The Notifications section of your account controls how MyWatchtower reaches you. It has one table. Each row is a notification type, and each column is a channel. This article gives an overview of the table and of the two links at the bottom of a MyWatchtower email.
Open Notifications
1. Open your account.
- On a phone, tap Account in the bottom bar. The Account settings list opens.
- On a computer, select My Account at the bottom of the left navigation. On a short screen, the navigation shows a menu button at the bottom in its place. Select the menu button, then select Account.
2. Select Notifications. On a computer, Notifications is a tab at the top of the page.
The table
The table has three columns:
- Push: a notification on your phone, through the MyWatchtower app.
- Email: a message to the email address of your account.
- In-app: a notification in MyWatchtower.
MyWatchtower does not send notifications by text message.
Under the column names, the table has these rows:
- All notifications: one box for each channel. It turns that channel on or off for each type in the table.
- MyWatchtower: product updates, tips and guides, and surveys.
- Community: notifications about your community, such as community announcements.
- Property: notifications about one property, such as entry activity and credential changes.
Each category row also has one box for each channel. To see the types of a category, select the name of the category. Select the name again to close it.
A short line in place of a box means that the type does not use that channel. You see only the types that apply to you. Some types show only to community staff who have a related permission.
Some notifications are required, for example a visitor entry request and an incoming call. You cannot turn them off, so the table does not show them.
If you have more than one property, the Property category has a Property list. Select a property, then set its boxes. The boxes apply only to that property.
For each row in detail, see *How to Configure Your Notification Settings in MyWatchtower*.
Change a setting
Select a box to turn a notification on. Clear the box to turn it off.
MyWatchtower saves each change at once. The page shows Saving… and then Saved. The page has no Save button.
If MyWatchtower cannot save a change, the box goes back to its last value. The page shows Not saved and a message that tells you why.
When you clear the Push box of the All notifications row or of a category, the Disable Push Notifications? dialog opens. Select Disable Anyway to turn off push for those types. Select Keep Enabled to keep push on.
Allow push notifications on your phone
Push notifications need the MyWatchtower app on your phone. Your phone must also allow the app to send notifications.
- On an iPhone, open Settings, select MyWatchtower, then select Notifications.
- On an Android phone, open Settings, select Apps, select MyWatchtower, then select Notifications. The names can be different on some phones.
If your phone blocks notifications from MyWatchtower, the Push boxes in the table have no effect.
The links at the bottom of an email
Most emails from MyWatchtower have two links at the bottom: Unsubscribe and Update preferences. Each link is for the person who got the email. You do not need to sign in. If you are signed in to a different account on the device, the link does not change that account.
- Update preferences opens the Notification Preferences page. It shows one row for each type, with a box for each channel. Each change saves at once. Use this page to get less email but not stop all email. A change on this page applies to each property that you have. To set a type for one property, sign in and use Notifications in your account.
- Unsubscribe opens a page that asks you to confirm. MyWatchtower changes nothing until you select Unsubscribe. Then each email that you can turn off stops. Required emails still arrive.
To get email again after you unsubscribe, open Notifications in your account. Select the Email boxes that you want.
If you open an older unsubscribe link, the page tells you that the link is no longer valid. Type your email address in Email and select Send Unsubscribe Link. MyWatchtower sends a new link to that address.
If the Notification Preferences page cannot open your settings, the link can be too old. Select Go to MyWatchtower, sign in, and change your settings in Notifications.
Tips
- To know when your visitors arrive, keep Entry activity on for Push, and allow notifications on your phone.
- To get news from your community, keep Community announcement on for Email or Push.
- To know when the community answers a property request, keep Property request updates on.