For help with placement, monitoring sessions, thresholds, alerts, event cards, the archive, the family demo or the optional city board, email [email protected] with your device model, iOS or iPadOS version, app version, the screen you were on, and the steps that reproduce the issue. Please do not send anyone else's information.
Monitoring will not start
Sessions run only while the app is open in the foreground. Complete the placement guidance first, keep the device on screen, and start the session again if you left the app or locked the screen. A very short session may also end before you notice.
No alert at all
Watch the live X / Y / Z readout while you tap the desk: if the numbers barely move, the surface is not passing enough movement through to the device. Check that the threshold is not set too high, that the device is flat on a hard surface with no soft mat, and that the session is still running.
Alerts too often
Raise the threshold, move the device away from fridges, washing machines, speakers and wobbling desks, and check the placement again: an overhanging edge or a soft pad makes small movements look larger. Changing the level during a session recalibrates the window, so give it a moment.
Event cards and the archive
The archive keeps at most 500 events, and drill records stay separate from real events. Deleting an entry asks you to confirm and you can cancel before anything is removed. When the archive is full, the oldest entries are the ones that roll off.
Family demo and notifications
The demo replays the local notification flow with a built-in script and reads no real sensor data. Notification permission is requested only when you enable the demo; if you declined, re-enable it in Settings > Notifications > DeskTremor. The demo never pushes to another device.
City board shows demo data
The board is optional and depends on Apple CloudKit. When CloudKit is unavailable, signed out or restricted, the app labels what it shows as local demo data instead of presenting it as nearby reports. Only three anonymous fields are ever written.
Delete local data
Use the in-app data controls to remove events, waveforms, sessions and settings. Deleting the app also removes its local records; Apple device backups are controlled by your settings and by Apple.
What the alert does not mean
An alert describes sustained multi-axis movement this device read on this surface. It is not an official earthquake warning, gives no magnitude, epicenter or intensity, and should not be used to decide whether to evacuate or return.