Quick checks before anything else
These five settings cause most reports. Open Android Settings, Apps, Alert24 to review them.
- Display over other apps is allowed. Without it the alarm screen cannot appear and no siren plays.
- Battery is set to Unrestricted (or 'Don't optimise'). Otherwise Android may stop the app while it waits for a trigger.
- Camera permission is allowed, or no intruder photos can be taken.
- The 'Your phone is protected' notification is showing. If it is missing, the protection service is not running; open the app once to restart it.
- You are on the latest version from Google Play. Updates fix reliability issues on specific phones.
Alarm doesn't ring or stops early
An alarm needs three things: the app alive in the background, permission to draw its lock screen over other apps, and a trigger that matches how you armed it.
- 1
Allow 'Display over other apps'
Settings, Apps, Alert24, Display over other apps (also called 'Appear on top'). This is the permission the app asks for on first run. If you revoked it later, an armed alarm fires silently.
- 2
Turn off battery optimisation for Alert24
Settings, Apps, Alert24, Battery, choose Unrestricted. Then check your phone's own battery saver: Alert24 should be excluded from any 'sleeping apps' or 'deep sleep' list.
- 3
Allow auto-start on phones that have it
Xiaomi, Redmi, Poco, Oppo, Realme, Vivo, Huawei, Honor and some others add their own background limits on top of Android. Look for Autostart, App launch or Background activity in Security or Battery settings and allow Alert24. The site dontkillmyapp.com has the exact steps for each brand.
- 4
Do not swipe the app away from Recents
On some phones, removing the app from the recent apps list also kills its background service. Lock the app in Recents if your phone offers that option, or simply leave it.
- 5
Check how you armed it
Don't Touch My Phone arms after the 10-second countdown and a short confirmation. If you move the phone during the countdown, nothing happens. Charger removal needs the charger connected when you tap Activate; earphone removal needs wired or USB earphones connected.
- 6
Understand what stops an alarm
The alarm stops for your PIN, pattern, knock code or fingerprint. It also stops when the phone is unlocked with its own screen lock, so anyone who knows your device PIN can silence it. Use a screen lock only you know. An alarm rings for up to 5 minutes and then stops by itself with the PIN screen still showing; a new trigger rings again.
- 7
Alarm during a call
Alert24 does not sound a siren while you are in a phone or internet call, so a call cannot be interrupted. If a trigger happened during a call, the feature is disarmed; arm it again after the call.
Alarm too quiet, no flash or no vibration
The siren plays on the media volume and Alert24 raises it to maximum when the alarm starts. The volume keys can turn it down, but never below 60 percent. If it still sounds quiet, a Bluetooth speaker or headphones may be connected: the sound goes to them instead of the phone's speaker. Disconnect them before you arm.
If you chose a custom alarm tone and later deleted that audio file, the siren can be silent while vibration and flash still work. Open Settings, Alarm Tone and pick one of the built-in sirens.
Flash and vibration are switches on each alarm card. Flash uses the camera flash and does not work on phones without one, or on some phones whose main camera is not the first camera Android reports.
No intruder photo was taken
Alert24 takes a silent front-camera photo when an alarm starts, after wrong PIN attempts on the alarm screen or app lock, and, with Intruder Alert on, after wrong unlock attempts on the phone's own lock screen.
- 1
Allow the camera permission
Settings, Apps, Alert24, Permissions, Camera. Without it the capture is skipped silently.
- 2
Keep 'Display over other apps' on
Android only lets a background app open the camera through a visible screen. Alert24 uses the overlay permission for this. If it is off, no background photo is possible.
- 3
For photos on wrong phone unlocks, activate device admin and sign in
Open Intruders Pictures and turn on Intruder Alert. It asks for device administrator access (so the app is told about failed unlocks) and a Google sign-in. Both are required. Then set Pin Attempts to how many wrong tries trigger a photo: 1, 2 or 3.
- 4
Check the attempt count
With Pin Attempts set to 3, the first two wrong tries take no photo. If you want a photo on the first wrong try, set it to 1.
- 5
Check the app was running
Photos on wrong phone unlocks need the protection service alive. If the 'Your phone is protected' notification was missing at the time, the phone may have played the siren without a photo. Apply the battery fixes above.
- 6
Look in the right place
Photos are in Intruders Pictures, filtered by what triggered them. Phone Access Snap photos (every unlock, grouped by face) are in their own screen and stay on the phone only. In the free version, only the first few photos in a list can be opened at full size.
Remote command not received
Ring, Locate, Take Picture and Mark as Lost are delivered through your account in the cloud. The phone acts on a command only when it is online, the app is alive, and Remote Access is on. Remote Access is part of Alert24 Premium.
- 1
Turn on Remote Access on the phone itself
On the app's home screen, slide the Remote Access control to on. It asks for Google sign-in, camera, and location 'all the time'. If any of these is later revoked, Remote Access switches itself off and the phone ignores commands until you turn it on again.
- 2
Use the same Google account
Sign in to alert24.in, or to Alert24 on another phone, with exactly the Google account used on the protected phone. Devices are listed per account; a different account sees nothing.
- 3
The phone must be online
Commands wait in the cloud until the phone connects. If the phone is off, in flight mode, or has no data, nothing happens until it comes back. A command that still shows as pending after about a minute was not received.
- 4
The app must be running in the background
If a battery saver killed Alert24, the phone does not listen for commands until the app is started again. This is the most common cause of 'the command was sent but nothing happened'. Apply the battery and auto-start fixes above before you need them.
- 5
Locate needs the phone's location
For a precise position, location permission and GPS must be on. Without them the phone reports a rough position based on nearby networks, marked as not precise.
Website shows the phone as offline
The phone reports that it is online while the app is running with a connection. 'Offline' on the website means the app has not checked in recently: the phone is off, has no data, or the app was stopped in the background. It does not mean the phone is lost. Open Alert24 on the phone once and the status updates.
If the phone is with you and online but still shows offline, sign out and back in with Google inside the app, and check that the 'Your phone is protected' notification is present. If you see the same phone listed twice, the older entry is from a previous installation or a factory reset; use the one with the latest time.
Phone number not linked to a Google account
Remote Access works through your Google account. A phone number is only a backup way to sign in, and it only works after you have verified that number inside the app: open Access via Phone in the drawer and confirm the number with the code you receive. This links it to the Google account signed in on the phone.
If the website says the number is not linked, or shows no devices after a phone-number sign-in, sign in with the Google account instead. Then link the number from the app for next time.
Automatic alarms never fire, or fire at home
Automation arms charger, earphone and pickpocket alarms by itself, and pauses them near a trusted place, on a saved safe Wi-Fi, and for 30 minutes after you choose Pause. If automatic alarms stop everywhere after you add a trusted place, give Alert24 precise location permission, keep GPS on, and turn the place off and on again in Settings, Trusted Locations. A trusted place covers a small radius, so an alarm right at the edge of it may still fire; see Trusted places and auto-arm.
Alarms you arm by hand on a card always sound, even at a trusted place. If you want quiet at home, use automation rather than arming manually.
Earphone alarm with Bluetooth
Earphone removal watches wired and USB-C earphones only. Bluetooth earphones are not supported: the alarm does not arm with them and does not react when they disconnect. With wired earphones connected, tap Activate on the Earphone Removal card; if it says to plug in earphones, the phone did not detect a wired headset. See Earphone removal alarm.
Uninstalling: remove device admin first
If you turned on Intruder Alert or Phone Access Snap, Alert24 is a device administrator, and Android does not uninstall device administrator apps until that is removed. This is standard Android behaviour, not a lock the app puts on you.
- 1
Open device admin settings
Settings, Security (or Security & privacy), More security settings, Device admin apps. The exact path varies by phone; searching Settings for 'device admin' finds it.
- 2
Deactivate Alert24
Tap Alert24 and choose Deactivate.
- 3
Uninstall as usual
Long-press the icon or use Settings, Apps, Alert24, Uninstall. Intruder photos stored on the phone are deleted with the app. Photos synced to your Google account through Remote Access can be deleted from the intruder gallery before you uninstall.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Alert24 show a permanent notification?
Android requires a visible notification for any app that keeps working in the background. It is the sign that protection is running. Hiding the notification channel does not stop the service, but a phone that kills the app does. Read battery and background.
I forgot my Alert24 PIN. What now?
On the app's lock screen, open the menu and choose Forgot password. It works if you set a security question, a recovery email or allowed fingerprint reset in Settings, Security. If none is set, you will need to clear the app's data or reinstall.
Can a thief stop the alarm by turning the phone off?
Turning the phone off stops any app. That is why the alarm is loud right away: the point is attention in the first seconds. A phone with a screen lock cannot be turned off from the lock screen on many recent Android versions, which helps.
Where do I get help if none of this works?
Check the permissions guide and the FAQ. If it is still broken, contact us with your phone model, Android version and what you expected to happen.
Set it up right once
Allow the overlay, camera and battery settings on first run, turn on Remote Access while the phone is in your hand, and the alarms take care of themselves.