iPhone settings that can interfere with WellCheck — and how to fix them. If something in the app isn't working as expected, start here. Can't find your answer? Get in touch.
Check each of the following in order:
1. Notifications are allowed for WellCheck
Go to Settings → WellCheck → Notifications and make sure Allow Notifications is turned on. Also confirm that Lock Screen, Notification Center, and Banners are all checked, and that Sounds is enabled.
2. A Focus mode isn't silencing the app
Focus modes (Do Not Disturb, Sleep, Driving, and any custom ones you've created) can silently block notifications. Go to Settings → Focus and tap each Focus that might be active during your check-in window. Look for a People or Apps section — WellCheck must be listed as an allowed app, or notifications will be blocked while that Focus is on.
3. Notification Summary isn't grouping WellCheck
iOS can batch low-priority notifications and deliver them all at once at a scheduled time. Go to Settings → Notifications → Scheduled Summary and make sure WellCheck is not included in the summary — check-in reminders need to arrive on time, not hours later.
4. Banner style is set to show
In Settings → WellCheck → Notifications, confirm Banner Style is set to Temporary or Persistent (not off).
You can allow WellCheck notifications even when Do Not Disturb is on:
Once added, WellCheck notifications will come through regardless of Do Not Disturb. Do this for any Focus mode you use regularly — Sleep, Driving, custom ones, etc.
Sleep Focus activates automatically based on your Health app sleep schedule and silences almost everything. If your check-in window starts before your Sleep Focus ends, you'll miss the first reminder of the day.
Two options:
Option 1 — Allow WellCheck through Sleep Focus:
Option 2 — Set your first check-in after Sleep Focus ends:
In WellCheck Settings, set your First Check-In time to after your normal wake-up time. WellCheck already prevents check-ins during your sleep window — just make sure that window matches when Sleep Focus actually releases your phone.
If a notification arrived while your phone was sitting on a table or you didn't notice it at the time, you can find it in the Notification Center — a list of all recent notifications from every app.
To open Notification Center:
Swipe down from the top of the screen (any area except the very top-right corner, which opens Control Center instead). A list of recent notifications will appear, grouped by app. Scroll up to see older ones.
On the Lock Screen:
If your phone is locked, notifications that arrived while it was locked will appear directly on the lock screen. Wake the screen by pressing the side button or tapping it — any unread notifications will be visible without unlocking.
To clear a notification you no longer need:
Swipe the notification to the left and tap Clear, or tap Clear All to remove everything from that app at once.
If WellCheck notifications are not showing up in Notification Center at all, go to Settings → WellCheck → Notifications and make sure Notification Center is checked alongside Lock Screen and Banners.
Check the following:
Ring/Silent switch: The physical switch on the left side of your iPhone. If it's flipped to silent (showing orange), most notification sounds are muted. Check-in reminders use the system notification sound, which is affected by this switch.
Notification sound enabled: Settings → WellCheck → Notifications → confirm Sounds is on.
Volume: Check your ringer volume (the volume buttons when nothing is playing, or Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Ringer and Alerts).
Focus mode: Some Focus configurations mute sounds even for allowed apps. Check Settings → Focus → your active Focus → and look for sound settings.
Focus modes are one of the most common reasons WellCheck notifications don't arrive on time. When a Focus is active, iOS blocks notifications from any app not explicitly on the allowed list — even if notifications are turned on for the app in Settings.
The most common Focus modes that cause issues:
Sleep — runs automatically based on your Health app bedtime schedule. If your sleep schedule overlaps your check-in window, reminders won't arrive.
Do Not Disturb — often turned on manually or scheduled for certain hours. Easy to forget it's active.
Driving — activates automatically when your iPhone detects car motion or connects to CarPlay. If you check in while driving, reminders during that window may not arrive.
To check if a Focus is active: swipe down from the top-right corner to open Control Center. If a Focus icon is shown (moon, car, etc.), one is currently on.
Do this for every Focus mode you use during your check-in hours:
Repeat for each Focus. If Focus is shared across devices (Settings → Focus → Share Across Devices), doing this on one device applies to all of them.
Driving Focus can activate automatically when your iPhone detects movement consistent with driving, or when it connects to a car's Bluetooth. To disable automatic activation:
Alternatively, add WellCheck to Driving Focus's allowed apps list so reminders come through regardless.
Mostly no. WellCheck's emergency alerts are sent from the cloud — they don't depend on the app running in the background. Your check-in notifications are scheduled in advance using iOS's built-in notification system, which also doesn't require Background App Refresh.
Where it can matter: when your app comes back to the foreground after being suspended, it may take a moment longer to sync state. In practice this is rarely noticeable.
If you want to be safe, you can enable it at Settings → General → Background App Refresh → WellCheck. But it's not required for core functionality.
Low Power Mode reduces background activity and can delay or suppress some notifications. It's turned on automatically when battery drops below 20%, or you can turn it on manually.
For most WellCheck functionality this won't matter — notifications and cloud-based alerts are not significantly affected. However if you notice notifications arriving late or the app being slow to update when you open it, Low Power Mode may be contributing.
Check at Settings → Battery → Low Power Mode. iPhone turns it off automatically when you charge above 80%.
Yes — this is one of WellCheck's core design goals. Every time you check in, WellCheck pre-schedules your emergency alert on its servers, timed for the end of your next grace period. If your phone dies, loses signal, or is turned off before your next check-in, the alert still fires from the cloud at the scheduled time.
The only requirement: your phone must have been on long enough to complete your most recent check-in. The alert is scheduled at that moment. After that, your phone's state doesn't matter.
Screen Time has two features that can affect WellCheck:
App Limits — sets a daily time limit on app categories or individual apps. If WellCheck hits its limit, it's blocked until midnight. Go to Settings → Screen Time → App Limits and either remove WellCheck from any limits, or tap the limit and enable Block at End of Limit to off.
Downtime — blocks all apps except those on an allowed list during set hours. If Downtime is scheduled during your check-in window, WellCheck will be inaccessible. Go to Settings → Screen Time → Downtime and either adjust the schedule or add WellCheck to the Always Allowed list at Settings → Screen Time → Always Allowed.
Note: notification delivery from already-scheduled notifications should still work during Downtime, but opening the app to check in manually will be blocked.
This ensures WellCheck can be opened at any time, even during Downtime.
Location sharing in WellCheck is optional and off by default. To enable it, open the WellCheck app → Settings → Features → Share Location.
Once enabled, WellCheck also needs location permission from iOS:
WellCheck captures your location at the moment you check in — not continuously. If you check in indoors or in a location with poor GPS signal, the captured coordinates may be less accurate.
Yes. Your iPhone's GPS radio receives signals directly from satellites and does not need cellular, Wi-Fi, or internet access to determine your location. If you have location sharing enabled, your position will still be captured at check-in time even if you're offline.
Note: while GPS works offline, the location data is only included in your emergency alert when it was captured during a successful check-in. If you lose signal during Activity Mode and check-ins are disabled before you check in, no new location is captured for that cycle.
This means WellCheck successfully recorded your check-in but couldn't complete the full verification — usually because it couldn't confirm with its servers that the next emergency alert was properly scheduled.
Common causes:
No internet connection — Check your Wi-Fi or cellular connection and tap the button to retry.
Temporary server issue — WellCheck's backend may have been briefly unavailable. Check the status page and retry.
App was suspended mid-check-in — If iOS suspended the app before the network request finished, the check-in may show as failed even if it succeeded. Tap retry — if the check-in already went through, a second tap is harmless.
Your contacts are only alerted if a check-in is genuinely missed at the end of your grace period. A "failed" verification display does not itself trigger an alert.
The check-in button is disabled in a few situations:
No confirmed contacts — You need at least one contact to accept their consent link before the check-in system activates. Open Contacts (top-left icon) and check your contacts' statuses.
No internet connection — Check-ins require a network connection to record with WellCheck's servers and schedule your next alert.
Scheduled mode with no times set — If you're in Scheduled Times mode, you need at least one check-in time configured. Open Settings to add one.
Check-in already in progress — If a check-in is currently being verified (spinning indicator), wait a moment and try again.
This depends on which check-in mode you're using.
Interval mode
WellCheck spaces check-ins evenly across your active window — from your First Check-In time to your Last Check-In time. If those boundaries are wider than intended (e.g. 6 AM to midnight), reminders will land across that entire range. Open WellCheck → Settings → Daily Schedule and tighten the window to match the hours you're actually active.
Switching to Scheduled Times
If you want full control over exactly when reminders arrive, switch to Scheduled Times mode in Settings. You pick each check-in time individually — nothing fires outside those times. This is the best option if interval spacing feels unpredictable.
Scheduled Times mode
If you're already in Scheduled Times mode and a reminder arrived at an unexpected time, open Settings → Check-In Schedule and verify each saved time. A stray AM/PM selection during setup is a common cause.
This is almost always a daily window configuration issue. In interval mode, WellCheck uses your First Check-In and Last Check-In times to define when check-ins are active. If these times are set incorrectly, check-ins can land outside your intended hours.
Open WellCheck → Settings → Daily Schedule and check:
First and Last times are different — If both times are set to the same value, the window is effectively undefined and check-ins may occur at any hour.
Last time is after First time — e.g. First = 8:00 AM, Last = 10:00 PM. If Last is before First, the window is inverted.
Sleep window is sufficient — The Settings screen now shows your sleep window beneath the pickers. Aim for at least 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep window.
The app will show a warning if your window is collapsed or your sleep window is under 6 hours.
The Watch app installs automatically when you install WellCheck on your iPhone. If it hasn't appeared:
Make sure your Watch is on WatchOS 9 or later and is paired and connected to your iPhone.
Watch check-ins require either a connection to your iPhone (via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) or a cellular connection on a Watch with LTE. Check the following:
Watch is connected to iPhone — Look for the green phone icon in the Watch status bar. If it's red or missing, the Watch is out of Bluetooth range or the connection dropped.
Wi-Fi or cellular available — If your Watch has LTE and your iPhone isn't nearby, the Watch can check in directly over the internet. Make sure Wi-Fi or cellular is available on the Watch.
WellCheck Watch app is open — The Watch app must be open and on the check-in screen to register a tap. It doesn't run continuously in the background.
Still having trouble?
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