can respond to the mission and complete the required checklist, comments and photos within the team app. Available actions depend on the mission’s current status and timing. Guest requests likewise open the relevant request so you can review and respond.

Some devices also show action buttons on the notification. If none appear, tap the notification itself. If login is required, complete it to continue. If an old link is no longer valid, open the dashboard to check the latest mission or request.

Manage or remove an active device

In My notifications, the Your active devices section lists your registered devices. The label This device identifies the one you are currently using.

Select Remove beside a device to stop push notifications on it. Other active devices continue receiving them. To activate that device again, open Nowistay there and select Enable push on this device.

A team member can remove their current device from the dashboard’s Push notifications menu with Remove this device.

Removing the last active phone allows eligible WhatsApp notifications to resume when Mobile is enabled. Simply closing the app or not reading a push notification does not switch delivery to WhatsApp.

Which settings remain separate?

Alerts when the AI assistant needs you

Assistant needs you is configured per property. Use the link Configure Mobile and Email per property in the assistant settings. on the notification page, then open the relevant property’s assistant settings. The Notifications section contains Mobile and Email choices for that property’s alerts.

Scheduled messages to guests or team members

A scheduled message is content you deliberately choose to send through a message template. It is separate from event notifications and is not replaced by push.

The template’s Also send on WhatsApp switch remains the control for its additional WhatsApp message. There is no extra member-level WhatsApp switch. Switching off Mobile or Email in the notification page does not cancel a scheduled message; edit its template instead. WhatsApp messages retain their usual billing. See how to set up automated messages.

Troubleshooting

• Push works on your computer but not your phone: activate the phone separately. An active computer does not activate your phone and does not replace your WhatsApp notifications.
• Notifications are blocked: follow Check that notifications are allowed on your phone above, reopen Nowistay, and activate push if prompted. On iPhone or iPad, open the Home Screen app.
• A team member cannot find the push controls: check that they are logged into their own dashboard. If they cannot receive the login email, check the email address in their member profile.
• No WhatsApp arrives without push: check Mobile, the notification’s WhatsApp availability and the relevant phone number. Push-only notifications do not gain a WhatsApp fallback.
• A row says Not currently sent: that notification is listed for information and is not being sent. Enabling push does not activate it.
• The page reports push as active after you blocked it in device settings: reopen the app so its status can refresh. Blocking a permission does not guarantee an immediate switch to WhatsApp.
• No New OTA booking or Guest checked in alert: both are off by default. Turn on Mobile or Email for them in Bookings & payments. Guest checked in also requires a connected smart lock that reports entries.