Help guide

Before you start

Senticomm is for verified UK local residents in a closed community (pilot: Thetford). It is a community protection and neighbour-support app — not a vigilante or emergency service. Always call 999 if someone is in immediate danger.

Install the app to your home screen for the best experience on mobile. Sign in with a passkey (no password). See Install & sign in on your phone below for step-by-step instructions.

Joining a community

• Search by postcode or town on the home page, then open your community.
• You need an invite code from a neighbour or community admin.
• You can only belong to one community at a time. Leave your current community on Profile before joining another.
• Submit your real name and street address for admin verification. This is encrypted and only shown to admins reviewing your request. If the community has published rules, you must agree to them before continuing.
• Choose a display handle — this is what other members see in chat and on the map.
• Wait on the pending screen until an admin approves you — local admins usually review within a day. While you wait, review the community rules and install the app so you can get an alert when you are approved.

Teen accounts (13–17)

• A parent or guardian who is a verified adult member can create a one-time teen invite code from Profile → Family accounts.
• The teen joins with the parent code and their own passkey — no invite code, real name, or address needed. The parent confirms they are 13 or over and consents.
• Teen accounts are SOS-only: they can hold the SOS button to alert nearby adults, but have no chat, map, incident reports, alerts, or profile.
• Teen accounts cannot be appointed as community admins or moderators.
• When a teen sends an SOS, their parent is always alerted along with nearby members, and neighbours see a Teen label on the alert. The parent can open the SOS tab to see how many neighbours are responding while the teen’s alert is active (observe only — the teen marks I’m safe).
• Parents can remove a teen's access at any time. If the parent leaves or is banned, the teen's access ends automatically.

Navigation

Once approved, use the bottom bar: Map, Chat, SOS, Profile, and (if you are an admin) Admin.

Badge dots on Map and Chat show new activity since you last opened those tabs.

Map & incident reports

• The map shows active incident pins and a 72-hour heatmap of reports in your area.
• Tap the + button to report something. Pick a category, add a short note, and choose your location (near you or by postcode/street).
• You can post anonymously — your handle is hidden from other members on that report.
• Reports expire after 72 hours. Open a pin or list item to read details, show it on the map, or attend.
• Attending shares your live GPS with the reporter so they can see you en route. Tap again to stop attending.
• If you posted the report and neighbours are helping, tap I'm safe when you no longer need assistance.

SOS alerts

• Open the SOS tab and call 999 first if there is an immediate emergency.
• Need bigger buttons or clearer text? Tap Larger text / high contrast on the SOS screen (saved on that phone). Tap again for normal size.
• Hold the SOS button for three seconds to alert nearby active neighbours. Add optional backup email and push notifications on Profile for when the app is closed.
• Your SOS location must be inside your community boundary — GPS fixes outside the area are rejected.
• Shared SOS alerts and map pins use an approximate ~100 m grid for privacy (not your exact house coordinates). Neighbours are routed to help using your live fix briefly; what others see on the pin and live alert is snapped for privacy.
• SOS with location creates a short-lived red pin on the map (about 15 minutes).
• When you no longer need help, tap I'm safe on the SOS screen or your SOS pin — this clears the alert, removes the pin, and notifies neighbours who are responding.
• While your SOS is active, the app shows how many neighbours are responding (for example “3 neighbours responding”) so you know if help is on the way.
• If you see a neighbour's SOS on the map, open the pin and tap I'm responding to share your location — you do not need to open the SOS tab to help.
• SOS requires an internet connection. Offline, use Call 999 on the SOS screen.
• Nearby members may be alerted — there is no guarantee anyone will respond.

If you respond to a neighbour

• Respond to support the person who raised the alert — not to confront, chase, or punish anyone.
• Prefer lawful, proportionate neighbour support: walk with them, stay visible nearby, call 999, or wait until police arrive.
• Visible presence can deter trouble (for example neighbours in gardens or on the street) — Senticomm is not a vigilante app.
• Do not put yourself at risk. You are never required to respond, and you are not expected to fight.
• If someone is being attacked, call 999 first. Only intervene physically if you can do so safely and lawfully under UK law.

Chat

• General chat is open to all active members after approval. A pinned community notice may appear at the top of chat — open full local rules from there.
• High priority unlocks after your first 24 hours in the community.
• Utility channel is for admins and moderators only.
• Messages are encrypted in the app; community members with channel access can read them.
• Tap Report on someone else's message if you need an admin to review it.
• If an admin bans a member, remaining members may see a brief “Chat security updated” notice — the community chat key is rotated for everyone's protection. The same rotation happens when a member leaves. With push enabled, you also get a notification when the app is closed so you can open Chat and refresh.

Profile

• Share your 8-character neighbour invite code so others can request to join.
• Family accounts — create a one-time teen (13+) invite code, see linked teen accounts, and remove their access if needed.
• Add an optional email for SOS backup alerts if your community has email configured.
• Enable push notifications (production build / installed PWA) for SOS, join approval, bans, and chat security updates when the app is closed. While waiting for approval you can enable join notifications on the waiting screen. On iPhone, install from Safari to the home screen first — see Install & sign in on your phone.
• Leave community — type LEAVE to confirm. You are signed out, lose access to chat, map, and SOS, and the community chat key is rotated for remaining members. Sign in again with your passkey and use a new invite to rejoin. The sole remaining admin cannot leave until another admin is appointed. You cannot leave while you have an active SOS alert.
• Request account deletion — asks your community admin to permanently erase your account. This is separate from leaving; see the Privacy policy.
• Sign out when using a shared device.

If you are a community admin

• Admin tab: Pending (approve or reject joins), Reports (chat reports), Members (ban, unban, appoint or remove community admins, or erase accounts), Activity (moderation audit log), and Rules (edit the pinned chat notice and full community rules).
• If you are a new founding admin, follow Starting a new community on this Help page for first neighbours (invite code, Pending, Rules).
• Review verification details carefully before approving. Pending cards warn when name and street look similar to a banned (or existing active) member — this can catch rejoins under a new passkey. Treat warnings as a hint, not proof; reject if unsure.
• Dismiss false chat reports or ban members who break community rules. You can add an optional ban reason stored in the audit log.
• Banning ends the member's access immediately (their session is invalidated). They must sign in again after an unban.
• Only community admins (not moderators) can appoint other admins. Teen accounts cannot be made admins.
• Erase permanently deletes an account. Moderators can erase ordinary members but cannot erase admins — the same hierarchy as ban. Confirm erasure on Members by typing their handle. Members who request deletion show a “Deletion requested” badge.
• Dismiss false map reports from the map admin tools.
• Admins show an Admin badge next to their handle in chat and on the map.

Need more help?

For membership or moderation in your community, contact your community administrator first.

For app, privacy, or technical questions, use the contact form.

Want to start Senticomm in your town? See Starting a new community below, then contact us with topic Start a community.