Is there a way to get the app if you don't have a phone?

I have several deacons without a mobile phone, and it is hard to use it to communicate with EVERYONE if there are boys without phones. I don't think the church should expect every member to have a cell phone. I ought to be able to access the messaging and calendar from my lds account.

bknudson wrote:Is there a way to get the app if you don't have a phone?

Not currently. But the app is still under development and I am sure they will be addressing a solution for those youth without smart phones.

bknudson wrote:I don't think the church should expect every member to have a cell phone.

The use of the app is not a requirement for the youth program. It is intended to be a resource for those youth who do use mobile technology. "Elder Gerrit G. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles told youth, 'Properly used, technology can help you live the gospel in a noisy, distracting, and consuming world.' The app has 'many features to give you a safe place to help you focus on what really matters.'"* If a young member does not have a mobile device they are not as distracted by the technology as those who have a mobile device.

bknudson wrote:I ought to be able to access the messaging and calendar from my lds account.

The Church Account is a credentialing application and does not provide the services you mentioned but rather allows access to the contents of such applications for church members. I am sure there will be solutions to include young members with mobile devices to be able to participate in some manner with the communications afforded by the Gospel Living App. We just have to be patient while they work out the solutions.

* Church Releases Gospel Living App for Youth and Families; Church News, 13 February 2020

The use of the app is not a requirement for the youth program. It is intended to be a resource for those youth who do use mobile technology. "Elder Gerrit G. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles told youth, 'Properly used, technology can help you live the gospel in a noisy, distracting, and consuming world.' The app has 'many features to give you a safe place to help you focus on what really matters.'"* If a young member does not have a mobile device they are not as distracted by the technology as those who have a mobile device.

As well intended as this might be, there will be conversations going on in the app that my children will not be part of. Their leaders are using the app as a primary means of communication. My kids are going to be left out.

We are being pushed into spending money we don't have for devices we have consciously kept out of the hands of our youngest. We had already invested in mini PCs and laptops that are useless for this purpose because there is no web interface to the app. Sharing devices is not feasible when multiple kids have separate things going on simultaneously and only the currently logged in user receives notifications. The device purchase burden is greater for families with more children.

And how can I know in advance what device the app will work on? It crashes immediately on my Samsung phone that's less than a year old.

One _possible_ solution might be software that runs on a desktop or laptop compute and emulates a cell phone, including ability to install an external binary app. At least for the emulator software I used at work, it does take some technical expertise to set up and run the emulator.

My business is IT, so running an Android emulator is well within the realm of possibility, but not ideal. I've been considering it for now, though given how buggy and sensitive to environment the app is, I'm not sure that setting it up will not be wasted time.

Where can I get a definitive answer to whether a web interface is planned? That would be the most preferable solution and I want to strongly encourage it. I'm really unhappy with the way this has been rolled out.

Here's my problem. According to a YW leader in our ward when I raised my concerns:

We (YW presidency) have been encouraging the girls to sign up for this app since it was introduced during the recent youth firesides and face to face events from Salt Lake that have been broadcast. We were also instructed as part of our leadership training from the Stake that this is how we are to [communicate] with each other, the Stake, and the girls, and how the youth themselves can be safely communicating with each other. We understand that this may take some time to figure out and get everyone signed in and may be tricky in some families where devices will need to be shared or internet access is not always consistent, but ultimately this is how we have been [counselled] to proceed to allow for safe and consistent ways to communicate and avoid the issues with messenger.

This does not seem to me to be consistent with this:

The use of the app is not a requirement for the youth program. It is intended to be a resource for those youth who do use mobile technology. "Elder Gerrit G. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles told youth, 'Properly used, technology can help you live the gospel in a noisy, distracting, and consuming world.' The app has 'many features to give you a safe place to help you focus on what really matters.'"* If a young member does not have a mobile device they are not as distracted by the technology as those who have a mobile device.

I'm stuck in the middle here and I don't know what to do.

jgrusendorf wrote:I'm stuck in the middle here and I don't know what to do.

Personally, I wouldn't make it my problem to solve. I'd tell the leadership they need to take it up with their presiding authority.

I know "they" are aware of the concern, but I have no idea when/how they plan on dealing with it.

I suspect we all could have predicted the lack of a web interface judging from the demonstration by Elder Gong in the broadcast last year. In any case, as with all feedback, there are two ways to report your comments: app feedback, or up the priesthood chain.

Is there any way to provide feedback other than through the app itself? I want to talk to someone about policy, not technical concerns. I'm worried that the message of the way the app is intended to be used is not getting through to youth leaders. I have already emailed a counsellor in our stake presidency, but I don't know if my concerns will go beyond that level and find their way to the right people.

jgrusendorf wrote:Is there any way to provide feedback other than through the app itself? I want to talk to someone about policy, not technical concerns. I'm worried that the message of the way the app is intended to be used is not getting through to youth leaders. I have already emailed a counsellor in our stake presidency, but I don't know if my concerns will go beyond that level and find their way to the right people.

If it were me wanting to send policy-related feedback, I'd use the 'Feedback' button on the main page of the Church website and state that my feedback is intended to encourage creation of a web interface counterpart for the phone app--for those who do not have and/or cannot afford a smartphone.

Thank you. I'll do that.

I am a YW adviser for 11 year olds and none of them have cell phones. The Gospel Living app is such a great to but we really need a Web interface for our young women To be part of these conversations. They feel like they’re missing out!!

shannon.heward wrote:I am a YW adviser for 11 year olds and none of them have cell phones. The Gospel Living app is such a great to but we really need a Web interface for our young women To be part of these conversations. They feel like they’re missing out!!

I have heard that they are considering a web interface for the Gospel Living app. However, I also recommend you express your concerns to your ward leadership. If we follow the Savior's example, we will be sensitive to the needs of the one and minister in whatever way will be effective to them, not expect them to conform to how we want to minister. Having access to technology should never be a requirement for membership and inclusion in the Lord's church.

I don't find this much different from other tech-enhanced communication methods implemented by local Youth leaders, albeit this is an official Church app. I've often found that whether it's group texting, WhatsApp, FB pages, or any other way leaders engage with youth using the Tech they identify with, there's almost always other youth who are left out. I know of parents who are frustrated because there's so much good communication between other girls and their leaders, yet their daughter/son is left out because the parent chooses not to have their youth have a cell phone to text, or their child just isn't interested in FB, etc.

To me there's no easy answer, and I'm not positive an 11-yr-old would engage with a web-based interface the same way they would if they had a cell phone with the App. But I do sympathize with every parent in this situation, where they don't want their child left out or left behind.

Not sure if this was already answered or not, the app is currently available on chromebooks and it being worked on to work with MAC computers in the near future.

benegbert wrote:Not sure if this was already answered or not, the app is currently available on chromebooks

All chromebooks or just the ones that can run Android apps?

Any plans for Windows users?

russellhltn wrote:

benegbert wrote:Not sure if this was already answered or not, the app is currently available on chromebooks

All chromebooks or just the ones that can run Android apps?

I have been able to install the app on my chromebook that runs Android apps but not on my other chromebook that doesn't.

Gospel Living is not available on all Chrome devices. It's only available on Chrome OS devices that support Android apps.

Just test it and you'll see. I have one of each and only one can install GL.

Is it possible to use my phone and sign in as my child? I’m happy to let my children use my phone to respond and communicate in the app but it doesn’t appear that I can sign out and have my kids sign in on the same device.

ceafarmer wrote: Tue Apr 11, 2023 4:30 pm but it doesn’t appear that I can sign out

In the app, at the bottom, click on "Discover". From that page, click on the "gear" icon in the upper right. "Sign out" prominently at the bottom.

At least that works on Android.

bknudson wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2020 9:26 pm I have several deacons without a mobile phone, and it is hard to use it to communicate with EVERYONE if there are boys without phones. I don't think the church should expect every member to have a cell phone. I ought to be able to access the messaging and calendar from my lds account.

Has this been resolved yet? I also need to access it from a web browser but do not see a way to do so.

UtahRed5 wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2024 1:58 pm Has this been resolved yet?

Not that I'm aware of. Also, a number of features that were promised shortly after release still hasn't appeared yet.

I have the same question, but more specifically the CIRCLES feature. I would like to use circles to communicate. Some of the youth do not have a phone, but have access to a computer.

Other features I would like to see are a custom group and a way to add non-members or for them to sign up and join our circle so that they also get information about youth activities.

EdenSummers wrote: Wed Jul 31, 2024 5:03 pm I have the same question, but more specifically the CIRCLES feature. I would like to use circles to communicate. Some of the youth do not have a phone, but have access to a computer.

Other features I would like to see are a custom group and a way to add non-members or for them to sign up and join our circle so that they also get information about youth activities.

Unfortunately, we are all in the same boat as you are, with no additional official information beyond what the Church has said (and even those timelines have often been delayed or simply never arrive). Specific to your question, the "Circles" functionality has been one of the most-commented on features here in the Forum, with many many members expressing the same desire. The only way to get your request into the Church's system is to use the Feedback functionality available in the Church apps (and Church webpages), as this Forum is primarily for user-to-user interactions and self-help. There's always hope that our continued requests for these enhancements will eventually lead to something good happening.