Motorola Alert Guide

Motorola Alert  is currently exclusive to Moto E

Being cheap does not mean low quality. I think, as a Moto E owner, you already understand this.

To make your Moto E even sweeter, Motorola just released Motorola Alert app for Moto E, and this app is currently exclusive to Moto E! Of course, the app will be compatible with Moto X and Moto G in the future.

What is Motorola Alert?

Motorola Alert is an extremely useful emergency alert app that lets you quickly alert people important to you when you need them,  for example, when you are in danger.

Once  Motorola alert is enabled in your Moto E, it will begin sending periodic notifications with your location to the people you designate so they can act fast to give you the help you need. This means Motorola Alert may also be used as a  tracking tool.

Motorola Alert allows you:

• to send an emergency message with your location info;
• to turn your Moto E into an emergency alarm (it is really loud; please don’t test it in office);
• to dial an emergency number automatically;
• to send your current location periodically;
• to send out alerts to meet you at your current location.

The designated contacts will receive the SMS/MMS. You can broadcast the info to several contacts. Of course, you need to designate the contacts when you set up the app.

You can also change the list of designated contacts later.

Why can Motorola Alert save your life?

Motorola Alert is primarily an emergency alert app. Whenever you feel you are in an unsafe environment, or you need some help urgently,  the persons you trusted can receive the alert immediately and may provide the support you need.

As the alert message includes the location info, your contacts can quickly locate you. Very often, when you are in danger, you may have a problem to explain your whereabouts. The location info in the alert message can be extremely useful.

How to setup Motorola Alert?

Motorola Alert is NOT pre-loaded in Moto E.  You have to open your Play store to search and install the app.  If you are reading this post, you can follow this link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.motorola.bodyguard.

Once installed the Motorola Alert app from the Play store, you can then start the app to set up the app.

Step 1: Agree to the terms

In the start screen, tap “Get started”.  Then you have to agree on some terms and privacy policy on using this app, as shown in the screenshot below.

If you want to use this app, you have to accept the terms and grant access for the app. Otherwise, the app won’t work, and you cannot proceed to the setup.

Once you agree to the terms and privacy policy for Motorola Alert, the setup will proceed to set up the designated contacts.

Step 2: Designate contact and emergency number

You need to designate at least one contact to receive the alert messages. This contact must be added to your address book (People app) before you can select it.

You just type the name, and the app will lookup it from People app in your Moto E.  All these contacts will receive the alert messages.

Once finished, tap Next to designate one emergency contact. The emergency contact is for phone calling in case of emergency. Because Moto E can only dial one number at any given time, you need to specify only one emergency contact in Motorola Alert.

Now, if you want to make an emergency call, you have two choices:

1.  to dial this emergency contact, or
2. to dial a local emergency number

In Motorola Alert app, you need to specify one of them during the setup stage. Remember, when you are in a panic, you have no time to make selections.

Step 3: Select emergency mode actions

Once you declare the emergency mode, in addition to sending out the text messages to the designated contacts, you can also choose one additional action:

1. None. Only alert messages are sent.
2. Auto-dial the emergency number you specified in the previous step.
3. Trigger the sound alarm. This is useful when you need attentions from persons nearby. The siren is very loud, so don’t test it in your office.

How to use Motorola Alert?

Motorola Alert can send 3 types of alerts (emergency, follow me, meet me) to the designated contacts currently in Moto E. Tap one of the icons will trigger the corresponding alert.

Each alert has its own message template.  You can adjust them for your taste.

Besides, Motorola Alert also has a “stay connected ” non-emergency feature to share your locations with some of your emergency contact automatically.

Let’s explore them one by one.

How to use Emergency alert in  Motorola Alert?

When you need immediate help, you may tap Emergency in Motorola Alert app as shown above.

Once an emergency alert is triggered, the emergency alert messages will be sent out to the designated contacts in 5 seconds.  Before you cancel the emergency mode, the messages will be sent out every 5 mins by default  (you can configure this frequency, read on).

The alert message, by default, will look like:

I’m in danger.

Location: XXXXX

maps.google.com/maps?q=xxxxxxxx

From Motorola Alert

Once you cancel the emergency mode, a “I’m safe” message will be sent to your designated emergency contacts.

In addition to the emergency alert messages, if you want, you can choose one more action: triggering the alarm or dial the emergency number immediately as shown below.

To cancel the emergency alert, you can either:

• Tap the “^” button in the right side of Emergency mode info, as shown above, then you tap the cancel button.
• In the notification area, tap cancel, as shown below.

How to use Follow Me alert in Motorola Alert?

Follow me mode in Motorola Alert allows you to update your location to the emergency contacts periodically. You can use this alert to track kids who are going out for camping, for example.

Unlike emergency alert, this alert allows you to select recipients from the emergency contact list. So, it will not broadcast to all persons in the emergency contact.

Of course, you can specify the update frequency and the message text, as shown below.

How to use Meet Me alert in Motorola Alert?

Meet me mode in Motorola alert allows you to send out the request to meet you at your current location. You can customize the text message and the recipient.

How to use stay connected (location sharing) feature in Motorola Alert?

Stay connected feature in Motorola Alert allows you to share your location with some emergency contacts when you reach or leave some pre-defined locations (e.g., home, office, school; up to 5).

This is not an emergency alert. Rather, it updates your location for your loved ones so that they know your whereabouts.

To use this feature, you need to define the locations (up to 5)  important to you and your contacts.   You can do this (as shown below):

1. in the Motorola Alert main interface, tap  “give peace of mind by sharing your location with friends and family.”
2. from Motorola Alert-Places.

Once at least one place is defined, you can turn on and off location sharing, as shown below.

How to change settings of Motorola Alert?

After you setup Motorola Alert in Moto E, you can change the settings later on.

Start Motorola Alert app, tap menu key (3 vertical dots in the top left). You can find all settings there.

You can define locations, designate people to your emergency contacts.

Tap Settings. You can then customize/change the emergency alert settings, including the message, location updating frequency, emergency number and the additional actions.

Can I get Motorola Alert on Moto G and Moto X?

Motorola Alert currently is exclusive to Moto E. But Motorolas has promised to bring this app for Moto X and Moto G in a few weeks.

So, if Google play says the Motorola Alert is not compatible with your Moto G or Moto X,  it means this app is not ready for other devices yet.

Hopefully, by June/July, you will be able to install Motorola Alert on Moto G and Moto X (in addition to Moto E).

 Do you have any questions or problems with Motorola Alert on your Moto E?

Please leave your questions or problems in the comment box below. We will try to answer.

More how-to guides, tips and tricks for using Moto E are available at Moto E how-to guides page.