Phone

JwC provides a few settings dependent on your device's capabilities.

If this tab appears empty, then your device lacks any of the capabilities that could be setup here.

Currently all possibilities are related to texting (messaging).

Therefore these notes apply:

1. Android: Devices have Background SMS capability, but recently Play Store stopped allowing publication of most apps that utilize it.

   (Presumption: Perhaps rogue apps had been sending unseen and unanticipated SMS messages.)

2. Apple iOS: Background SMS is not available.

3. Windows UWP: Only the now discontinued Windows 10 phones were allowed to send texts; the Desktop "Messenger" app is receive-only of phone-company messages.

    However the new "Your Phone" function in recent Windows 10 does allow you to tie your ANDROID phone to Windows 10 and send a text.

    You may also prefer subsrciption-based "MySMS" from the App Stores, which allows you to send text as if Windows 10 were your phone. (This is NOT a recommendation.)

    JwC does NOT utilize either; therefore no UWP Text Messaging is provided.

Use Short Texting: Appears only on devices capable of sending SMS (Short Messages, i.e., Texting).

You must have a separate SMS app already installed to actually use this option, which is off by default.

See Texting.

Background SMS: Currently available only with Android devices if JwContacts was side-loaded (not via Play Store).

("Sideloading": See https://www.jwcontacts.com/Pages/Downloads.html.)

Without this option each text you send will bring up your SMS app's approval screen.

If on, JWC will quietly send a text to each designated person and then just inform you of Success.

General Texting Period: Applies to non-emergency texting of anyone in the Congregation | Persons data area, invcluding the My Service Group subset.

Generally it would be inconsiderate to text publishers during normal sleeping hours.

These optional settings limit texting outside the indicated hours solely to emergencies.

Also, each Congregation Person has an entry allowing setting an individually different hour range or even refusing to allow non-emergency texts.

Thus your texting is limited to:

1. Emergency texts can always be sent.

2. Non-emergency texts can only be sent under all these conditions:

    a. Within the hour range shown here.

    b. The individual accepts non-emergency texts.

    c. Within any more restrictive hour range the individual has requested.