The Setup Wizard & Permissions
Summary
Sentinel Circle has a setup wizard that walks you through the Android permissions and device settings it needs to monitor reliably. Each step explains why the permission is needed and shows a button to grant it.
The wizard does not open by itself when you first install the app. You have to go and find it:
Settings → Background Permissions
That entry also shows how many of the permissions your current configuration needs are granted — for example "3/5 permissions granted" — and turns into a warning icon when something is missing. It is worth opening it once before you start monitoring, and again whenever you add a sensor or channel of a kind you were not using before, because a new channel can need a permission the old ones did not. Several of the permissions below are ones whose absence loses alerts silently: nothing fails visibly, the alert simply never arrives.
Details
Your phone's current status is shown at each step — tap the button to grant that permission. Some steps apply to every phone; others only appear on certain Android versions, and some are marked optional because only certain sensors or channels need them. The steps you see depend on your Android version, so your phone may not show all of the ones below.
One thing the wizard does not cover: Android's own location switch (the master Location toggle in your phone's quick settings). Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning need it on, on most Android versions, and no wizard step will ask you for it — check it yourself.
Location
Location permission lets Sentinel Circle scan for your home WiFi network — a key part of monitoring. Without it, Android won't let Sentinel Circle scan for WiFi at all, even with WiFi turned on.
- Tap the button to grant location permission.
- If "Allow all the time" is offered, choose it — otherwise the next step asks for background access separately.
This is only used for scanning nearby WiFi and Bluetooth. Sentinel Circle does not track or share your location.
Background Location
This lets Sentinel Circle keep scanning and monitoring even when the screen is off. Without it, Sentinel Circle can only notice WiFi changes while you have the app open on screen.
- Tap the button.
- Grant the permission — you may have already seen this dialog in the previous step.
This is a separate permission from plain Location on Android 10 and newer, and both are needed for monitoring to keep working in the background. On older phones there is no separate grant and this step does not appear.
Battery Optimization
Excluding Sentinel Circle from battery optimization keeps it monitoring even while your phone is sitting idle. Without this, Android may pause Sentinel Circle when the phone has been idle for a while, and monitoring stops until the screen is turned back on.
- Tap the button to open your phone's settings.
- Find Sentinel Circle in the list.
- Set it to "Don't optimize" or "Allow without restrictions".
The exact wording varies by phone. Look for "Battery", "Power saving", "Optimize", or "App permissions".
Notifications
This lets Sentinel Circle show the status notification that keeps it running reliably. Without it, Sentinel Circle can't show that it's actively monitoring, and Android is more likely to shut it down to save battery.
- Tap the button to grant notification permission.
- A notification will appear whenever monitoring is active — this is what keeps Sentinel Circle running.
Newer phones (Android 13 and up) require this for reliable background monitoring.
Full-Screen Alerts
This lets alerts show up over the lock screen and wake the device — not just as a regular, easy-to-miss notification.
- Tap the button to grant this permission.
- This makes sure an urgent alert actually gets noticed.
This step appears on Android 14 and newer. On older phones the permission does not exist and full-screen alerts are allowed without it.
Alarms & Reminders
On Android 12 and newer, Sentinel Circle asks to be allowed to set exact alarms. This is what lets a retry of a failed alert, and the regular wake-up that keeps polling sensors alive, go off on time while the phone is asleep. Without it those are delayed by however long Android decides to sleep.
- Tap the button to open your phone's settings.
- Allow Sentinel Circle to set alarms and reminders.
Keep Permissions
On Android 11 and newer, Android removes an app's permissions if the app is not opened for a few months — which is exactly what happens to a monitoring phone nobody touches. This step turns that off for Sentinel Circle.
- Tap the button to open your phone's settings.
- Turn off "Remove permissions if app isn't used" (wording varies by phone).
Nearby Wi-Fi Devices (optional)
On Android 13 and newer, Wi-Fi scanning needs its own "nearby Wi-Fi devices" permission in addition to location. Grant this if you use a Wi-Fi sensor or Sentinel Area with Wi-Fi.
Nearby Bluetooth Devices (optional)
On Android 12 and newer, Bluetooth scanning needs the "nearby devices" permission instead of location. Grant this if you use a Bluetooth sensor or Sentinel Area with Bluetooth.
SMS and Phone Calls (optional)
Needed only for the SMS and Phone Call channels. Without them those channels cannot send anything and their alerts are recorded as failures.
Display Over Other Apps (optional)
On Android 10 and newer, the Phone Call channel needs "Display over other apps" to start a call while Sentinel Circle is in the background. Android blocks the call without it and does not report an error, so the channel fails and falls back to the other channels you configured.
Accessibility for WhatsApp (optional)
Needed only for the experimental WhatsApp channel, which uses it to tap Send for you.
Notification Listener (optional)
This step is optional — only needed if you want to use the Notification sensor to watch for notifications from another app (for example, an email app, or another Sentinel Circle phone).
- If you want to use notification-based sensors: tap the button and grant the permission.
- If not, you can safely skip this step.
You can turn this on or off later in Settings any time.
Manufacturer (OEM) Battery Settings
Some phone brands (Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, OPPO, OnePlus, and others) add their own extra battery-saving features on top of standard Android, which can still stop Sentinel Circle even after you've excluded it from Android's own battery optimization.
- Tap the button — where this setting lives varies by phone brand.
- Find Sentinel Circle in the allowed or unrestricted apps list.
- Make sure it's marked as allowed or unrestricted.
The exact steps depend on your phone's brand. Look for names like "Adaptive Battery", "Battery Saver", "Power Management", or similar. See Monitoring Settings for more on keeping monitoring reliable long term.