Using ADVCT

Getting started iPhone & Mac

1. Install ADVCT from the App Store. One purchase covers iPhone and Mac.
2. Open the app — there's no account to create and nothing to set up.
3. Grant microphone and speech-recognition access when asked, so ADVCT can record and write down conversations.

On the Mac

The Mac app is the same purchase and the same record: everything written — summaries, transcripts, to-dos — syncs between your iPhone and Mac through your own iCloud, with no separate sign-in. The Mac is built for the desk side of the work: reading months of visits on a big screen, working the to-do board, and preparing for the next appointment.

• Recording: the Conversations screen has a record bar at the top — choose the appointment type and click Record, or press ⌘R. Before the very first recording ADVCT explains, in two short screens, why it's about to ask for the microphone and speech recognition — then macOS asks; allow both. The type you pick is remembered for next time.
• After your first recording: the summary page says exactly what's kept and what's deleted, and offers to lock ADVCT with Touch ID — one click, or "Not now".
• While it writes it down: a progress bar and a time estimate; you can switch to other apps. If a recording wasn't finished before ADVCT was quit, the list says so — open it and click Continue.
• Reading and fixing: click a conversation and the summary, key points, to-dos, and full transcript open on the right. Name the visit with the pencil in the toolbar ("Dr. Patel — blood pressure" instead of a date). If a name or a dose came out wrong, click Correct above the summary or the transcript and change it — the original is kept, and if you'd shared the visit ADVCT offers to update the family's copy. Type in Find in transcript to jump to the part you need; the arrows step through the matches.
• One kind at a time: the menu above the list — "All types" — shows just the medical, legal, or financial ones, and search works inside it.
• Sharing from a conversation: the Share with family button in the toolbar. Pick the people, choose Every visit or Just this visit, and send each one a message — the same three steps as on the iPhone; see Share with family. In Settings (⌘,) → Records, click a record you own to open Who sees your visits. Add someone there starts Share with family. You see who's in, let people in, change what they can do, remove them, or stop sharing. A share through Google Drive that your iPhone started is managed there. On the Mac, the list says "Manage on your iPhone."
• Keeping the audio: Settings → Recording sets how long a Mac recording's audio is kept — forever, 30 days, or 90 days. The written parts are always kept, and any one recording can be changed on its own page.
• Locking it: Settings (⌘,) → Security → "Require Touch ID to open ADVCT". It locks when the Mac sleeps or you switch apps; ⌘L locks it now.
• Where audio lives: a recording made on the Mac stays on the Mac, encrypted with a key in the Mac's Keychain. Only the written parts sync. Audio never travels.

Getting started Android

The Android edition does the same job — record, transcribe, and summarize entirely on the device — and you buy it directly from us. No Google account is needed to buy, install, or record. (Sharing with family uses Google Drive; see Family with an Android phone.)

1. Buy a license. Your receipt email contains the download link and your license key.
2. On the Android phone, open the download page and tap the download button. When the file finishes, open it and tap Install. Android asks once whether to allow installing apps from your browser — say yes; that's the step that lets an app arrive from somewhere other than the Play Store.
3. Open ADVCT — no account, no sign-up.
4. Go to Settings, paste the license key from your purchase email, and tap Activate.
5. In the same screen, tap Download the model. ADVCT transcribes on the phone itself, so the speech model (about 250 MB) is fetched once — best on Wi-Fi. It resumes if it's interrupted.

The first recording, and after

• Before you record: the first time, ADVCT explains in two short screens why it's about to ask for the microphone, then Android asks. Before the very first recording it also asks once — not every time — that everyone in the room knows.
• It keeps going: transcribing continues when you leave the app or the screen. If a recording stopped partway — the phone died, the app was closed — its page says so; tap Continue and it picks up where it left off. The type you picked last time is remembered.
• After your first recording: the summary page says exactly what's kept and what's deleted, and offers to lock ADVCT with your fingerprint or face — one tap, or "Not now".
• Your record, your words: Name this visit, Correct a misheard word (the original is kept), and Find in transcript all live on the conversation's page — the same as on iPhone; see After the visit. Recordings carry a colour and an icon for their kind, the chips above the list show one kind at a time, and a summary or transcript copies with a single tap.

Devices, moving, and updates

• One license, seven devices. Activate each phone with the same key. Replacing a phone? Open Settings on the old one and tap Deactivate this device to free the slot, then activate the new one.
• Online only for setup. You need a connection to buy, to activate, and to fetch the speech model — each once, briefly. After that ADVCT checks your license entirely on your own device and keeps working offline forever.
• Updates take care of themselves. ADVCT checks for a newer version at most once a day and tells you in Settings when one is ready. Nothing about you or your device is sent with that check, you can switch it off in Settings, and every update is checksum-verified before it installs. New releases are also always on the download page.

Recording an appointment Both platforms

Recording happens where the appointment happens — usually on the phone of the person whose appointment it is. That's the design: family can't be in every exam room, but the phone is.

1. Open ADVCT and pick the kind of conversation — medical, legal, or financial.
2. Tap the big red circle. Set the phone down; talking near it is enough.
3. Tap again when you're finished. That's the whole job.

On iPhone, a recording keeps going through a screen lock, an incoming call, or a Siri interruption. If your Mac sleeps mid-recording, ADVCT stitches the pieces into one continuous recording — nothing is lost or split.

Both platforms Before the very first recording, ADVCT explains in two short screens why it's about to ask for the microphone (and, on iPhone, speech recognition), then lets the system ask. While a visit is being written down you'll see about how long it takes — lock the phone or switch apps and it carries on. If it ever stops partway, the conversation says so; open it and tap Continue.

Asking permission

Before recording someone else, let them know. "Is it okay if I record this so my family can help me?" is all it takes — and in some places it's required by law.

• Know your rule iPhone & Mac — Settings → Recording consent shows the rule where you are in one sentence. In the UK, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand you can record a conversation you're part of; most US states allow it, though eleven need everyone's agreement. ADVCT never uses your location — you pick the place.
• Show the card iPhone & Mac — a full-screen (or printable) card explaining why you record and that it stays on your phone.
• Capture the yes iPhone & Mac — turn it on and ask out loud; the answer sits at the top of the audio in the person's own voice.
• Remember who declined — mark it on a person and their conversations stay private and are never shared automatically.

After the visit Both platforms

Open a conversation to see what ADVCT made of it:

• Summary — a short, plain-language recap, the key points, and the follow-ups it heard.
• Transcript — the full written version of what was said.
• Audio — play the recording back any time.

If a summary looks wrong, tap "Try again" — it redoes it from the original audio. On Android, a recording made before the speech model was installed offers "Transcribe now" once the model is there.

Your record, your words Both platforms

• Name a visit — "Dr. Patel — blood pressure" instead of a date and time. On iPhone it's in the ⋯ menu, on the Mac the pencil in the toolbar, on Android Name this visit on the conversation's page. The name shows in your list, on exports, and to the family you've shared with.
• Correct a misheard word — if a name or a dose came out wrong, tap Correct above the summary or the transcript and change it. Your original is kept, and if you'd shared the visit, ADVCT offers to update your family's copy.
• Find inside a transcript — type a word and jump straight to the part you need; the arrows step through the matches.
• One kind at a time — the type chips above the list on iPhone and Android, or the "All types" menu on the Mac, show just the medical, legal, or financial ones.

A note on style, honestly stated: iPhone summaries are written by Apple's on-device language model on supported iPhones; Android builds its summary by pulling out the key sentences of what was actually said. Android summaries read more like highlights and less like prose — both come entirely from your recording, on your device.

The to-do list

The To-Dos tab collects follow-ups from every conversation. Claim one in a tap and the family sees it's handled; mark it done and everyone knows. On iPhone you can also add an item to your own Reminders, tap any item to hear the moment it came from, and — if the same job shows up at two visits — ADVCT offers to merge them. It always asks first.

Setting up the family

Sharing lets your family read the visits in a record and help with its to-dos. Nothing is shared until the owner of the record says so, and the audio never goes to anyone. Nobody sees your visits unless you invite them, and you can remove anyone at any time.

There is one way to share, and one list of who can see your visits:

• Share with family is the button you tap to invite people.
• Who sees your visits is the list. It shows everyone, and it's where you see who has joined, change what they can do, and remove them.

It works between iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android, in any mix. You never pick how your visits travel. ADVCT works that out for each person.

The short version: you tap Share with family, pick people, and send each one a message. Each person taps the link and taps Join, and they're in at once. You don't wait for a reply, make a call, or let anyone in. ADVCT tells you when someone joins, and you can remove anyone in Who sees your visits. Between Apple devices the link comes from iCloud, and the person taps it and ADVCT opens.

Share with family All phones

Everyone you invite now shows in Who sees your visits. People start out able to help with to-dos. You can change that; see What people can do.

How each person gets your visits All phones

ADVCT decides. You're never asked "iPhone or Android?"

• Sharing from an iPhone or Mac, and the person has an iCloud account (ADVCT checks): your visits travel through iCloud. The message adds "You'll need the ADVCT app on your iPhone."
• Sharing from an iPhone or Mac, and no iCloud account is found: through a folder in your Google Drive. You connect Google Drive once: "Sarah's phone needs Google Drive to get your visits. You can connect it the next time you share with Sarah."
• Sharing from an Android phone: through a folder in your Google Drive, for everyone.

In a family with both, the two ways run side by side. One list shows everyone, and new visits go to both. A person with an Apple ID but an Android phone stays at "Invited" in your list; on iPhone and Mac, under Options next to their name, tap "Sarah has an Android phone? Send a different invite."

Just this visit All phones

Just this visit sends a readable copy of one visit: the summary, the to-dos, and the transcript. It goes by message or email. The person doesn't need ADVCT or an account. Because it's only a copy, they can't tick off to-dos. Choose Every visit for people who should help. Nobody is added to Who sees your visits for a copy, because nothing more is set up.

When someone shares with you All phones

You get a message with a link. You don't type or paste anything, and you don't wait for anyone to approve you. If you weren't expecting it, check with the person before you tap Join. ADVCT invites only come from someone you know.

Mom doesn't have to do anything first. Her phone adds you to her list the next time ADVCT runs, and it finishes any helping by itself. Each Google Drive invite works once, so the first person to tap Join gets in. If you see "This invite was already used. Ask Mom for a new one.", someone else opened it first. Tell Mom. If you leave before you tap Join, tap Mom's link again to come back.

Does a relative need to buy ADVCT? All phones

Not to join. On Android, joining, reading, and helping with to-dos need no license; a license is only for recording. On iPhone and Mac, family in the sharer's Apple Family group get the app free. Someone outside that group buys it from the App Store. One thing to plan around: an iPhone and an Android phone can't share a purchase, and a personal library doesn't migrate between them.

When someone joins All phones

You don't have to do anything. When Sarah taps Join, she's in at once and your visits are on her phone. The next time ADVCT runs on your phone, it adds her to your list and tells you. The notice says Someone joined your family sharing and Open ADVCT to see who. It names nobody, so a glance at your lock screen shows no name. Open Who sees your visits to see who it was. Your phone checks when you open ADVCT and in the background, usually every few hours, so the notice can take a while to come.

Each Google Drive invite works once, and whoever taps Join first gets in. That's nearly always the person you meant. If you sent an invite to a wrong number, or someone forwarded it, a person you didn't mean could get in. So:

• Check the number before you send. If you chose someone from Contacts, ADVCT uses the number or email saved there.
• Sent it to the wrong person? If nobody has joined, tap Cancel invite. If someone has, Cancel says "Sarah is already in." Tap Remove instead. They stop getting new visits. What they already saw stays on their phone.
• Sarah says "This invite was already used." Someone else opened her invite first. In Who sees your visits, tap Remove on that row, then use Add someone to invite Sarah again.
• "Two phones tried Sarah's invite." You'll see this note under her name, and a notice that says "Check who sees your visits." A second phone tried a link that was already used. Ask Sarah if it worked for her. If it didn't, remove the row and invite her again.

Who sees your visits All phones

The one place to see and change who can see your visits. People on iCloud and on Google Drive are in the same list. On Android it's People → Family. On iPhone it's Settings → Your records, then Who sees your visits under the record's name. On a Mac it's Settings (⌘,) → Records, then the record. A visit your family can see says Shared with family at the top, on iPhone, Mac and Android. It's a line, not a button. Open Who sees your visits to change who.

• Sarah · Not sent yet — the message wasn't sent. Tap Send.
• Dan · Invited Tuesday — Dan hasn't tapped Join yet. Resend, Call Dan, or Cancel invite. For an iCloud invite, the day you added them.
• Sarah · Can help with to-dos or Dan · Can only read — they're in. Change, New phone? Send a new invite, or Remove. A Google Drive invite shows this as soon as your phone has seen the person join. New phone? appears once your phone has finished adding them, usually the next time ADVCT updates.
• Dan · Can only read · hasn't signed in to Google yet — Dan joined, but he hasn't signed in to Google, so he can only read for now. See Helping with to-dos.
• Sarah · New invite sent — you sent Sarah an invite for a new phone. See A new phone.
• Sarah · Left · Oct 1 — Sarah left the record. Remove from list.
• Dan · Invite ended — the invite ran out or was ended. Send a new invite or Remove from list.

A short note can show under a name:

• "Two phones tried Sarah's invite." See When someone joins.
• "Sarah opened the new invite on the phone they already had." and "Sarah was a care coordinator on their old phone." See A new phone.

On iPhone and Mac, a name's main button (such as Send) shows beside it, and the other actions are under Options. For someone who hasn't accepted an iCloud invite yet, Remove reads Cancel invite.

Below the list:

• Add someone starts Share with family again.
• Remove asks "Remove Sarah?" It says Sarah will no longer see new visits, and that what's already on Sarah's phone stays there.
• Stop sharing… is at the bottom. It stops sharing with everyone.
• Disconnect Google Drive… isn't here. It's the Google Drive row in Settings, which shows only while Google is connected. See Family with an Android phone.
• A person from an older ADVCT may say Shared the old way. See The older way.

On Android, this list is only the people who see your record. Invites sent to your phone, and records other people shared with you, are under People → Shared with you.

On a Mac, you see the iCloud people and any Google Drive share the Mac started. A Google Drive share started on your iPhone is managed there. On the Mac, the list says "Manage on your iPhone."

What people can do All phones

• Can help with to-dos — read your visits, and claim to-dos and tick them off. This is where everyone starts.
• Can only read — read your visits.
• More… → Care coordinator (only for people on Google Drive) — everything above, and also assign and edit any to-do.

Change someone in Who sees your visits: tap Change, then pick. People who were already in keep what they had, under these names. On Google Drive, helping also needs the person to sign in to Google once. Until they do, they show as "Can only read · hasn't signed in to Google yet." See Helping with to-dos.

Helping with to-dos All phones

Helping means ticking off to-dos. On Google Drive, a helper signs in to Google once, because their ticks are kept in their own Google Drive.

• You invited Sarah to help. (Invites start out as help invites.) After she taps Join, ADVCT asks her to sign in to Google. When she does, your phone adds her by itself the next time ADVCT runs. You don't tap anything.
• Sarah joined, but hasn't signed in. Tap Change and pick Can help with to-dos. ADVCT says "Sarah hasn't signed in to Google yet, so they can only read." Tap Ask Sarah to sign in to send her a message. When she signs in, she can help, and you don't tap anything more.
• Sarah can only read, and asks to help. On her phone, in Mom's visits, she taps Sign in to Google (or Help with to-dos, if she's already signed in). If she joined with an advct.app link, her request reaches your phone through ADVCT's invite service, with nothing for her to send. Otherwise ADVCT opens a message with a link for her to send you. She sees "Waiting for Mom to let you help." When her request reaches you (in Who sees your visits, or when you open her link), ADVCT asks "Sarah would like to help with to-dos on Mom's visits." Tap Let Sarah help, or Not now. If she doesn't hear from you, after 7 days she sees "Mom hasn't let you help yet." and can send the request again.

If you already chose help for Sarah (you invited her to help, or you tapped Ask Sarah to sign in), her request goes through with no question. ADVCT says "Sarah can help with to-dos now." Helping never makes anyone a care coordinator. Only you can do that, with Change → More… → Care coordinator.

A new phone All phones

When Sarah gets a new phone, open Who sees your visits and tap New phone? Send a new invite next to her name (under Options on iPhone and Mac). ADVCT asks: "This sends Sarah a new invite. When they join, their old phone stops getting your visits." Send it. Her row says "Sarah · New invite sent."

When Sarah taps Join on her new phone, she's in at once. Your phone puts the new phone on your list and takes the old one off. You don't tap anything, and you get the same notice, "Someone joined your family sharing."

• Sarah keeps her name and what she can do, up to Can help with to-dos. A helper reads at first, and helps again by herself once she signs in to Google on the new phone.
• A care coordinator comes back as Can help with to-dos, and the row says "Sarah was a care coordinator on their old phone." Tap Change to make her a care coordinator again.
• If Sarah taps the new invite on her old phone by mistake, her old phone moves to it and stays in. The row says "Sarah opened the new invite on the phone they already had." Her new phone then says "This invite was already used. Ask Mom for a new one." Send one more invite.

If the old phone is lost or stolen, don't do this. See Lost or stolen phone.

Your name All phones

Your family sees the name you give ADVCT. It asks once, when you first share and it doesn't know your name: What does your family call you? On iPhone it starts with the name already in Settings. To change it on iPhone, open Settings. For your own record, change This iPhone belongs to. If you help someone else, change If you help someone else → Your name. What you type when ADVCT asks is saved in those same places. The Mac has no name setting. It uses the name from your iPhone, and asks if it doesn't have one. To change it on Android, open Settings and tap Change next to Your name. The new name goes on invites you send from now on. People already in keep the name they have.

When an invite ends All phones

• A Google Drive invite nobody uses ends after 7 days. Anyone who taps its link then sees "This invite has ended. Ask Mom to send a new one." In your list the person says Invite ended. Tap Send a new invite or Remove from list.
• An iCloud invite has no 7-day limit. It stays at "Invited" until the person accepts, or you tap Cancel invite. iPhone & Mac
• Cancel invite ends it at once. Use it if you sent it to the wrong person and they haven't joined yet.
• Resend makes a new invite for someone who didn't get the first one. The old one ends, so only the newest link works. For an iCloud invite, Resend sends the same iCloud link again.
• Once someone joins, a Google Drive invite is used up. If anyone else taps it, they see "This invite was already used. Ask Mom for a new one."

Family with an Android phone All phones

When you share from an Android phone, or with someone who isn't on iCloud, your visits travel through a folder in the Google Drive of the person sharing.

• Only people who join can read your visits. Google stores them but can't read them. Because the first person to tap Join gets in, send each invite only to the person it's for, and check Who sees your visits now and then.
• The list of who's in isn't hidden. It holds each person's name and what they can do. Anyone who has the folder's link can read that list: your family, and Google.
• Each invite has a small folder of its own in your Google Drive. ADVCT removes it after the person joins or the invite ends. The privacy policy says what's in it.
• A small ADVCT invite service makes each invite work only once. It never gets your visits, names, phone numbers, or anything that can open them. iCloud invites don't use it. The privacy policy has the details.

Who signs in to Google:

• Family who all use Apple devices: nobody.
• Someone sharing from an Android phone: yes, once.
• Someone sharing from an iPhone or Mac: once, when adding the first person who gets visits through Google Drive.
• A relative who helps with to-dos (any phone): once, when ADVCT asks "Help with to-dos?"
• A relative who only reads: never.

A personal Google account works. Some work and school accounts don't allow sharing by link. ADVCT says "This Google account doesn't allow sharing by link. Use a personal Google account."

Disconnect… signs a device out of Google. It's in the Google Drive row in Settings, beside Connected. The row shows only while Google is connected (on a Mac, Settings → Records). ADVCT asks "Disconnect Google Drive?" first. On a record you share, family won't get new visits from that device until you connect again; on a record you help with, your to-do updates won't reach them. You can still read. Disconnecting doesn't delete anything from your Google Drive; stopping sharing does.

The older way All phones

Two small links are still there for people who can't update yet:

• Other ways to add someone is for a person whose ADVCT is too old to open an invite link. It's near the bottom of Who sees your visits.
• Have an invite from an older ADVCT? is for when the person who invited you has an older ADVCT. On Android it's at the bottom of People → Shared with you. On iPhone it's at the bottom of Settings → Your records. On a Mac it's near the bottom of Settings (⌘,) → Records.

The screens behind them go through the older steps one at a time. The relative sends a request, you check a short code together by phone, and you send back an invite. These links are only for now; a later version takes them away. It's easier to ask the other person to update ADVCT, then use Share with family.

Shares you made before this version keep working:

• Each person shows in Who sees your visits. ADVCT looks after the rest.
• A share that can't reach another household says Shared the old way. A record shared from an Android phone before 0.9 reached only your own Google account. To reach family on their own accounts, stop sharing it, then share it again with Share with family.
• A single visit you shared through iCloud keeps working, and keeps its banner, with Stop sharing this visit. New one-visit shares send a readable copy instead. iPhone & Mac

Keeping up to date All phones

New visits and to-do updates usually arrive within a few hours, even if nobody opens ADVCT. The phone decides exactly when. To update now, open ADVCT or tap Refresh; next to it, a line such as "Updated 10 min ago" says when the record last updated. On Android it's at the top of the Conversations tab; on iPhone, on the main screen of a shared record; on the Mac, above the record's list (a Mac updates while ADVCT is open).

Removing someone, stopping, and leaving All phones

• Remove one person — in Who sees your visits, tap Remove next to their name (under Options on iPhone and Mac). Everything already on their device stays theirs, but nothing new reaches them. Everyone else keeps their access.
• Stop sharing — tap Stop sharing… at the bottom of Who sees your visits. ADVCT asks "Stop sharing Mom's visits with everyone?" Family keep what they already have, but get nothing new. Nothing of yours is deleted. When you share through Google Drive, the record's folder is deleted from your Google Drive; if Google Drive can't be reached, you'll see "Sharing hasn't stopped." and why. The share is kept, so you can try again.
• Leave a record someone shared with you — tap Leave this record…, then Keep my copy or Remove it. On Android it's under Shared with you in People. A record shared with you through iCloud has no Leave button; ask the person who shared it to remove you.
• Sharing ended — if they stop sharing or remove you, you choose Keep my copy (it stays, and stops updating) or Remove it (deleted from this device; this can't be undone).
• Take one visit back Android — at the bottom of a visit's summary, Take this visit back from family… removes it from family's phones; it stays on yours. Share it with family again undoes it.

The week's update iPhone & Mac

Timeline → "This week's update": what happened, what got done and by whom, what nobody's picked up, what's due next week. Send it as a text or a one-page PDF — no app needed to read it. An optional Sunday reminder lives in Settings → Sharing, off by default.

The timeline and visit prep iPhone & Mac

Tap the clock icon on the recordings screen for the Timeline — one person's whole story in order, including what actually got done. Then "Prepare for a visit" builds a one-page brief: what's still open (even from months back), what's been recorded since, and questions to ask.

Records for more than one person iPhone & Mac

Settings → Records: one record per person — yours, your mother's, your father's — kept entirely separate. A switcher appears at the top once you have more than one. If you attend some visits yourself, add a record marked "Someone I help" and record those appointments from your own phone into their record.

Privacy & storage Both platforms

• Audio — your device only. Never uploaded, never shared, even with family.
• Transcripts and summaries — on your device; on Apple platforms they sync through your own private iCloud to your other devices. On Android they live in an encrypted database on the phone.
• Shared items — with family on Apple devices, through your own iCloud, visible to the people you invited. With family on Android, see Family with an Android phone.
• Invite links — a link carries its contents inside itself. The ADVCT website never receives them, and its invite pages send nothing anywhere. The people you pick from Contacts stay on your phone. ADVCT uses them to address the message. On iPhone and Mac it also asks Apple's iCloud whether each person has an account, using their phone number or email. A Google Drive invite works once and ends after 7 days.
• Us — no account, and your visits never reach us. The one thing we run is a small invite service that makes each Google Drive invite work only once. It holds nothing that can open your visits. iCloud invites don't use it. The privacy policy has the details.

Audio auto-deletes after 90 days by default to save space; the transcript, summary, and to-dos are kept forever. Change it in Settings (30/90/180/365 days or keep forever), or keep any single recording's audio from its own screen.

The full policy is short enough to actually read: Privacy Policy →

If something's wrong

A family member isn't seeing what I shared All phones

In the order it's usually true:

• They haven't tapped your link and Join yet. Who sees your visits says "Invited Tuesday" until they do. Tap Resend, or Call Dan.
• They tapped it and saw "This invite was already used. Ask Mom for a new one." Someone else opened it first. Look for the note "Two phones tried Sarah's invite." under their name. Tap Remove on that row, then use Add someone to invite them again.
• The invite ended. Google Drive invites end after 7 days. Tap Send a new invite.
• Between Apple devices: they haven't accepted, or they're not signed in to iCloud. An iCloud invite doesn't end by itself, so tap Resend to send the link again.
• Their app hasn't updated yet. New visits usually arrive within a few hours; to update now, they open ADVCT or tap Refresh.
• One of you is on an old version. Invite links need 1.5 or later on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and 0.9 or later on Android.

Every message ADVCT shows says what happened and what to do next.

Messages you might see when you invite or change someone All phones

• "You're offline. Connect to the internet to send invites." — connect, then try again.
• "We couldn't make Sarah's invite just now. Try again in a few minutes." — nothing was sent. Tap Try again in a few minutes. iCloud invites aren't affected.
• "Sarah is already in." — you tapped Cancel invite or Resend, but Sarah had just joined. Her row now shows her as in. Tap Remove if you didn't want her to be.
• "We couldn't check Sarah's iCloud. Try again in a minute." iPhone & Mac
• "Sign in to iCloud in Settings to share with Sarah." — tap Open Settings, or Skip to leave Sarah out for now. iPhone & Mac
• "Your iCloud storage is full…" or "Couldn't reach iCloud…" — free up space, or check your connection, then try again.
• "Dan's phone needs Google Drive to get your visits. You can connect it the next time you share with Dan." — tap Connect Google Drive, or Not now.
• "This Google account doesn't allow sharing by link. Use a personal Google account." — some work and school accounts block this.
• "What does your family call you?" — ADVCT needs a name to put in the message. Type it, then try again.
• "This record was shared the old way, so an invite can't reach another household from it. Stop sharing it, then share it again."

Messages you might see after someone joins or asks to help All phones

• "Someone joined your family sharing" — "Open ADVCT to see who." — open Who sees your visits to see the name.
• "Check who sees your visits" — a second phone tried an invite that was already used. See When someone joins.
• "Open this on the phone or Mac you sent the invite from." — you opened a help request on a different Apple device from the one you sent the invite from. iPhone & Mac
• "This request is too old. Ask Sarah to send it again." — a help request link only works for a short while.

Messages you might see when you join All phones

• "You're offline. Connect to the internet, then tap Join again."
• "This invite has ended. Ask Mom to send a new one." or "This invite was already used. Ask Mom for a new one."
• "We couldn't open Mom's invite just now. Try again in a minute." — tap Try again. Nothing was used up.
• "Update ADVCT, then tap the link again." or "This invite is from an older ADVCT. Ask Mom to update ADVCT and send you a new one."
• "That link didn't work. Ask them to send it again."
• "You still have an old copy of Mom's visits from an earlier share. Join to replace it with Mom's visits as they are now." — Mom stopped sharing with you, then shared again. Tap Replace and join to swap your old copy for her visits as they are now. Tap Not now to keep your old copy. The invite waits under Invites for you, and Join asks again.
• "To tick off to-dos, sign in to Google once…" — tap Sign in to Google, or Just read for now.
• "We couldn't reach Mom's notes. Ask Mom to open ADVCT, then try again."
• "You'll be able to tick off to-dos once Mom opens ADVCT." or "Waiting for Mom to let you help" — this isn't a problem. You're in and can read. Mom's phone finishes helping the next time ADVCT runs on it. If it says "Mom hasn't let you help yet.", tap Send the request again.

Google Drive: common messages All phones

• "Your Google account doesn't allow sharing by link…" — some work and school accounts block this. Use a personal Google account.
• "Google Drive needs connecting again…" — tap Connect Google Drive.
• "Google Drive isn't connected here, so new visits can't reach your family…" — connect Google Drive again on the device you shared from.
• "Couldn't find this shared record in Google Drive…" — it may have been deleted or is no longer shared. Ask the person who shared it for a new invite.
• "Sharing hasn't stopped." — Google Drive couldn't be reached, so the share was kept. Try again when you're online.
• "That doesn't look like a valid request or invite…" or "This invite doesn't match your request on this device…" — the older steps didn't work. Ask the other person to update ADVCT, then use a link instead.

No signal at the appointment

Everything that matters works offline on both platforms. A recording made with no signal is processed on the device as usual; anything you share goes out the next time the phone has a connection.

Moving to a new Android phone Android

Settings → Deactivate this device on the old phone frees the license slot; activate the new phone with the same key from your purchase email. The speech model downloads again on the new phone (about 250 MB) — the download resumes if it's interrupted.

Lost or stolen phone All phones

If a family member's phone is lost or stolen, remove them first. In Who sees your visits, tap Remove next to their name. Then, when they have a new phone, invite them again with Add someone. Don't use New phone? Send a new invite while the old phone is still in the list: whoever holds that phone could open the new invite first and stay in. What's already on the lost phone stays there, so lock or erase it if you can.

Sharing ended

If the person who shared a record stops sharing it or removes you, you'll see Sharing ended, and you choose Keep my copy or Remove it. Your copy stops updating either way. Nothing on their side is deleted.