Temple Recommends via Mobile App

Hello,

I am wondering what the possibility would be in getting Temple Recommends from your phone via an App or through the LDS Tools app within your member profile or something similar. This would be both for endowed Adults as well as for Limited Use recommends for the youth. As a ward clerk, I see way too many cases in which the paper form of the recommend is lost, especially with the Limited Use recommends. Why not have this available in the App where the barcode on the paper recommend and status is included in your member profile that can be validated and scanned when going to the temple and will never be lost? This is the direction we are headed and it would be so much easier to control and manage not to mention the time it takes to re-interview someone that has lost the paper version. There could also be notifications, etc when it will expire.

As far a recommend interviews, the Bishop and member of the Stake Presidency would no longer need to sign anything or take and destroy your old one. Once the interview is complete, they would be able to go in and check a box that would approve/activate the recommend once the interview is concluded. I know there will be security concerns about this but it shouldn't really be any different than what is currently in place from the Tools application. Only members of the Bishopric will see the status of the recommend along with the member themselves.

Thoughts? Is this something that is currently in the works or that could be done?

Thanks,
Jared Steele

As a follow up to this, if this is not the correct place/format to post suggestions like this, can someone tell me where/who this should go to?

Thanks.

The forums are only user-to-user help. We can discuss the suggestion here but it won't be seen any anyone who makes decisions about these things.

Since this regards the LDS Tools app, the appropriate place to make a suggestion would be using the Feedback option in the app itself (in Android it's under Help > Contact Us).

Since this would require changes to policies involving temple recommends, I expect the final decision would have to go up to the First Presidency level. So it probably would not be quick even if it happens.

One problem I see with the idea is that cell phones are generally supposed to be left outside the temple or turned off. If the recommend is on the phone then people would have to keep their phone on until after entering the temple. That might be a distraction inside the temple that may be inappropriate.

Thanks for the reply and feedback. With LDS Tools app, is this controlled by the church? I would like to get this in front on those that would be willing to listen and think about this idea.

I understand your concern about the phone being left outside the temple, but honestly, I have a hard time believing that everyone that enters the temple does not have their phones with them. I know I do. I turn my off as soon as I go in. If the concern is having more phones within the temple, it actually might be beneficial in giving temple goers a reminder after the recommend is scanned to turn them off. I don't think I have ever been told when entering the temple to leave my phone behind or to even turn it off.

steele7 wrote:Thanks for the reply and feedback. With LDS Tools app, is this controlled by the church?

Yes, LDS Tools is an official church app and decisions regarding what features are included are made by the general authorities over such things. Suggestions made via the feedback link will get to the product manager (a church employee) over LDS Tools.

steele7 wrote:I don't think I have ever been told when entering the temple to leave my phone behind or to even turn it off.

I've never been told but I have seen reminder signs.

Thanks. Sounds like it would be best to submit this feedback within the Tools app.

I think a verbal reminder would be better than relying on signage. Being told at the time you scan your recommend by phone to then turn it off would be much more effective in my opinion.

Appreciate your comments here.

The technology is there, temple recommend status is already managed online, and LDS Tools is a logical place. I like the idea.

The mobile apps team is small (currently one iOS developer and one Android developer assigned to LDS Tools). A feature like this would need to be requested by the temple department, reviewed by the Church's legal / risk management teams, approved by assigned general authorities (or potentially the First Presidency because it deals with access to temples), then prioritized by the product manager against all the other things being worked on.

Something to consider is that paper recommends would still need to be distributed, for anyone who doesn't have an Android or iOS device with LDS Tools (or who doesn't want to install the app because it takes up space, etc.).

The only security concern I can think of that's different from paper recommends is that there will be a "copy" of your recommend on any device that's logged into your LDS Account (i.e. someone could be using your recommend on another device, logged into your account, without you ever finding out – and that copy will update itself whenever you renew your recommend). This could be alleviated a little bit if you could see a running list of where and when you used your recommend (which would be nice as a feature in and of itself, but would require the server to track that data, which it doesn't currently do – so more development work to support it).

I also imagine the walkways just beyond the recommend desk getting cluttered with people waiting for their phone to turn off. It would look kind of like Pokemon Go.

steele7 wrote:I don't think I have ever been told when entering the temple to leave my phone behind or to even turn it off.

The reminder sign is on every recommend desk at every temple. Nevertheless, we often hear cell phones ringing inside lockers in the dressing room. If temple workers see a patron using a cell phone in the temple, we gently remind them to turn off their phone while inside the temple.

Thanks sbradshaw. I would agree that paper recommends would still be needed but I would guess that the majority of the younger generation would use the mobile recommend, including youth which would be a big help. This would be similar to the option now of paying donations online rather than in paper through the clerks. I know many older folks still pay with checks but almost every one else under 60-65 pay online, at least in my ward.

In terms of the lines, I would hope that people can turn off their phones while continuing to walk. And again would be a good verbal reminder. I have never noticed the signs on the desks before.

Only half-kidding here: Perhaps some day we will all have RFID chips in our hands, so we can just walk past a scanner. The chip might also vibrate once each day, beginning two months prior to our recommend expiration. Hey, it could work, but I can only imagine the panic from some members.

sbradshaw wrote:The only security concern I can think of that's different from paper recommends is that there will be a "copy" of your recommend on any device that's logged into your LDS Account

I'm thinking that if it's a screen, it would be easier to forge than a paper recommend.

If it were my choice, the screen would have something that shows that it's "live" (such as time in UTC) and requires that someone use their PIN or do a logon just before showing it.

I'd think another concern would be that if it's on LDS Tools and paper, then there's two copies floating around. That would make it easy to loose track of one of them. Perhaps you would have to choose which one you want when you have your interview.

I think when it scans, a picture of yourself comes up on the screen, similar if they were looking at your DL so it confirms its you in that way. I am not sure what comes up when they scan the paper form. Again, there are probably better ways to do this but I am just thinking as we go along. I certainly don't have the best answers as I am not a developer.

I would think you wouldn't have 2 copies. You would have one or the other but not both. That wouldn't make any sense. Much harder to lose your phone than a little white piece of paper. And since it would be tied to your account, if you do lose your phone, break it or when upgrading, the recommend stays unchanged within your account.

Our bishopric wants to take and upload photos of everyone in the ward to the ward directory. However, I and many other members would decline that, and refuse to have our photos taken.

Why not? Only members of the ward and stake (for those that use the app) can see photos.

For what they are worth, here are some thoughts I have had while reading through this thread.

LDS Tools would be an appropriate place to make the suggestion. It will eventually make it to the product manager for that product. It will not be the first time the suggestion has been made.

This adds a new point of failure beyond lost or forgotten recommends: my battery is dead. It could also create potential issues for some users who are visiting foreign countries (devices automatically roaming when turned on, etc.).

This is actually a much broader project than just the mobile apps team. The technical work would involve at least four different teams and more than two dozen people who work on the various systems that would be affected. That doesn't count those who would be responsible for setting the initial requirements, approving the change, etc.

I leave my phone in the car when going to the temple.

This would have solved the issue when we were out of town last week, ended up with some extra time near a temple, and didn't have recommends with us.

This introduces a new concern with sync where a member has an updated temple recommend but hasn't done an LDS Tools sync to get the new recommend information.

Thanks for your thoughts. I am sure it has been suggested before and I am sure there are pros and cons and that it goes both ways. I am also sure the work effort for something like this is by no means small. I just see how it would benefit many people.

Are paper recommends completely fool proof? Of course not, which you noted. Had you had your recommend on your phone, no issues. Syncing takes a minute or so. Nothing will be without its issues. But with the way things are headed in a technological sense, I think it is just a natural transition. Who would have thought 5-10 years ago that we would be able to pay our donations online?

This also could be rolled out region by region or have beta locations to test before rolling out it church wide. I am sure the international thing could be worked out as well. I don't see that as an issue but could have some speed bumps.

steele7 wrote:Had you had your recommend on your phone, no issues.

Well, there would be the minor issue that I was in shorts and a T-shirt -- not typical temple attire.

An RFID chip in your hand to enter the temple? Maybe along with facial recognition? I don't see it - too close to Revelations 13:16.
(OK, just kidding).

Try taking a picture of the bar code and recommend . That may work.

What temple districts are eligible for the mobile temple recommend experiment?

Members have been asking us how to activate the mobile app on Tools. The website instruction shows a "Temple Recommend" button, but I have every "Temple" related button imaginable, but not the one that is described as "Temple Recommend". Evidently that is not the same "Temple Recommend Status", "My Temple", etc.

HStevenAdams wrote: Tue Mar 18, 2025 9:45 am Members have been asking us how to activate the mobile app on Tools. The website instruction shows a "Temple Recommend" button, but I have every "Temple" related button imaginable, but not the one that is described as "Temple Recommend". Evidently that is not the same . . .

We have not been told which temples are included in the test. I only know the original three. I have also been told that a few more have been added. There are not very many temples/stakes participating.

You will not see the Temple Recommend button unless your stake is in a participating temple district and a member of the bishopric set your recommend as a mobile recommend either at the time it was issued or sometime later while it is still valid.

Your ward leaders should be able to tell you if your stake is participating in the test.

That answers my question. But I am in the bishopric and the first time I heard of anything about this was this morning when a member was wanting to register for it. But now we know. Thank you.