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WhatsApp (remote)

Opens WhatsApp for each recipient with the alert already written, then tries to tap Send for you.

Sentinel Circle cannot confirm the message was sent. It does not check that the tap landed, so a locked screen, a WhatsApp update that moves the Send button, or a slow chat screen can leave the message sitting unsent in the chat while Sentinel Circle records the alert as delivered — and nothing is retried. Treat WhatsApp as a helpful extra, not as the channel you rely on.

Best for: alerting people who use WhatsApp.

Details​

Edit WhatsApp form showing the Accessibility Service requirement

Options​

  • Multiple recipients (phone numbers written with + and the country code, with optional names). A number that can't be used is named under its field with the reason — for example a missing country code, or an emergency number, which can never receive alerts.
  • Option to use WhatsApp Business instead

The time allowed per recipient is not something you set — it has no field in the editor and can only arrive by importing a configuration file.

When Send could not be pressed​

If WhatsApp's chat was on screen but Sentinel Circle could not press Send — most often because an Alert Screen or Phone Call channel took the screen at the same moment, in this or another monitor — that caregiver counts as not reached: the Event Log shows a failure and the alert is sent again later. The editor warns about this; avoid pairing WhatsApp with those two channels where you can. Sound and Vibrate do not take the screen.

With Return to the app automatically on, Sentinel Circle comes back to the front as soon as the WhatsApp messages have gone, instead of after 30 seconds.

Testing it​

Press Test on the channel. A dialog first explains what will happen: WhatsApp opens and Sentinel Circle sends a real test message to the first recipient in the list (the dialog names them). Please don't touch the phone for the few seconds it says — Sentinel Circle then comes back and shows whether the message was sent.

Unlike a real alert, the test does confirm the send: it only says "sent" when Sentinel Circle actually pressed Send. If WhatsApp showed something else on top of the chat (for example a one-time notice about disappearing messages), the test says it was not sent — open WhatsApp, dismiss the notice, and test again.

The test can't start without a recipient, without WhatsApp installed, or with the accessibility permission off; the dialog says which, and offers the setting for the last one.

Requires​

  • WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business installed
  • Accessibility permission turned on for Sentinel Circle — needed so it can tap Send for you. This is a real Android permission grant, separate from the notification/location permissions the other channels need, and is what lets Sentinel Circle automate tapping Send inside WhatsApp on your behalf.