Setting up the watch
This page takes you through the settings on the watch that Lanturne needs. It is easiest with the watch in your hand, sitting next to the person who wears it, with a cup of something and no hurry. You only have to do it once, and after that the app on your phone tells you if anything changes.
First, install Lanturne on the watch
Lanturne comes as two apps. The app on your phone is where you subscribe, set things up and get alerts. The watch needs its own copy. Installing Lanturne on your phone does not put it on the watch, and you cannot pair the watch until it is there.
On the watch, open the Play Store, search for Lanturne and install it. It is the same listing as the phone app, so there is nothing extra to buy. Open it, and the watch shows the six-digit code your phone asks for.
The Lanturne watch face on the right is a separate download, and it is optional. It puts a Help button in the middle of the watch face, so the wearer never has to go looking for the app.
When Lanturne first opens on the watch
The first time Lanturne opens, the watch asks for permission to use location, heart rate, physical activity and notifications. Choose Allow each time. When the watch offers "Allow all the time", choose that. For location, the watch reads out what to do: choose allow all the time, then press the back button.
If one of the questions got a "Don't allow" by mistake, do not worry. It is easy to put right, and the steps below show where each setting lives.
Lanturne keeps an eye on these settings for as long as the watch is paired. If one of them gets switched off, the Status tab in the app on your phone shows you which one. Settings can change months later, after an update, a battery-saving prompt, or a tap by accident, so this check never stops.
Most of these can only be changed on the watch itself, so you need the watch in your hand.
The six settings
1Location
On the watchSettings→Location→On
This is the watch's own location switch. It is separate from the permission you give Lanturne, and it is the one people miss most often. Lanturne cannot turn it on for you.
With it on, an alert about a HELP press or a fall shows you on a map where the watch is, so you know where to go. Check-ins carry a position too, and most other alerts show the last place the watch reported.
If it is off: alerts still arrive, but without a position, and nothing on the alert tells you that one is missing.
2Location for Lanturne
On the watchSettings→Apps→App list→Lanturne→Permissions→Location→Allow
Choose "Allow all the time" if the watch offers it. A fall can happen while Lanturne is closed, and this is what lets that alert carry a position.
If it is off: alerts arrive without a position. If it is allowed only while the app is open, an alert about a fall arrives without a position. The HELP button is not affected.
3Heart rate
On the watchOpen Lanturne→Allow heart rate→Allow all the time
You can also find it under Settings → Apps → App list → Lanturne → Permissions. It may be called Sensors or Body sensors.
Lanturne records the pulse the watch reads and shows the latest one in the app on your phone. It is what the watch could read, not a medical measurement.
If it is off, or allowed only while the app is open: the watch cannot send a pulse, and you may get an alert about a missing pulse when nothing is wrong.
4Notifications
On the watchSettings→Apps→App list→Lanturne→Notifications→Allow
This is how the daily check-in reaches the person you look after. At check-in time the watch buzzes, shows "Tap to say you are okay" with an I'm OK button, and reads the words out loud.
If it is off: the check-in never appears on the watch, so it cannot be answered, and you get a missed check-in alert for a question that was never asked.
5Physical activity, for fall detection
On the watchSettings→Apps→App list→Lanturne→Permissions→Physical activity→Allow
The watch detects falls itself. This permission is what lets Lanturne hear about a fall the watch has detected.
If it is off: falls are not detected. The HELP button still works.
6Background activity
On a Samsung Galaxy WatchGalaxy Wearable app on the paired phone→Watch settings→Battery→Background usage limits→Never sleeping apps→Add Lanturne
OtherwiseSettings→Apps→App list→Lanturne→Battery→Unrestricted
The wording varies. Look for "Unrestricted", "Don't optimize" or "Allow background activity".
If you see a switch called "Pause app activity if unused" for Lanturne, turn it off. It lets Android switch Lanturne off when nobody opens it, and nobody opens it on purpose.
If it is off: the watch can hold Lanturne back while it is idle, which usually means overnight, so reports arrive hours late or not at all.
Checking that it worked
Open Lanturne on your phone and go to the Status tab. Give it about half an hour after you finish.
- Last seen shows how recently the watch reported, for example "just now" or "10 min ago".
- If a setting on the watch is off, a card headed "One thing needs attention on the watch" appears and names it. When no card appears, every setting Lanturne checks is fine, and you are done.
- If Last seen still says "Never" after an hour, the watch is not getting online. Check that it is on Wi-Fi, has mobile signal, or is near the phone it was set up with.
When something turns off later
Now and then you may open Lanturne and see a card saying something needs attention on the watch. It means Lanturne noticed a setting change and is telling you now, so you are not surprised by it during an emergency.
One thing needs attention on the watch
Notifications are off. The daily check-in is not shown at all.
Settings → Apps → App list → Lanturne → Notifications → Allow
This is not an alert. A card like this means one part of Lanturne is not working as well as it should. It does not mean anything has happened to the person you look after. Fix it the next time you are with the watch.
If the card mentions the battery or the app being paused
The watch is holding Lanturne back, and reports arrive late or not at all.
- Pause app activity if unused. Android may switch Lanturne off when nobody opens it, and take its permissions away with it. Turn that switch off for Lanturne on the watch, then open Lanturne on the watch.
- The watch has put Lanturne to sleep. In the Galaxy Wearable app on the paired phone, go to Watch settings → Battery → Background usage limits → Never sleeping apps, and add Lanturne.
- Battery is restricted. Settings → Apps → App list → Lanturne → Battery → Unrestricted.
If the card mentions the check-in
The morning question is not reaching the wrist.
- Notifications are off. The daily check-in is not shown at all. Settings → Apps → App list → Lanturne → Notifications → Allow.
- The check-in cannot open the screen. The watch buzzes and speaks at check-in time but shows nothing. Allow Lanturne to show full-screen notifications on the watch.
If the card mentions falls
- Fall detection is not permitted. Falls are not detected, and the HELP button still works. Settings → Apps → App list → Lanturne → Permissions → Physical activity → Allow.
- Fall detection is not running. Open Lanturne on the watch.
If the card mentions the pulse
- Heart rate is not permitted. No pulse is recorded. Open Lanturne on the watch and allow heart rate.
- Heart rate is allowed only while the app is open. Most reports carry no pulse. Open Lanturne on the watch and choose Allow all the time.
- Heart rate is not being streamed. The watch is not sending a pulse. Open Lanturne on the watch, and write to us if the line stays.
If the card mentions the location
- Location is switched off. Alerts arrive without a position. Settings → Location → On.
- Location is not permitted. Alerts arrive without a position. Settings → Apps → App list → Lanturne → Permissions → Location → Allow.
- Location is not allowed all the time. An alert about a fall arrives without a position, and the HELP button is not affected. Settings → Apps → App list → Lanturne → Permissions → Location → Allow all the time.
Why a setting turns off
- A battery-saving prompt was accepted. Watches offer these when the battery runs low, and saying yes usually limits what apps can do in the background.
- Lanturne was reinstalled, or the watch was reset. Permissions have to be given again after either one.
- A system update changed an app setting. Some updates reset battery settings for apps.
- Somebody tapped something by accident. A watch gets bumped and brushed all day long.
Fixing it
You need the watch in your hand, or for the Samsung sleeping apps setting, the phone the watch is paired with. Lanturne cannot change the watch's settings from your phone.
After you change a setting, the card clears the next time the watch reports, usually within half an hour. There is nothing to restart.
Questions? Use the contact form at lanturne.com/contact. A person reads every message.
Lanturne is not a medical device and not an emergency service. It sends alerts to you and your emergency contact, and it does not contact emergency services.