Getting Started on Mobile

Your UpServe AI employees keep working even when you’re not looking at the screen. Sign in on your phone with the same account and you can chat with them from anywhere and receive results as push notifications.

UpServe ships both an iOS app and an Android app. They share the same account, the same employees, and the same SU, and the core features are identical. Anything that differs by platform is called out below.

This page describes the latest version available in the stores. If you haven’t updated yet, the layout and menu locations may look slightly different.

1. Install the app

iPhone / iPad: install from the App Store .
Android: install from Google Play .
Settings → Notifications on the web also has buttons that link to both stores.

After installing, opening the app brings you to the sign-in screen.

The mobile apps use the same account as the web. Sign in with the same email or social login and you’ll see the same employees, chat history, and SU.

Email, Google, and Apple sign-in are all supported.
If you just signed up, you’ll be asked to pick a nickname once.

In iOS 1.21.109, the bottom bar shows To do · Team · Reports · More. To do opens after sign-in. Android menu locations may vary with the installed version.

To do holds approval requests, employee questions, and unseen results.
Team shows the employee roster and team progress, and opens conversations.
Reports shows daily and weekly results.
More opens Office · Skills · Templates · Files & data · Community · Notifications · Search · Settings.
The separate Manager button opens your manager conversation. It is absent if you have hidden your manager.

4. To do and Team

On iOS, To do shows what needs your attention, while Team shows team progress and the employee roster.

To do: things to handle and results

From top to bottom, the To do is made up of:

Favorite employees (the rail): a horizontal row of avatars for the employees you’ve pinned. Tap an avatar to open that conversation, or tap Edit to choose which employees appear and in what order.
To do: cards for anything that needs you, such as approval requests, questions from an employee, or skill proposals. Tap a card to jump straight to the spot in the conversation where that request is waiting. If you’ve already handled a request or don’t need it, swipe the card left to remove it from your To do, and tap Undo at the bottom of the screen if you change your mind.
Unviewed results / Viewed results: cards for work your employees have finished. Tap one to go to the spot in the conversation where the result came in; it then moves down to the viewed list. The viewed list only shows the most recent few, and View all shows the rest.

If your account doesn’t have any employees yet, a Hire my first employee card appears right below the rail. Tap it to open a hiring confirmation; once you confirm, your first employee starts right away and asks you what the job is.

Jump from a report to where it happened

Tap the Reports tab in the bottom bar to open the report screen. Choose Daily or Weekly at the top, and use the left and right arrows to move to the previous or next period. Switching between Daily and Weekly keeps the period you were looking at in each.

From the daily report screen, tap Export as PDF to save that day’s report as a file or share it elsewhere. (Weekly reports don’t have this option.) The PDF includes the key content, such as finished work and results, but leaves out the screen-only needs-attention section.

Items in a daily report take you straight to the related place when you tap them.

What you tap	Where it takes you
A result of finished work	The spot in the conversation where the result was reported (or the team chat, if the work was done as a team)
A canvas deliverable	That canvas
A team file deliverable	The chat of the team the file belongs to
A question that went unanswered	The conversation where it was asked
A scheduled run that failed	That employee’s Automatic runs screen
An employee’s name	Your conversation with that employee

When the app can’t tell for sure where an item belongs (for example, the employee or owning team is unknown), it doesn’t guess and send you somewhere similar. Instead, the item is shown as not tappable, with a short note underneath explaining why it can’t be opened.

Team: progress by team and the employee roster

The Team tab shows one card per team.

The top of each card shows how many items are in Active work and Recent results, with a preview of up to 3 of each. Each active task shows its current status (such as In Progress, Blocked, or Needs You).
Tap an active task to open that team’s chat with the task opened on the team task list, or tap a recent result to go to the spot in the conversation where it came in. When there are more, View all appears; for active work, View all opens the whole team task list.
The Team chat button takes you straight into that team’s chat.
Expand Employee roster to see the team members, and tap a name to open a conversation with that employee.
Employees who don’t belong to any team are grouped in the Independent employees card at the bottom.

Move an employee to another team

You move an employee from their chat screen, not from the roster.

On the Team tab, find the employee you want to move and tap their name to open the chat. (Expand a team card’s Employee roster, or look in the Independent employees card.)
Tap the employee’s avatar at the top of the chat screen to open the menu, then choose Move to team.
Pick the new team. The team they’re in now has a check mark. To take them out of a team, choose Independent employees.

Employees whose team can’t be changed from the app, such as organization employees, team leads, and managers, still show a Move to team entry in the menu, but it’s dimmed. Tapping it explains why. For example, a team lead is fixed to their team, and an organization employee’s team can only be changed on the web. You can only move employees into personal teams you manage; organization teams don’t appear in the list. If a move fails, a message at the bottom of the screen asks you to try again.

5. Allow push notifications

On first launch, the operating system shows a system prompt asking for notification permission. Tap Allow and the device is automatically linked to your UpServe account. No extra setup is required.

iOS: if you declined, re-enable it from Settings → Notifications → UpServe on iOS. (The app won’t ask again on its own.)
Android: if you declined, re-enable it from Settings → Apps → UpServe → Notifications. (On Android 12 and older there is no permission prompt; notifications are on by default.)

For what kinds of notifications you receive and how to set Do Not Disturb hours, see Notifications.

6. Mention palette: call AI employees with `@`

When chatting with a team of multiple employees, type @ in the input field to bring up an employee autocomplete palette. This works the same on iOS and Android.

Typing part of a name narrows the list to matching employees.
Tapping a row inserts @EmployeeName into the input automatically.

Send a message that includes the mention, and the called-out employee picks it up as a task and responds. You can also send mentions as simple notifications when no reply is needed.

7. Talk instead of type: voice input

Tap the microphone icon in the chat input box to start recording; tap it again to stop, and what you said is transcribed right into the input box as text. It’s a quick way to give an instruction when typing isn’t convenient. Supported on both iOS and Android.

If there was already a draft in the input box, the transcribed text is appended after it. Nothing gets erased.
While recording, the input box collapses to a single row showing a waveform and elapsed time. Recording stops on its own after 120 seconds.
Once you stop recording, the transcribed sentence fills the input box and the send button shows a 5-second countdown before it sends automatically. Tap the input box during that window to cancel. The text stays put so you can edit or send it yourself.
In the following cases, nothing sends automatically. The transcribed text just fills the box and you send it yourself:
- There was already a draft in the input box before you started recording
- A screen reader (VoiceOver / TalkBack) or other accessibility feature is on
- You’ve turned off auto-send in settings (see below)
If nothing was heard, you’ll just see a “didn’t catch that” notice and the input box is left untouched.

Auto-send is a per-device toggle (the Send voice input automatically switch in Settings) and is on by default. On the web, transcribed text always requires you to tap send yourself; auto-send isn’t available there.

8. Desktop preview: peek into the employee’s screen

If you’ve given an employee the “computer use” or “browser” tool, it actually opens a real browser or terminal on its own isolated AI work computer to do its work. You can watch that screen live from your phone on both iOS and Android.

Tap the desktop computer icon in the chat screen’s top bar to open the preview sheet. A small green dot appears on the icon while the AI work computer is running.
The preview is automatically fit to your phone’s screen.
Tap the rotate button to switch to landscape mode and get a wider work area.
Tapping the keyboard icon lets you type into the employee’s desktop directly, or send special keys like Ctrl, Alt, Shift, and arrow keys.

When you close the preview, the AI work computer stops automatically after a short delay.

9. Chat, Canvas, and files: same as desktop

The core features behave the same on mobile as on the web.

Chat: real-time replies, text selection and copy, all identical to the desktop experience. If a conversation with the same employee is still going on somewhere else (a Slack thread, another window), a small note appears at the top of the chat screen (under the employee’s name) saying it’s still working on that earlier request, and your message will run right after it. If there’s more than one request already waiting, the note tells you how many. This works the same way on web, iOS, and Android.
Canvas: documents your employee produces open directly in the app. Markdown and code documents can also be edited right on your phone. Canvases that are web pages or slide decks, however, are view-only on mobile; editing those is only available on the web.
File attachments: attach photos and files from the chat input. You can attach files the same way in team chat, too.
Approval prompts: when an employee needs your okay before running a risky tool, the same approval card appears. Approve or deny right from the card and the employee continues. To see or cancel anything currently auto-approved, tap the auto-approve chip next to the input box. See Approvals for details.
Scheduled runs: add, edit, and delete an employee’s scheduled runs from the app. Open this from the icon in the chat screen’s top bar.

The chat screen’s top bar shows at most two icons. One is Workstreams (with a number badge when there’s active or needs-attention work), and the other switches to whatever fits the moment, desktop preview, Canvas, a connected web app, or scheduled runs. Less frequent actions, saving as a template, sharing externally, and moving to a team, live in the menu you open by tapping the avatar.

10. Following progress after you close the app

Send a message, put the app away, and you can still follow along while the employee works. The way progress is displayed differs by platform, though.

iOS: Lock Screen and Dynamic Island

A Live Activity starts automatically the moment the app goes to the background.
The lock screen shows the employee’s name, avatar, and current progress in real time.
When the employee needs your approval or answer, the lock screen card shows what it is waiting on and how much time is left. Tap the card to jump straight into that conversation and respond there.
When the employee finishes, a summary of the response appears on the lock screen briefly before the activity ends.
Live Activities can start via server push even when the app is fully closed.

Android: ongoing notification

Android has no Live Activity or Dynamic Island. Instead, an “in progress” notification appears in the notification shade while the employee works, and it disappears on its own when the run finishes.
When the employee needs your approval or answer, you get a notification. Tap it to jump straight into that conversation and respond there.
While you have the app open in the foreground, the ongoing notification is suppressed, since progress is already visible on screen.

11. Install and save templates

More → Templates is where you browse and install official employee templates, and where you can save your own employee as a template (saved templates are never published). Both apps support it. Inside the Templates screen are two sections: Employee templates · My templates.

Install: from More → Templates, select a template and a “What to delegate” sheet opens to configure the employee’s name and purpose. The new employee appears in your list when done.
Save: an AI coach walks you through preparing the template, then you finalize it on the review screen and save it. On iOS, open the More menu at the top of the chat screen, then Export → Employee template. On Android, open the employee settings screen, in the template menu.

You can generate a share link so others can chat with your employee without signing in.

On iOS, open More → Export → Share Externally at the top of the chat screen. On Android, open the employee settings screen → Share Externally.
Anyone with the link can talk to the employee’s public version without an account.

13. Where do I pay?

iOS app: subscribe directly inside the app under Settings → Subscription (Apple in-app purchase).
Android app: there is no checkout inside the app, but Settings → Subscription shows your current plan and lets you cancel or resume a subscription you paid for on the web. Subscribing for the first time and changing your card happen on the web (upserve.app ); the result shows up in the app immediately.
See SU & Billing for details.

Platform differences at a glance

Feature	iOS	Android
Chat · Canvas · attachments (team chat included) · approvals	✅	✅
Voice input (auto-send included)	✅	✅
Push notifications	✅	✅
Approval / answer request alerts	✅ (lock screen card)	✅ (notification)
To do (to do, reports, results) · Team tab · Office tab · team moves (chat avatar menu)	✅	✅
Export daily report as PDF	✅	✅
Mention palette · desktop preview	✅	✅
Template install & save (More → Templates) · public version sharing · scheduled run editing	✅	✅
Live progress while running	Lock Screen Live Activity · Dynamic Island	Ongoing notification in the shade
In-app subscription checkout	✅ (Apple)	❌ (pay on the web)

Advanced

You don’t need this section for normal use. Read it only if you’re troubleshooting missing push notifications or want to understand platform-specific behavior in detail.

When push notifications don’t arrive

Is notification permission granted on the device? On iOS open Settings → Notifications → UpServe; on Android open Settings → Apps → UpServe → Notifications. If you declined the first prompt, the app won’t ask again, so you have to enable it here.
Is push enabled inside UpServe? On the web, Settings → Notifications has a master push toggle at the top plus per-category toggles. Both must be on for the categories you care about.
Are you inside Do Not Disturb hours? Double-check the start and end times and make sure your phone’s time zone is correct.
Is the employee muted? Unmute it from the Muted employees section in your notification settings.
Are you already viewing that employee’s chat? Push is intentionally suppressed while you’re on the same screen.
Is the same account signed in? Logging in with a different account re-links the device to that account; the previous account stops receiving push on this device. Signing out also disables push for that account.

The full troubleshooting list lives in Notifications.

Desktop preview looks cropped or tiny

The apps scale the remote desktop to fit your screen width automatically. If something still looks off, try this:

Rotate to landscape: gives you a wider work area.
Close and reopen the preview: the paused AI work computer restarts and the resolution is reset.

On an iPad or tablet, landscape mode gets you a layout very close to the desktop experience.

Haptic conventions (iOS)

The iOS app uses a single, consistent haptic vocabulary so the same kind of action always produces the same vibration. Once you learn the pattern, you can tell what happened without looking at the screen.

Action	What you feel
Sending a message or reply	Light tap
Stopping a run	Heavy thump
Approving a tool	Medium, decisive impact
Denying a tool / destructive swipe	Short warning
Task success / reply complete	Success notification
Error toast	Error notification
Picking a palette item, toggling, adding or removing an attachment	Selection change
Generic swipe-action confirmation	Medium impact

If the system’s Haptic Feedback setting is off, none of these fire. The Android app does not use this haptic vocabulary; it follows the system defaults.

When a report item can’t be tapped

Some report items may not take you anywhere when tapped, and instead show a reason underneath, for example that the employee or owning team is unknown. (The exact wording differs slightly between iOS and Android.) This is expected: when the app can’t be sure where an item belongs, it tells you so rather than opening the wrong conversation.

If a result’s report message can’t be found but the employee is known, the app still opens that employee’s conversation. It just won’t scroll to a specific message.
The mobile apps don’t have a standalone file viewer, so team file deliverables open through that team’s chat.
Weekly reports show only summary numbers and each employee’s completed count. Tapping through to individual items works in daily reports.
Older versions of the app may not support these jumps, or some items may not open. Update to the latest version from the store.

App update prompts

When a new version is available, an update sheet appears on launch. This works the same on iOS and Android.

Optional update: you can dismiss the sheet and update later from the store.
Mandatory update: if your version is no longer supported, the sheet cannot be dismissed, and you must install the latest version from the store to continue.

The “still working elsewhere” note

The note only appears while a request that arrived before yours is still being handled, and it disappears the moment that request finishes and yours starts. If there’s just one other request waiting, you’ll see where it came from; if two or more are queued, a count is shown too. Web, iOS, and Android all follow the same conditions and wording.

Voice input: the fine print

Speech is transcribed by AI, and this uses a small amount of SU. A recording where nothing was heard costs nothing.
Whether a countdown gets attached is decided at the moment you start recording. If the input box was empty when you started, the result is eligible for auto-send; if it already had a draft, it won’t auto-send even after recording finishes.
Tapping send during the countdown ignores the remaining time and sends immediately. If sending is otherwise blocked (waiting on an approval, connection dropped), the countdown finishing won’t send either; the text just stays in the box.
Recording is tap-to-start, tap-to-stop, capped at 120 seconds per recording.

Supported platforms and requirements

iOS 26 or later is required.
Android 8.0 (Oreo) or later is required.
Push is delivered on both iOS (APNs) and Android (FCM). Web browser push is not supported; the web uses in-app notifications only.
If you sign in on multiple devices with the same account, all of them receive push.