Gospel Living' app circles

Can someone create their own 'circle' and name it ?

I would like to link it other family members living outside my home, or other callings I am involved in other than WC.

I'm wondering the same thing.. We would like to use this for our stake youth committee.

I don't think there is a way to currently, however, that would be a good suggestion to send as feedback (under Settings). Currently the app is targeted mainly for youth, with their leaders and parents, so communication beyond that is limited.

In note that we previously had a "Stake Presidency" circle. But it has now disappeared. Some other circles have also disappeared.

This has got to be the most requested feature. Hopefully they bring this to life soon!

It appears that the leader of a class or organization automatically becomes the administrator of a circle for that group. Is that correct?

For example, I was able to set up a circle called My Household, probably because I am a head of household. But I see no other circles.

Would I just wait, then, for my elders quorum president to start that circle? Is this how they work? Can a bishop set up a ward circle?

lajackson wrote:Would I just wait, then, for my elders quorum president to start that circle? Is this how they work? Can a bishop set up a ward circle?

Unit circles (the ones that correspond to ward organizations) are created automatically. From what I understand, there isn't an elders quorum circle in the current iteration of Gospel Living, only circles for youth quorums / classes / leaders (because that's the target audience for now). Having circles for other organizations would be a good suggestion to send in feedback. Personally, I'd like to see circles for all ward organizations in Member Tools.

I'm curious if the youth quorum presidencies have their own circle or is it just the quorums themselves?

Yes — Circles for presidencies

What about divorce families. Is there a way for a child to be part of two households? We really need to put the ability to add circles.

It would be nice to edit circles to include people. We've been using what'sapp for a few years. In it we have groups for priests/teachers/deacons (and others). The parents are included so they can help their children with activities. We also have primary activities for younger and the older girls. Since most young children don't have a smartphone, we include the parents in the group for activity communication. It would be nice to have those features in circles.

I am primary president in my ward and would like to add a circle for each primary class or even the entire primary. In addition the entire Bishopric is included on my primary presidency chat, it would be nice if only the counselor over primary was included in this circle. The app says I am an administrator and can edit the circles but I have yet to figure out how to do this. Any suggestions?

Can a seminary teacher have a "circle" with his/her class?

PhillipsDT wrote:Can a seminary teacher have a "circle" with his/her class?

It appears for the moment that circles are preset in the app and that there is very little that can be done to change the way they have been set by the Church. The best way to let the developers know of requests such as this is to send feedback. Even doing that, the developers will still need to receive instruction from their priesthood leaders to make changes to the app.

Sending feedback is the quickest way to start the process.

madajaju wrote:What about divorce families. Is there a way for a child to be part of two households? We really need to put the ability to add circles.

In addition to reporting this need through the feedback, this is the kind of thing I recommend you report to the stake President. He can also inquire of his leaders and bring visibility to the problem.

We have multiple youth in our ward with divorced parents who share joint custody and live in the same ward boundaries. The app falls flat here by defining parents as the adults in the youths household. It's a really poor definition that renders this app practically useless for us.

It may not be perfect, but I think it's a pretty amazing first stab. I don't think it was a poor decision to go with what they did. It's the simplest way to do it- to simply go by the households on membership records. Anything else requires a lot of extra work on customization and flexibility. Rather than spend all that time making an amazing feature, they got the app out so people can start to use it. Like anything is not going to be workable for every situation. But I really appreciate what they've done.
Most likely, they've recognized those limitations, but if you think about it, there's no way for the developers to know or understand unique circumstances within wards and stakes. And most likely, people would be even more upset if they tried and got that wrong.

davestlyon wrote:It may not be perfect, but I think it's a pretty amazing first stab. I don't think it was a poor decision to go with what they did. It's the simplest way to do it- to simply go by the households on membership records. Anything else requires a lot of extra work on customization and flexibility. Rather than spend all that time making an amazing feature, they got the app out so people can start to use it. Like anything is not going to be workable for every situation. But I really appreciate what they've done.
Most likely, they've recognized those limitations, but if you think about it, there's no way for the developers to know or understand unique circumstances within wards and stakes. And most likely, people would be even more upset if they tried and got that wrong.

I see now that my post may have come across as more negative than I intended. I agree that its a great app. And it is probably the best communication tool the Church has produced to date. It's just that in my congregation's specific situation, leaving custodial parents out of these communications has a high and unacceptable cost. So we may be required to use the channels we currently use.

For what it's worth, the send message function in LCR does handle our situation. When I select parents of youth for recipients, I get all biological and step parents of all youth regardless of household. If circles worked the same way, it would be perfect for us.

I was made aware of an a slight issue this morning concerning circles. In some cases dependent ward youth are not connected in a circle with the supporting ward youth leaders/advisers. For example some buildings may have an English-speaking ward and two other non-English speaking wards however the youth in all of those wards are in the same youth activity group. The idea of being able to link circles into a larger circle came to mind as I thought about this issue. Is a solution to this issue on the radar?

pjeffrey wrote:Is a solution to this issue on the radar?

I'd use the "feedback" feature in the app to point that out.

As far as I'm aware, "Dependency" is not recorded in any electronic record. So it would be impossible to have that happen automatically. They'd have to find out some way to deal with it.

Is there a reason the specialists for quorums are not included in the circle? Is there a way to add them?

Is there going to be a feature to access cicles on a computer for those youth who do not have access to a mobile device.

I was hopeful this app would have a compelling social aspect to draw the youth to it, in addition to it being a general communication tool for all members. Where can we find good stories of how units have successfully integrated this into youth's daily lives? If the social aspect isn't going to draw them in, and as currently implemented I don't think it will (hope I'm wrong about that), I'd like to hear about examples of successful integration.

trorchard wrote:Is there a reason the specialists for quorums are not included in the circle? Is there a way to add them?

Our specialists are included in the quorum Circles, as well as advisers.

However, we switched an adviser and specialist from one YW class to another in LCR, but the change has not taken place in Circles yet (12 hours later). Will update later if they eventually do show up.

In the past, we've advised people to wait 24 hours after a calling change before getting concerned.

We were hoping to include all of our primary children’s parents and teachers in a group. Having the circles for the activity age and older is great but we still have those young ones we want to involve. So an addition to circles would be great. Even if each group only get a couple to edit as they see fit for their ward.

Bahachi2459 wrote:We were hoping to include all of our primary children’s parents and teachers in a group. Having the circles for the activity age and older is great but we still have those young ones we want to involve. So an addition to circles would be great. Even if each group only get a couple to edit as they see fit for their ward.

I recommend you provide this as feedback (see your profile on the app for the link) from the app itself. That will ensure it goes for consideration to those responsible for the programmer's priorities. You also might explain your use-case for the feature to help them understand the reason for the request.

Our elders quorum has multiple committee's, we want to make circles for each each committee+the presidency to increase the communication and awareness of how things are going.

Please add the custom circles please.

loppygoof wrote:Our elders quorum has multiple committee's, we want to make circles for each each committee+the presidency to increase the communication and awareness of how things are going.

Please add the custom circles please.

There was a notice from the church that ability to create custom circles is coming - no one knows when. Remember that this app is barely out of beta - it has lots of rough edges. Other than being patient, the best thing you can do is provide feedback from within the app on the features you desire (and a use-case for their value).

loppygoof wrote:Please add the custom circles please.

Please use the in-app feedback please.

No decision-makers visit this forum.

I see the advisor was automatically added to the circles but specialists were not. Can they be added? Also, is it possible to have one with the members and their parents?

I will say there is quite a bit of confusion on this.. if this is a youth only app it hasn't been communicated very well to that effect..

maybe an email should be sent out letting everyone know that it is a youth only app for now..

most of the online references (like in the new Era) don't say anything about being a youth only app

How do you get the circles to sync??

avonnied wrote:I will say there is quite a bit of confusion on this.. if this is a youth only app it hasn't been communicated very well to that effect.

Since the beginning, the church has said this was an app for children and youth.

That said, the Church is well aware that the app could be used very beneficially by adults, and they have already announced that future revisions to the app will include those features, the ability to adjust circles, and many other feature requests that have inundated them.

In fact, the app was first announced in the Face-to-Face event with Elder Gong for the new program for children and youth. I don't know how more clear of a message that could be. All the examples in that event were children and youth - no adults (except for Elder Gong's "really cool quorum").

The app is not "only" for children and youth, but I think that was the focus given to the programmers for the first roll-out (just a hunch on my part - I have no special knowledge about it). It has useful content for everyone right now on the Discover page. It just doesn't have customized circles for other organizations yet but the church has announced they are working on that. The post of new features being worked on is also on the Discover page (called "You Asked, We Listened. Here's What's Coming In Gospel Living").

davesudweeks wrote:... (except for Elder Gong's "really cool quorum").

That is what got my hopes up, and the hopes of all our leaders. I thought, this is great for the youth, and it will be even greater for the elders quorum and the Relief Society.

Of course, the developers forgot an item or two even for the youth, such as the real world challenges of two-ward Young Men and Young Women, parents no longer together but both still involved with their children, and a few other things.

I hope they get those problems solved quickly for the youth so that they will be able to open the app up to more seasoned folks who, oddly enough, still need all the help they can get in living the gospel.

Somehow I thought old age would be a nice and peaceful and serene time. Instead, I am finding that it is chock-full of patience opportunities.

avonnied wrote:most of the online references (like in the new Era) don't say anything about being a youth only app

I wouldn't say it's "youth only" since it's intended to involve the parents as well.

But you'll notice all the places it's appeared (New Era, Face-to-Face) are youth focused.

The public announcement said that there was a Quorum of the Twelve circle. Circles seem to be away for us to manage some of the risk of social media and loosely regulated FB and other groups that do not conform to church policy.

If this is targeted for youth then why doesn't the roll out materials say that?

Frankly if there is not a huge and inclusive push to implement this app I predict failure.

corwinslack wrote:The public announcement said that there was a Quorum of the Twelve circle. Circles seem to be away for us to manage some of the risk of social media and loosely regulated FB and other groups that do not conform to church policy.

If this is targeted for youth then why doesn't the roll out materials say that?

Frankly if there is not a huge and inclusive push to implement this app I predict failure.

The public announcement said, The app will be available this year. Period, End of Sentence, nothing about expectations.

I learned a decade ago that Church IT is responsible to other departments in the church. The unfortunate truth for leaders and members is that we're not the technical customer of the tools and apps developed by the church. To have expectations is just to be let down. I guarantee, 100% positive that when an update comes out it'll have some kind of crazy new thing that every will say, WHAT???? and not some very basic thing everyone thinks should be in it. Just look at the content in the 'Discover' app and how it's changing and evolving, and you can see the round-robin church-department 'turns' at enhancing the new tools.

The app fails because of 2 things. Leaders want to use it to communicate but a substantial portion of the 11/12/13/14 year olds still have NO device to use. Enough families don't provide this to children to make it nearly impossible to use as a tool for 'children and youth' because the 'children and youth' are not in the tool. IF you have to maintain a second tool to communicate or still have to rely on word-of-mouth type efforts, the tool will NOT be a place that people do anything. And 2nd, that we, as a church, already communicate so poorly that we have introduced a communication tool that only applies to 1/2 the users and something we can't get everyone to use. So, who is supposed to use it?

Please, please, please put together an Elder's Quorum Member Circle. We are excited to get this app working for our quorum. I also would like an Elder's Quorum Presidency Circle. Kelly Amann EQ President

dbollard99 wrote:

trorchard wrote:Is there a reason the specialists for quorums are not included in the circle? Is there a way to add them?

Our unit is facing the same issue for Aaronic priesthood quorums and YW classes: the advisors are automatically included in the circles but none of the specialists are.

I’ve looked through LDStools and been unable to find a correlation between how one’s youth specialist calling appears and if it’s included in a class/quorum-specific youth circle.

For example: in our ward some specialist callings are listed in “YW Presidency” in LDStools while others are listed under “Additional YW Assignments.” None are included in the circles. So I surmise maybe a lack of assignment or affiliation with a specific class precluded any off the specialists from being assigned to their class-specific circles?

But no, that hypothesis was debunked...the Aaronic priesthood specialist callings are assigned/listed under a specific quorum in LDStools, yet none of our YM specialists are included in the circles either. So...??

It appears the circles are generated automatically and are based on membership record info. So is it possible a factor could be how our calling data is classified and the data inputted by the unit clerk?

A simple info flow chart/schematics tree created by a tech writer would do wonders to help us untangle this. (Our ward clerk is a great guy—of an older generational and easily flummoxed by technology.)

I’ve sent two pieces of feedback via the app—one addressing specialists needing inclusion in the circles; the other suggesting an FAQ or graphic flowchart determining which callings are included in which circles (to hopefully assist ward clerks in cleaning up how’s assignments and callings are inputted and categorized on their end)

I know, I know, my own ignorance and lack of savvy are showing in how I’ve tried to communicate the problems we’re having

***For those whose specialists ARE included in the circles—what do you suppose made it work for your unit? How are the callings showing up in your LDStools??

Our youth have not adopted the circles for many reasons. Here are a couple:

Reason 1: The YW class presidency decided not to use the circles for communication until all youth, parents, and specialists are included. They don’t want anyone excluded or to feel unwelcomed. So...cumbersome texting chains are continuing for now.

Reason 2: The Sunday after the app launched, an eager Deacon was using the app to inquire who was on it. A few exchanges later, a YM leader put up a post telling the boys to put their devices away and listen to the sacrament speaker.

After that correction, not one YM has dared to post again.

Maybe that leader could have simply turned off his notifications, enjoyed the meeting, and let the boys’ parents manage the situation.

3. Many youth in our area don’t get phones until 8 or 9th grade, or when they start driving. In the meantime, they gave access to iPods and iPads—typically family-wide devices or hand-me-downs from older siblings and parents. It’s a shame the app won’t be available to them because of the operating system requirements. Such a missed opportunity. There’s been a fair amount of disappointment over that with our youth. .

lajackson wrote:

avonnied wrote:I will say there is quite a bit of confusion on this.. if this is a youth only app it hasn't been communicated very well to that effect.

Since the beginning, the church has said this was an app for children and youth.

That said, the Church is well aware that the app could be used very beneficially by adults, and they have already announced that future revisions to the app will include those features, the ability to adjust circles, and many other feature requests that have inundated them.

I guess that is the issue/fail. It was announced at a f2f but rolled out to the general church member ship with no reference to the youth focus. The announcement in the new era does not include anything about it being just for the youth or the f2f announcement.

It’s just a section at the end of the issue listing it’s features

“Gospel Living App,” New Era, Jan. 2020, 45.

Gospel APPlication
Gospel Living App


Do you want to study the gospel, serve others, and grow in meaningful ways? The new Gospel Living app is for you! Check out some of its cool features.

Discover

The Discover feed is updated regularly with inspiring articles, videos, audio, and images. It will include links to current Come, Follow Me lessons to support your gospel study. And you can explore ideas for service and activities as well as personal development.



Today

The Today feature shows what you would like to work on as well as your upcoming activities. You can create new activities, see your reminders, and check your progress on your goals.



New Entry

Write your thoughts and impressions, save your photos, and create and set reminders for your goals.


My Life

The My Life feature is a dashboard for your content within the app. You can see and organize your thoughts and impressions, photos, and goals all in one place.


Circles

The Circles feature connects you with family, classes, quorums, and others who serve with you in the Church. You can have conversations about what you’re learning, share progress, and encourage and support each other. Plus, you can share inspirational articles, images, videos, and service and activity ideas.

dbollard99 wrote:

trorchard wrote:Our specialists are included in the quorum Circles, as well as advisers.

dbollard99: It seems you’re the only one here whose unit’s specialists were included. Several people have mentioned their specialists are not.

What lucky anomaly made it work for your unit, do you think?

If you don’t mind checking LDStools to see how your unit’s clerk assigned the specialist callings—that could prove fruitful for the rest of us (fingers crossed). My ignorance is really showing. If there’s an experienced ward clerk reading here that could shed some light (or better yet, someone from the app team)

geneanhainsworth wrote:***For those whose specialists ARE included in the circles—what do you suppose made it work for your unit? How are the callings showing up in your LDStools??

A standard issue is that custom positions carry no rights. Only standard positions do.

If the clerk/YW/WM leader typed in the calling name (perhaps to indicate the specialist's function) then it's a custom position.

One possibility: I know some wards entered Specialist callings into LCR using custom callings prior to that calling being implemented into LCR. As I recall, our one YW Specialist is listed in our YW Circle. She wasn't called until after the implementation in LCR, so we were able to utilize the standard calling.

Anyone recall when the Specialist calling was added to LCR. It was pretty late, if I remember correctly. December or January?

dbollard99 wrote:

trorchard wrote:Is there a reason the specialists for quorums are not included in the circle? Is there a way to add them?

Our specialists are included in the quorum Circles, as well as advisers.

However, we switched an adviser and specialist from one YW class to another in LCR, but the change has not taken place in Circles yet (12 hours later). Will update later if they eventually do show up.

Just an update: After updating class adult leader callings (moving Specialists and Advisers from one class to another), the change was reflected in Circles about 48 hours later. All is well for us now.

Thank you to those above for posting an explanation of standard v. nonstandard callings and the recent change made to the church’s computer system. Our secretary is passing that information along to our ward clerk.

If there’s a way to “undo” and then “re-call” someone to the same calling in the system, basically due to the software glitch (since the fix doesn’t appear to apply retroactively) that seems like an easy fix. If that’s allowed.

An alternative would be releasing all our ward’s youth specialists and reissuing callings of advisors or teachers (whatever youth callings are standard).

I will give an update once it’s resolved, one way or another!

geneanhainsworth wrote:Thank you to those above for posting an explanation of standard v. nonstandard callings and the recent change made to the church’s computer system. Our secretary is passing that information along to our ward clerk.

If there’s a way to “undo” and then “re-call” someone to the same calling in the system, basically due to the software glitch (since the fix doesn’t appear to apply retroactively) that seems like an easy fix. If that’s allowed.

An alternative would be releasing all our ward’s youth specialists and reissuing callings of advisors or teachers (whatever youth callings are standard).

I will give an update once it’s resolved, one way or another!

If I was to do this, I would print out a list of the organization that shows their sustain date and whether or not they have been set apart. Then release those who don't see the circles. Then record the call again (making sure it is a standard calling) and enter the data from the print out.

I am the YW president, and I'd like to post announcements, upcoming activities etc. to the girls, but we have 3 or 4 girls that are very active, but are not baptized members yet. I don't want them to feel "out of the loop". Is there a way to add them to my list of girls?

allibrown22 wrote:I am the YW president, and I'd like to post announcements, upcoming activities etc. to the girls, but we have 3 or 4 girls that are very active, but are not baptized members yet. I don't want them to feel "out of the loop". Is there a way to add them to my list of girls?

Not yet. However, there is a post on the Discover page that indicates that ability is coming. *When* it is coming is anyone's guess.

nutterb wrote: Anyone recall when the Specialist calling was added to LCR. It was pretty late, if I remember correctly. December or January?

The YW specialist changes were early November. The Aaronic Priesthood specialists were early January

I would love to be able to create a circle with certain friends in my institute class so that we can talk about class and plan temple trips, etc. Are there plans to make something like this possible later in the future?

Is anyone having problems with creating a child's account on the Gospel living app? We sign in on my daughter's account and a message comes up to merge unsaved data and then the screen has no data. No first name last name or email. It works for the rest of the family. It's an iphone.

No matter what I do, it will not work with my daughter's account, no matter what device she logs into. My other daughter's account works fine.

It says, "Your circles failed to load. Verify that you're connected to the internet, then refresh this page or close and restart the app."

I have been a computer programmer for two decades, and I can't figure it out. If I can't figure it out, no normal person that is not technical can. I spent a long time googling, and finally found this site.

We sent a message requesting help from the tech support and got this message from them that seemed very generic, like nobody spent any time actually trying to figure out what was wrong. It says:

"Thank you for contacting Church Account Support. We are unable to offer support for the website or app you are contacting us about. Most websites and apps have their own help section that may be able to help you resolve your issue or direct you where you can make a support request."
"Thank you,"
"Church Account Support"

And as I said, there is no web site offering troubleshooting help for the Gospel Living app that I can find.

kokobim wrote:...

"Thank you for contacting Church Account Support. We are unable to offer support for the website or app you are contacting us about. Most websites and apps have their own help section that may be able to help you resolve your issue or direct you where you can make a support request."
"Thank you,"
"Church Account Support"

And as I said, there is no web site offering troubleshooting help for the Gospel Living app that I can find.

So, you requested help for the Gospel Living app from the Church Account Support group, and they told you to request help for the Gospel Living app from the Gospel Living app support group. Is there not a 'Feedback' or 'Help' or similar link or button on the app? If there is, that would be the place to request help for that app. My 3G flip-phone won't install apps, so I can't tell you exactly what the link or button looks like. Perhaps someone else will chime in with a precise description.

Another idea would be to have both your daughters go to the Church website and then go to My Account and Ward -> My Account -> Account Settings -> Personal Information -> Membership. Make sure each has the correct MRN connected to the account. If one has the correct MRN and the other does not, that would likely explain the difference in app behavior. You can have your ward clerk or membership clerk print your household Individual Ordinance Summary reports to verify MRNs.

kokobim wrote:No matter what I do, it will not work with my daughter's account, no matter what device she logs into. My other daughter's account works fine.

It says, "Your circles failed to load. Verify that you're connected to the internet, then refresh this page or close and restart the app."

And as I said, there is no web site offering troubleshooting help for the Gospel Living app that I can find.

If your daughter is able to log in to the Gospel Living app, there is a "feedback" option on the profile page. That is only way to ensure feedback and problems are reported to the developers (as I understand).

Is there any way to set up a circle for seminary students and their teachers?

petienne wrote:Is there any way to set up a circle for seminary students and their teachers?

Currently there is not. But since the app is still being updated it may be in the works. But in case they do not have that on the roadmap you can submit feedback in the Profile tab in the Feedback section at the Send Feedback link.

I am a young woman advisor but am not part of the young women circle. Is there a way to fix that? Could the administrators (like the YW presidency) add me?

We have assigned Aaronic Priesthood Quorums specialists under the Additional Aaronic Priesthood Quorums Callings section and would like for these men to be included in circles as they help in communications or need to be looped in. Would this be possible to do?

I work in the YW. We're trying to get all the youth and their parents to download the app to utilize the circles feature for improved communication. A mother reached out for help. When she logs in she automatically has access to the circles for her household, for her calling, the relief society, and her primary children activity groups - but no access for her YW aged daughter. We went in and tried to manually connect her but that hasn't been effective. All info is correct on the mothers end. All info is up to date on the LCR. I'm trying to help her figure it out but so far no answers. Any suggestions?

jokamura wrote:This has got to be the most requested feature. Hopefully they bring this to life soon!

How are official request features handled for this app and other church software? Do they have something like Microsoft for submitting software requests?

I also would like to upvote/add a request for this functionality of creating your own circles.

Today our ward choir was talking about having its own circle.

Anyone remembering google+ circles? Church should have bought that tech(probably could have got it for cheap) and rebranded it for church use.

russ2p wrote:How are official request features handled for this app and other church software?

For this software, use the in-app feedback function. You can find it on the Profile screen.

russ2p wrote:I also would like to upvote/add a request for this functionality of creating your own circles.

If you will review the posts on the discovery page, you should see one that is titled something like "You asked, we listened..." which lists the features they are working on. Creating your own circles is on that list. I noticed yesterday that they have implemented circles for some adult groups so development is ongoing. The church typically never tells us when the updates will be available - they will be when they are.

I would like to set up a circle for my seminary class

kimden419@hawaii wrote:I would like to set up a circle for my seminary class

Patience is the key word at this point. They are still developing the app and will be adding capabilities. We have been seeing circles added but the capability to create custom circles has not be released yet.

Can Bishops get the ability to post in the Relief Society Circle?

The youth have to login with their own Church website account.

naesemail2 wrote:I work in the YW. We're trying to get all the youth and their parents to download the app to utilize the circles feature for improved communication. A mother reached out for help. When she logs in she automatically has access to the circles for her household, for her calling, the relief society, and her primary children activity groups - but no access for her YW aged daughter. We went in and tried to manually connect her but that hasn't been effective. All info is correct on the mothers end. All info is up to date on the LCR. I'm trying to help her figure it out but so far no answers. Any suggestions?

I am getting an error message "Your circles failed to load." I cant find any info on the message anywhere. Does anyone have any ideas? My teens cant use the app and our ward is all using it. Thanks.

naesemail2 wrote:I work in the YW. We're trying to get all the youth and their parents to download the app to utilize the circles feature for improved communication. A mother reached out for help. When she logs in she automatically has access to the circles for her household, for her calling, the relief society, and her primary children activity groups - but no access for her YW aged daughter. We went in and tried to manually connect her but that hasn't been effective. All info is correct on the mothers end. All info is up to date on the LCR. I'm trying to help her figure it out but so far no answers. Any suggestions?

There is a way for her to see her children's circles. Mine are all out of the house, so I can't walk you through the steps, but I have seen it in the app.

scgallafent wrote:

naesemail2 wrote:I work in the YW. We're trying to get all the youth and their parents to download the app to utilize the circles feature for improved communication. A mother reached out for help. When she logs in she automatically has access to the circles for her household, for her calling, the relief society, and her primary children activity groups - but no access for her YW aged daughter. We went in and tried to manually connect her but that hasn't been effective. All info is correct on the mothers end. All info is up to date on the LCR. I'm trying to help her figure it out but so far no answers. Any suggestions?

There is a way for her to see her children's circles. Mine are all out of the house, so I can't walk you through the steps, but I have seen it in the app.

Just a shot in the dark (I, too, am not in a position to test it). If the daughter has not yet logged in to the Gospel Living app, would that prevent anything from loading on the Parent's app (in other words, if the daughter does not have any circles because she has not yet logged in, could this be the reason the parent doesn't see any circles for the daughter)?

davesudweeks wrote:

scgallafent wrote:

naesemail2 wrote:I work in the YW. We're trying to get all the youth and their parents to download the app to utilize the circles feature for improved communication. A mother reached out for help. When she logs in she automatically has access to the circles for her household, for her calling, the relief society, and her primary children activity groups - but no access for her YW aged daughter. We went in and tried to manually connect her but that hasn't been effective. All info is correct on the mothers end. All info is up to date on the LCR. I'm trying to help her figure it out but so far no answers. Any suggestions?

There is a way for her to see her children's circles. Mine are all out of the house, so I can't walk you through the steps, but I have seen it in the app.

Just a shot in the dark (I, too, am not in a position to test it). If the daughter has not yet logged in to the Gospel Living app, would that prevent anything from loading on the Parent's app (in other words, if the daughter does not have any circles because she has not yet logged in, could this be the reason the parent doesn't see any circles for the daughter)?

That's a good thought. I don't know the answer and am not in a position where I could ask anyone today.

There is a YW who is in one of the presidencies (17-18), but she isn't in the YW circle. Anyone know why or how I can include her in her group circle?

ryanseely wrote:There is a YW who is in one of the presidencies (17-18), but she isn't in the YW circle. Anyone know why or how I can include her in her group circle?

Have the clerk verify that she's in that class.

How do you create a circle?

russellhltn wrote:

ryanseely wrote:There is a YW who is in one of the presidencies (17-18), but she isn't in the YW circle. Anyone know why or how I can include her in her group circle?

Have the clerk verify that she's in that class.

I don't think a YW can be called into a class presidency if she is not a member of the class.

meghurley wrote:How do you create a circle?

Currently, I don't think that's possible.

davesudweeks wrote:I don't think a YW can be called into a class presidency if she is not a member of the class.

True, but we'd be making an assumption that she's been properly recorded with a standard position.

russellhltn wrote:

davesudweeks wrote:I don't think a YW can be called into a class presidency if she is not a member of the class.

True, but we'd be making an assumption that she's been properly recorded with a standard position.

Fair enough!

My circles are not working. It just says that we are working on setting up your circles this may take a few minutes. I’ve be waiting for two days. What can I do?

My wife’s circles have been setting up for three days. Is this currently down or is there an issue on our end?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Last week several of my Joined Circles disappeared - namely deacons and teachers quorum and the YW one (see attached). I can see them in my Unit Circles (except for YW class). I thought as bishop I was automatically in all the youth-related circles? At least I was up until last week..

jon.hertel wrote:Is there going to be a feature to access cicles on a computer for those youth who do not have access to a mobile device.

I would like to see some response on this question as well.

dbretey wrote:I would like to see some response on this question as well.

Just to avoid misunderstanding, this is a user-to-user discussion forum. As far as I am aware, nobody monitors this forum in an official capacity to gather input for decisions or to make official responses. There are two official channels to send input and/or request official responses: 1) bug your bishop and/or stake president; 2) use the 'Feedback' button on a relevant page on the Church website.

madajaju wrote:What about divorce families. Is there a way for a child to be part of two households? We really need to put the ability to add circles.

Yes please!!

My husband and I are seminary teachers in our ward and I am wondering how we can create a circle for our class. We really miss them and want to be able to share with each other especially while we can’t meet in person.
Thank you.

Stephaniemariepoff wrote:My husband and I are seminary teachers in our ward and I am wondering how we can create a circle for our class. We really miss them and want to be able to share with each other especially while we can’t meet in person.
Thank you.

At this time, you cannot create circles. I don't think anyone on this forum knows for certain when or if that ability will be available. It is an often-requested feature. I recommend you post feedback from within the app and explain the value of having one for seminary classes. Feedback from the app will be shared with those who set the programmer's priorities.

Anybody know how to make circles work for youth without a device? Can circles be accessed without one at all?

I know parents can see the activity of the kids in their own household, but do they get notifications for any of their kids’ circle activity?

cdpixton wrote:Anybody know how to make circles work for youth without a device? Can circles be accessed without one at all?

Currently a mobile device with WiFI and/or cellular data plan is required for the app. There are indications there is development of some sort ongoing for web access.

cdpixton wrote:I know parents can see the activity of the kids in their own household, but do they get notifications for any of their kids’ circle activity?

Most likely there will be some sort of activity monitoring.

madajaju wrote:What about divorce families. Is there a way for a child to be part of two households? We really need to put the ability to add circles.

I am wondering the same. Additionally, for
my children to circle up with both Wards?

Is there a way now or in the works to provide web-based access to Circles for those (like many of our youth) without cell phones?
Thanks

m_d_brown wrote:Is there a way now or in the works to provide web-based access to Circles for those (like many of our youth) without cell phones?
Thanks

That basic question has been asked elsewhere, including in earlier pages of this topic/thread. If you wish to encourage (or possibly accelerate) development of web-based access, there are two avenues: 1) talk with your bishop and/or stake president and ask them to raise the request up the ecclesiastical chain of command; 2) use the 'Feedback' button on the top-level or other page on the Church website.

Is this app dead? Is it being maintained? What is current version? How does one check for updates or are they pushed out automatically? Is it possible to create a circle, such as Temple and Family History Consultants, etc.? How do I add family members not living in my household? There is no "settings" on the app to provide feedback as suggested in above January post (this is May). If this is just for youth communications, it is worthless for those without youth in their home.

mlvsnv wrote:Is this app dead? Is it being maintained? What is current version?

No
Yes
I see version 1.2.0 on my Android.

mlvsnv wrote:How does one check for updates or are they pushed out automatically?

The same way you do for any other app in the Apple App store/Google Play Store.

mlvsnv wrote:Is it possible to create a circle, such as Temple and Family History Consultants, etc.? How do I add family members not living in my household?

Not currently. We're not sure of the plans or when any changes will take place.

mlvsnv wrote:There is no "settings" on the app to provide feedback as suggested in above January post (this is May).

If I got into "Profile" and scroll down, Feedback is the second section from the bottom.

mlvsnv wrote:If this is just for youth communications, it is worthless for those without youth in their home.

I see circles for "Adults" and "EQ" for communication within the ward.

I’m trying to add my 20 yr old son to our household circle, and see that since the lds tools has him in his own “household” I can’t add him. I do recognize the need to separate households however, and appreciate it, as I have a friend who has a restraining order against her husband and she needs to keep herself and her children safe from him. He is living in another household and so thankfully their circles are separate.

JenJoyRose wrote:I’m trying to add my 20 yr old son to our household circle, and see that since the lds tools has him in his own “household” I can’t add him.

Editing household circles is not yet available. It may be at some time in the future. Going through all the scenarios and how to implement who would be able to edit the household circle is a daunting analysis and implementation challenge. Far too many of the scenarios I imagined tells me that a special family circle, or even a family and friends circle, might be a solution rather than allowing too much editing of the household circle. We will know what solution they come up with when it is released.

How does an administrator add information for members of the circle?

LindaMiller wrote:How does an administrator add information for members of the circle?

As jdlessley said in the post immediately before yours, editing household circles is not yet available.

lajackson wrote:

LindaMiller wrote:How does an administrator add information for members of the circle?

As jdlessley said in the post immediately before yours, editing household circles is not yet available.

And I think, by extension, editing ALL circles is not yet available.

Do you have to be 13 years old to use Circles?

Since the Gospel Living App was designed initially for the youth then at least those 11 years old and older have access. Just make sure the Church Account is an account that has the membership record number (MRN) registered in the Membership section of the account profile.

No, you do not have to be 13 to use Circles. Circles for youth (Young Men, Young Women, and sunday school circles) work for youth under 13. All you need is a Church account.

I have a member in our ward that when they log in to Circles they only see their Kids in the My Household and cannot see the self and spouse? any thoughts on how to fix this?

ptarnesen wrote:I have a member in our ward that when they log in to Circles they only see their Kids in the My Household and cannot see the self and spouse? any thoughts on how to fix this?

I'm not sure how it works, but you might want to make sure everyone is in the same household. You can probably check it in Directory or Member Tools.

We've been struggling with our Relief Society circle. We got 40 sisters on and the teachers have been starting some great gospel discussions. But the last few weeks all of our comments have been disappearing for everyone. Our ward tech specialist is checking into it and several sisters have sent feedback in the app. Has anyone else been having this problem?

hathaway1 wrote:But the last few weeks all of our comments have been disappearing for everyone.

Odds are someone with admin privileges has been "cleaning their inbox", not realizing they're deleting the messages for everyone. I'm not sure who has admin, but I'd be looking at Bishopric and Relief Society presidency.

My Stake YW Presidency is asking me to help them set up a circle with this year's SYCLs and the Stake YM & YW presidencies. Is this possible?

krr23 wrote:My Stake YW Presidency is asking me to help them set up a circle with this year's SYCLs and the Stake YM & YW presidencies. Is this possible?

The capability to create circles is not yet available. A couple of weeks ago they just added the capability for administrators of a circle to edit (add and remove) members of that circle.

Yes - Circles for Bishopbric. Please!!!

paul.hixson wrote:Yes - Circles for Bishopbric. Please!!!

The bishopric circle has been available since some time around March or even earlier.

How do I sign into circles on my Chromebook?

ChaseeGrae wrote:How do I sign into circles on my Chromebook?

At this point, it's strictly a Android/iOS app. It's not available via a browser.

ChaseeGrae wrote:How do I sign into circles on my Chromebook?

Does your Chromebook have the Play Store? If so, you may be able to install the Android version of Gospel Living.

I like the Gospel Living app, and I like the Circles utility for communication! Thank you to the Tech team for putting this together! Reading back in the forums, I see the ability to create custom circles is not in the app, and it's been suggested people either 1) Ask their Bishop to escalate this request and/or 2) Add Feedback to the app. That's good, and I will follow those suggestions. I'm just curious about a few things... In the Sunday School organization, a circle of teachers seems to be a natural grouping, as well as the individual circles for each course. It would facilitate communication for things like Teacher Council, etc. Is this is on the roadmap, as far as anyone knows? Also, I have been having issues recently with the app, where I will make a post to circles, and it will not take the post, or where a single entry gets duplicated two or three times. Has anyone else experienced this, and does anyone know why it's happening? Finally, sometimes when I open a particular circle (Adults, for example, or Course 11 in the Sunday School groups), I will see no number next to the "members" icon, and will be unable to send a post to the circle. It occurs to me that seeing no member number kind of indicates I am not completely connected to the circles app, so that would explain why I can't make a post. Has anyone else had THIS experience, and does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix it?

There is not a group / circle for the Stake Audit Committee. Please will you add this else how am I able to add create this group myself. GREAT APP SO FAR!

baldwiew wrote:There is not a group / circle for the Stake Audit Committee. Please will you add this else how am I able to add create this group myself. GREAT APP SO FAR!

The ability to create groups has not been implemented yet. Use the in app feedback found in the Profile menu item to send your suggestion to those who can consider it. The forum is user-to-user help and support and there is nothing we can do to help with this.

utrider wrote:Is there a way to access circles via an internet browser? I have a member of my Quorum presidency who does not have a smart phone and so the tool is basically useless to us as a means of communication

If you will read a few posts before yours, you will see that it was reported back in Oct 2020 that there is no browser version at that time. I believe that is still the case today. I don't think anyone on the forum knows for certain if a browser version is planned or if it is on the schedule for programming. Many have requested it and if you want to add your voice, you can provide feedback from within the app or from the feedback link at the bottom of the church web pages. I'm sure the challenge of lack of access to the app for some is not lost on our church leaders, but it wouldn't hurt to provide your "business case" for the need in your feedback.

In your situation, communication may have to occur in other ways than exclusively within the Gospel Living app until a better solution comes along. But that's just my opinion.

I was just called as Young Women’s President of our new ward and wanted to implement the living app for our program. The problem is that the Young Women’s circle does not come up for me. I have checked the membership app, and I am listed as the YW President. I thought these were supposed to automatically generate. Any clue how long that takes for those that have been sustained since the app was created?

Some rights take as long as 24 hours from the time the calling is recorded until they're effective. I'm not sure what the time is for Circles.

I would love to be able to add a circle. I am the stake camp director and it would be nice to have a way to contact all the YCL's and ward camp directors. Please, please, please

hansenfam wrote:I would love to be able to add a circle. I am the stake camp director and it would be nice to have a way to contact all the YCL's and ward camp directors. Please, please, please

I'd recommend sending feedback within the app. Your post isn't likely to be seen by the decision makers.

I'd also suggest not planning on it becoming available. If it does, great. If not, you already have other plans.

Why would there be several circles that are named the same thing? And who can delete duplicate circles?

jon.hertel wrote: Sun Feb 16, 2020 1:38 pm Is there going to be a feature to access cicles on a computer for those youth who do not have access to a mobile device.

Has anything come of this? Some youth have access to computers but not cell phones or tablets. Depending on economic standing or just house choice to not provide devices they need access via web utility. And others have older Android devices the App is not supported on.

Please Tech group! Make a web utility accessible from churchofjesuschrist.org!

Joseph

jsedmonds wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 4:39 pm ,,,

Please Tech group! Make a web utility accessible from churchofjesuschrist.org!

Just to set expectations, it's unlikely anyone who can influence a solution will ever see this thread. This is a user-to-user discussion forum. The two methods for official support/help are 1) the 'Feedback' button or link on the Church website; 2) talk with your bishop or stake president to ask that the issue be raised up the chain of command.

I also need a Temple and Family History Circle. How do we get one created?

Agree!

rmrichesjr wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 6:24 pm

jsedmonds wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 4:39 pm ,,,

Please Tech group! Make a web utility accessible from churchofjesuschrist.org!

Just to set expectations, it's unlikely anyone who can influence a solution will ever see this thread. This is a user-to-user discussion forum. The two methods for official support/help are 1) the 'Feedback' button or link on the Church website; 2) talk with your bishop or stake president to ask that the issue be raised up the chain of command.

Thanks! I did follow the link in the App and provided this feedback/request.

This may be old news for all of you, but...
I have a 2020 Macbook Pro with the M1 chip and I am able to download the Circles, Living, app (I think it's the Ipad version?) and I'm using it on my laptop now.
Much easier when needing to input a lot of things.

I have a daughter that is in YW, she just started her senior year. She is the president of her YW class and uses circles all the time to communicate with the girls in her YW class. She just turned 18 and in the day of her birthday she was bumped out of the YW circles group and automatically put into the relief society circles. She's pretty frustrated with it. I know other girls turn 18 before graduation. How do we change it back? The clerks in the ward have no idea how to help her.

shugoro wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 12:54 pm How do we change it back? The clerks in the ward have no idea how to help her.

A clerk will need to re-assign her to her class. If they don't know how to do that, they can either contact the stake clerk (who is responsible for their training) or come here and someone will give them the step-by-step process.

Odds are she's also been kicked out of the YW President calling (you can't be a president unless you're part of the organization), triggering the release of any councilors. All that will have to be re-entered as well.

russellhltn wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 1:40 pm
Odds are she's also been kicked out of the YW President calling (you can't be a president unless you're part of the organization), triggering the release of any councilors. All that will have to be re-entered as well.

I would be surprised if she was released. Currently those processes are not connected (changing class assignments and auto-releasing positions).

How can I delete posts I've received? My mailboxes of some circles are becoming too large

mlvsnv wrote: Sun Sep 04, 2022 11:30 am How can I delete posts I've received?

Unless you are an administrator you cannot remove posts.
If you are an administrator of a circle in question you can delete a post by long tapping on the post to bring up the action menu and then tap 'Remove Post'.
You can contact a circle administrator and ask them to remove outdated posts.

jdlessley wrote: Sun Sep 04, 2022 7:49 pm If you are an administrator of a circle in question you can delete a post

Just note that it deletes it for everyone.

russellhltn wrote: Sun Sep 04, 2022 10:30 pm

jdlessley wrote: Sun Sep 04, 2022 7:49 pm If you are an administrator of a circle in question you can delete a post

Just note that it deletes it for everyone.

This should be emphasized. When an administrator deletes a post, it deletes it for everyone. If you're an administrator, please don't get into the habit of deleting a post soon after you've read it, because other people in the circle may not have seen it yet.

Can someone tell me why in the adult circle I can only see the females and not the males in my ward (I’m female). Is this how it is supposed to be set up?

Has anyone else had issues with the app not saving your membership record number for circles? No matter how many times I enter the info it tells me I need to sign in again and once I do it takes me back to the section where I fill out the MRN info and starts me over.

kalebmerkley@gmail.com wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 10:18 am Has anyone else had issues with the app not saving your membership record number for circles? No matter how many times I enter the info it tells me I need to sign in again and once I do it takes me back to the section where I fill out the MRN info and starts me over.

Does your login work for other things like Member Tools app, or on the church webpage to access the ward directory? If not, then there is a problem with the account and circles may not be handling the fix properly.

You can go to account.churchofjesuschrist.org/ an add your MRN in there.

bschofield wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2020 11:52 am Can someone create their own 'circle' and name it ?

I would like to link it other family members living outside my home, or other callings I am involved in other than WC.

SAME!

Here is an odd one. Someone just alerted me that his wife was no longer in the Adult Circle. When I went to check, I noticed that none of the women in the ward are part of the Adult Circle. They have all been removed, except for the RS President, who still shows as an Administrator. Anyone else seeing this in Circles?

Is there a way to create a ward missionary circles group?

jamhall wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 5:14 pm Here is an odd one. Someone just alerted me that his wife was no longer in the Adult Circle. When I went to check, I noticed that none of the women in the ward are part of the Adult Circle. They have all been removed, except for the RS President, who still shows as an Administrator. Anyone else seeing this in Circles?

Are you an administrator for the Adult circle? If so then every adult member of the ward should appear in either the Adult circle Joined group or the Not Joined group. If you as an administrator do not see any of the sisters in either of these two groups then try signing out of the Gospel Living app, wait a few minutes, and then sign back in. If you still do not see the sisters in either of the Not Joined or Joined groups then there is a bug preventing the app membership data from populating the app. Since the last app update was on 3 February I don't think an app update is the possible cause of sister adult members disappearing. Sending in-app feedback to the developers using the Settings > Send Feedback feature will alert them to a problem.

Edit: Another thing to try is to uninstall and reinstall from the app store the Gospel Living app.

tmills wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 8:15 pm Is there a way to create a ward missionary circles group?

Custom circles are not yet available.

jamhall wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 5:14 pm Here is an odd one. Someone just alerted me that his wife was no longer in the Adult Circle. When I went to check, I noticed that none of the women in the ward are part of the Adult Circle. They have all been removed, except for the RS President, who still shows as an Administrator. Anyone else seeing this in Circles?

No, but what I do see is very few (19) are part of the adult circle. I assume it's because they haven't installed the app.

Another possibility is an admin removed them from the circle - perhaps thinking they were customizing their own view.

Same exact thing happened in our ward today. All RS women disappeared from RS circles. A couple of yw are on there now only??

Is it possible to edit a post (yours)? I only see the ‘delete’ option.

Zootcapri wrote: Sun Oct 22, 2023 6:26 am Is it possible to edit a post (yours)? I only see the ‘delete’ option.

There is some ability for a user to edit his/her own post, but there are limits on that ability. If a critical need comes up to make an edit to a post that can't be done by yourself, ask a moderator or administrator to make the edit. If you can't send a PM, prefix a post with "Closed circuit for moderators/administrators" and make a request there.

Zootcapri wrote: Sun Oct 22, 2023 6:26 am Is it possible to edit a post (yours)? I only see the ‘delete’ option.

Another option is to delete the post and then post again.

lajackson wrote: Mon Oct 23, 2023 12:35 pm Another option is to delete the post and then post again.

I wasn't aware that 'delete' was an option after the time out. It may not be available after a response.

Hello,

I was wondering if there was any development on creating circles. I am in a YSA Ward and we have certain committees that are unique to us (Ward Prayer, FHE, Activities, and others). This would be very helpful in these committees having a better knowledge of how to communicate with each other. Thank you!

Robert Gill

I have Stake Young Men's Leadership circle but no Ward Young Men's Leadership circle. This would be totally separate from the bishopric. ARRRGH. so close but so far.

Hi! I've tried to send feedback through the app, but it will not send - it continually says there is an error.

There is an additional bug in the app. In youth circles, all of my posts keep posting double. They don't do this in my presidency circle. It has happened to a few other folks to. I've reinstalled the app with no change. Can someone take a look at what might be going on, please?

monica.phillips wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2024 8:01 am Can someone take a look at what might be going on, please?

The Tech Forum is primarily user-to-user discussion and collaborative self help. No one here can do what you ask. And since the in-app feedback is part of the problem then use the feedback link at the bottom of most any Church web page to get the feedback to those who can do something.

Circling back to this. We would like to have a circles group for our stake sunday school presidency along with all of the ward sunday school presidents. Is creating custom groups, something the app will allow in the future?

haljwhiting wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2026 8:03 pm Is creating custom groups, something the app will allow in the future?

As users, we won't know about it until it happens.

But given that this thread started in 2020, I don't expect it to happen anytime soon.

davesudweeks wrote: Thu Jan 21, 2021 10:26 am

utrider wrote:Is there a way to access circles via an internet browser? I have a member of my Quorum presidency who does not have a smart phone and so the tool is basically useless to us as a means of communication

If you will read a few posts before yours, you will see that it was reported back in Oct 2020 that there is no browser version at that time. I believe that is still the case today. I don't think anyone on the forum knows for certain if a browser version is planned or if it is on the schedule for programming. Many have requested it and if you want to add your voice, you can provide feedback from within the app or from the feedback link at the bottom of the church web pages. I'm sure the challenge of lack of access to the app for some is not lost on our church leaders, but it wouldn't hurt to provide your "business case" for the need in your feedback.

In your situation, communication may have to occur in other ways than exclusively within the Gospel Living app until a better solution comes along. But that's just my opinion.

We are using Signal (signal.org) and they are apparently coming out with a way to create a login without a phone number, so that is progress. But they are donation based as a non-profit and I would greatly prefer that the Church handle identity verification for me rather than having to compare safety codes with every person I interact with on Signal just to be sure they are "real" and who I think they are.