> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://learn.withessential.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://learn.withessential.com/field-operations/mobile/get-help-in-the-mobile-app.md). # Get help in the mobile app The Support tab is where you ask a question from the field. It opens on **Ask Essential**, an AI assistant that answers how-to questions about Essential. When you need a person, **Talk to a human** is the tab right beside it. > **Where to find it:** Mobile app > **Support**. When your bottom bar shows **More** instead, select **More** > **Support**. ## Ask Essential 1. Open **Support**. It opens on the **Ask Essential** tab. 2. Type your question in **Ask a question**. 3. Tap the arrow button to send it. ![Ask Essential on the Support tab](https://3838208579-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Flu1pgNH0CrkCPslG8suQ%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-a1750594066d88c830a6616182823f1a585f131e%2Fmobile-support-ask-essential.png?alt=media) Essential searches its help guides and writes back the steps. Ask a follow-up in the same chat and it keeps the earlier questions in mind, so "and how do I clock out?" works without repeating yourself. ![An answer from Ask Essential](https://3838208579-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Flu1pgNH0CrkCPslG8suQ%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-8c2d4bbeb5301f72cefe1f73e2a364fb0efb6928%2Fmobile-support-answer.png?alt=media) Answers are written for you: * **The app you are in.** Ask Essential knows you are asking from the mobile app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device, and gives the mobile steps. * **The apps you can use.** When something can only be done in the web app and you can sign in there, it says so and gives the web steps. When you do not have web access, it tells you that someone in your office with web access has to do it, instead of walking you through screens you cannot open. * **Your role.** It takes your role into account, and tells you when a step depends on a permission that an admin at your business controls. Ask Essential explains how to do things. It cannot see your visits, customers, or reports, and it cannot change anything for you. If you ask it to look something up, it tells you where to find it in the app. Ask Essential needs an internet connection. While you are offline, the question box is turned off and shows **You're offline. Reconnect to ask a question.** The support team's chat needs a connection too; see [Talk to a human](#talk-to-a-human). ### Speak with Ask Essential When the microphone button is available, tap it and allow microphone access. Ask your question, then pause or tap the arrow to send the recording. Essential reads its reply aloud before listening for your next question. Tap **Stop audio** to end the voice session. Replies use your phone's audio output. To listen through the phone speaker, disconnect headphones or select the phone in your system's audio controls. To listen privately, select your headphones or Bluetooth device there. Use the phone's volume buttons to adjust playback. The written reply remains in the chat. ### Stop a reply or try again While a reply is on its way, the arrow button becomes a square **Stop** button. Tap it to stop the reply; whatever had arrived stays in the chat, marked **Stopped**. If a reply cannot be finished, the chat shows why with two links: **Try again** has the reply written again for the same question, and **Talk to a human** takes you to the support team. If you lose signal while a reply is being written, you do not need to ask again. Essential finishes the reply in the background, and it appears in the chat once you are back online. A chat answers one question at a time. If you ask in the same chat from a second phone or tablet while a reply is still being written, the chat shows **A reply is still being written in this chat. Try again in a moment.** Tap **Try again** once the first reply has finished. If you send a great many questions in a few minutes, or have several chats waiting on replies at once, the chat shows **You're asking faster than the assistant can keep up. Wait a moment, then try again.** ### Rate an answer Under every finished answer there are two small buttons: a thumbs-up and a thumbs-down. * Tap the **thumbs-up** when the answer helped, or the **thumbs-down** when it did not. The thumb you chose turns teal. * Tap the other thumb to change your rating, or tap the same thumb again to take it off. Your rating is saved with the answer, so it is still there when you reopen the chat later or on another device. A reply that was stopped, or that could not be finished, has no thumbs. ### Past chats Your chats with Ask Essential are saved to your account. Support opens on your most recent chat, and you can leave Support to follow the steps and come back to them. If you open Support while you are offline, it starts on an empty chat and opens your most recent one when your connection returns, unless you have already asked a question or opened another chat. If Support cannot find your most recent chat when it opens, the empty chat shows **Couldn't load your most recent chat.** Tap **Try again** under it, or open the chat from **Past chats**. * **Start a new chat:** tap the new chat button (the pencil-and-paper icon) at the top right of the Support screen. The chat you were in is kept. * **Reopen an earlier chat:** tap the clock icon at the right of the **Ask Essential** / **Talk to a human** row to open **Past chats**, then tap a chat. Each chat is named after its first question and shows the date it was last used, newest first. Type in **Search chats** to narrow the list. * **Delete a chat:** in **Past chats**, tap the trash icon beside the chat and confirm **Delete**. A deleted chat cannot be brought back. If the chat was still open on another phone or tablet, the next question asked there shows **This chat was deleted. Tap Try again to ask in a new chat.** * **Read further back:** a long chat opens on its most recent messages. Tap **Load earlier messages** at the top of the chat to see the ones before them. * **When a chat will not open:** on a weak signal the chat may show **Couldn't load this chat. Check your connection and try again.** Tap **Try again** to load it. Until it has loaded you cannot send a question into it; to ask something right away, start a new chat. ![Past chats on the Support tab](https://3838208579-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Flu1pgNH0CrkCPslG8suQ%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-143dc191093a174d90f2db929f08b9814ef1b4e8%2Fmobile-support-past-chats.png?alt=media) Past chats follow you to any phone or tablet you sign in on. They are separate from the web app's Essential Assistant: chats you have there are not listed here, and these are not listed there. ## Talk to a human 1. Open **Support**. 2. Tap **Talk to a human**. The chat with the Essential support team opens right there, under the same tabs. 3. Type your message at the bottom of the chat and send it. The team sees your name and business, so there is no form to fill in first. 4. Tap **Ask Essential** to go back to the assistant. Both chats keep their place: a question you were typing is still there, and so is the conversation with the team when you tap **Talk to a human** again. Your conversation with the support team is tied to your account. It is still there when you reopen the app, and if you sign out on a shared device the next person who signs in gets their own conversation, not yours. It is separate from a conversation you have with the team from the web app's Essential Assistant. When the team replies while you are somewhere else in the app, or the app is closed, your phone shows a notification. Tap it to open the conversation. If you do not see these, check that notifications are allowed for Essential in your phone's settings; it asks when you first sign in. Talk to a human needs an internet connection. Offline, the tab shows **You're offline. Reconnect to chat with the support team.** and loads the chat once you are back online. If the chat cannot load on a weak signal, it shows **Couldn't load the chat. Check your connection and try again.** Tap **Try again** to load it. Use Talk to a human when something is not working (the app crashes, an error keeps appearing, or changes will not sync), for sign-in problems, or whenever Ask Essential does not have the answer. ## Related guides * [Sign in and navigate the mobile app](/field-operations/mobile/sign-in-and-navigation.md) * [Common mobile questions](/field-operations/mobile/common-mobile-questions.md) * [Mobile troubleshooting](/field-operations/mobile/mobile-troubleshooting.md) * [Using the Essential Assistant](/administration/using-the-essential-assistant.md) (the web app's assistant) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. 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