The LastKnow web app
One app on your home screen. Ping is the check-in page. Watch is the follow page. The icon remembers which you used last.
Ping and Watch
They are pages in the same app, not two installs.
| You are | You use |
|---|---|
| Writing letters and checking in | Ping |
| Invited to follow someone else's status | Watch |
| Both | Both pages. The home-screen icon opens whichever you used last. |
A letter recipient does not install anything. Letters arrive as a link in an email.
Install once
Add LastKnow from Ping or from a Watch invite. Same icon either way.
- Open Ping while signed in, or open the Watch invite you were sent.
- Use the button, or your browser's menu, to add it to your home screen.
- Open the icon once to confirm it launches on its own.
If you still have old Ping or Watch icons from when they were separate, delete those and install this one.
On an iPhone
Safari does not show an install button. You add a web app yourself, with the Share sheet.
- Open the page in Safari. This does not work in Chrome on iOS.
- Tap the Share button, the square with an arrow coming out of it.
- Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
- Name it, then tap Add.
Notifications need iOS 16.4 or later. They do not run in Safari, even when LastKnow is already on the Home Screen. Open that icon and turn the switch on there. If the icon opens Safari, it was added as a bookmark: add it again and leave Open as Web App on.
On Android
Chrome offers a button when a page can be installed.
- Open the page in Chrome.
- Tap the install prompt if it appears, or open the menu and choose Add to Home Screen.
- Confirm.
The prompt only appears after you have spent a little time on the page, so if you do not see it immediately, use the menu.
No desktop install needed
The site works in a normal browser tab. Installing is a convenience, not a requirement.
Notifications can work in a desktop browser too, but they are most useful on the phone you carry.
If something does not appear
| Symptom | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| No install button anywhere | You are on iOS, where there is no button. Use the Share sheet. |
| Install button never shows on Android | The browser has not offered it yet. Use the menu instead. |
| Notifications cannot be enabled | On an iPhone or iPad this is Safari: open the Home Screen icon and use the switch there. On a desktop browser, notifications are blocked in the browser settings. |
| Your watch list is empty after switching phones | The watch is still only on this device. Sign in on this browser, before or after adding it, to tie it to your account. |
What signing in changes
You can watch someone without an account. The watch is then stored on that device, and a new phone means a fresh start.
If you sign in before or after adding a watch, it is tied to your account instead. That is what keeps your list when you change devices.
The home-screen app keeps its own sign-in. Adding it does not copy your browser session, so you sign in once inside the app. A watch added in the browser is tied to your account when you sign in, and it shows in the app once you sign in there too.
Last updated: 2026-10-19