Seguro Mobile App
The Seguro mobile app is available in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store free of charge. It provides a safe, secure way to monitor and control Seguro devices, and also creates a secure pathway between Seguro devices and the Sensified Cloud. Using the Seguro app is necessary in order to use any Seguro devices.
Seguro devices provide a secure chain of custody for temperature-sensitive items during shipment and storage. They are ideally suited for high-value perishables, such as vaccines and other medical supplies.
Getting Started
Mobile Device Requirements
The Seguro mobile app requires both Bluetooth and NFC (Near Field Communication) to function properly. While virtually all smartphones support both Bluetooth and NFC, some tablets do not include NFC capabilities.
Getting the App
The Seguro mobile app is available in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store free of charge.
Setting Up Your Account
An account is not necessary to use the Seguro app with Seguro devices, and all basic functions, such as starting and stopping recordings, completion notifications, and viewing previous recordings, will still work. However, there are significant advantages to creating a sensified.io cloud account:
Cloud Data Protection
When you use a cloud account, your recordings are associated with your account, not your device. Because of this, if you lose your phone, or even delete the Seguro app, your data is safe and your recordings can be accessed from another mobile device.
Multiple Devices
If you have multiple devices, all your recordings can be viewed from any device once you’ve logged in to your account. For instance, you can start and stop recordings on your Android phone, and view those recordings on your iPad.
Additional Features
Although using the Seguro app without a cloud account provides a robust set of features, a cloud account adds several additional valuable features, such as adding photos to recordings and PDF reports.
To Set Up Your Account:
- Tap the “Cloud Account” button on the home screen, which will display a browser window with the Seguro authentication site.
- Tap the “Sign up” link (under the Continue button).
- On the Sign up to Seguro page, you can choose between using your Google or Apple ID to log in, or creating a sensified.io account with a new email and password. If you choose to use a third party identity provider (Apple or Google), only your basic profile information (name, email, language preference and picture) are used.
- To sign up for a “native” sensified.io account, simply type in your email and a password (there are the usual requirements for password length and characters) and tap the Continue button. To verify your email, you’ll receive a confirmation email. Click on the link or button in the email to confirm. You’ll still be able to use the app before you confirm your account, but the feature set will be limited to the same features available to “anonymous” users. To use your Google or Apple ID, tap the corresponding button and confirm that you allow sensified.io access to your profile information. When using Google or Apple ID, you don’t need to confirm your account, since those providers have already done that.
- Once you’ve completed the signup process, the browser window will close and the home screen will reappear. You’ll see an avatar in the top right corner (it may be your picture, or your initials) in place of the “gear” icon. Tapping the avatar will show the settings screen, including your user name and subscription type.
Important Note: It is possible to create an account using Google or Apple, and another account with the same email directly with sensified.io. For instance, you could have a sensified.io account that you created with the email address john.smith@gmail.com, and another account created with the John Smith Google account using the “Continue with Google” button. If this happens, there will be two distinct accounts on the sensified.io system, each with its own set of recordings. This is unlikely to be what was intended, and would lead to some confusion.
Connecting to the Device
To start or stop a recording, or view a recording in progress, you’ll need to connect to the Seguro device. The process for connecting varies slightly between Android and Apple devices.
For Apple (iOS) Devices
Open the Seguro app, and tap the Connect to Device button on the home screen. A “Ready to Scan” window will appear at the bottom of the screen. Hold the Seguro device next to the back of the phone until the phone beeps and/or vibrates. The exact location of the NFC reader in the phone may vary somewhat, but it is usually near the top of the phone. Once the app recognizes the device, the Device screen will open.
For Android Devices
The process is considerably simpler for Android phones; you don’t even need to have the Seguro app open. Simply touch the Seguro device to the back of the phone (usually near the top of the phone) and the app will open automatically, then the device screen will open.
Starting a Recording
Once you have connected to a Seguro device, you can start a recording by tapping the Start Recording button. The Start Recording screen allows you to adjust a few parameters before starting the actual recording.
High and Low Thresholds
Temperature thresholds for the recording. If the Seguro device goes outside of this range, the color of the blinking LED will show this (blue for below range, red for above) and the recording will be shown as outside range when it is completed.
Start Delay
Setting a delay for the start of a recording is useful for refrigerated or frozen shipments, so that the device does not trigger an out-of-range event while it is still cooling down. The default delay is ten minutes, but a longer delay may be required if the shipment is frozen.
Sampling Interval
You can vary the interval at which the device checks the temperature. The default is two minutes, which will suffice for most applications. Shorter intervals give greater granularity, but can result in longer upload times.
In addition, users with cloud accounts can add additional items before starting the recording:
Photo (cloud account only)
You can take a photo (or add one from your album) and attach it to the recording. This is useful in showing the condition of the shipment at the beginning of the trip. See “Adding Photos” for more information.
Shipping Information
You can also add shipping carrier and tracking number (e.g. UPS 1X12345678901234) to a recording. The Seguro system will retrieve the detailed tracking information, and store it with the recording. See “Adding Tracking Info” for more information.
Note that the thresholds, start delay, and sampling interval settings are “sticky”; they are stored in the mobile device’s secure storage, and reused the next time a recording is started.
When all of the options have been selected, tap the Start button to start the recording. The first time a recording is started (or stopped) after the Seguro app is installed, the app will ask to add location to the recording. It will only ask once, but if you change your mind later, you can change the setting in the Settings screen (for Android) or removing location permissions from the app (for Apple).
Stopping a Recording
Stopping a recording that is already in progress is straightforward. After connecting to the device, the current recording will be displayed on the device screen. Tap the Stop Recording button, and the Stop Recording screen will appear. If you have a cloud account you will have the option to add a photo to the recording, premium cloud account holders will have the option to add tracking information, if it isn’t already attached.
Tap the Stop button to stop the recording, and the device screen will reappear, with a summary of the recording. If you are not the person who started the recording, that person will get a notification on their mobile device that the recording is complete.
Extras
In addition to the basic recording functions of the Seguro app, users can add various items to enhance the value of the recording information.
Adding Location
Adding your geographic location to recordings is optional, but many users find the information very helpful. The mechanism for adding location is slightly different from other information items. Rather than a switch per recording, users can enable or disable location globally, at which point that setting will apply to starts and stops going forward.
The mechanism for setting the location is also slightly different between Android and Apple. For Apple devices, the Seguro app will request location permission the first time a recording is started or stopped on a device. If permission is granted, then location is added to every recording start and stop going forward. The user can take away this permission by opening the mobile device’s Settings screen, opening the Seguro app settings, and taking away Location permission.
For Android devices only, the app requires location permission to even connect to a Seguro device (for various technical reasons, found here: https://source.android.com/devices/bluetooth/ble). The app will also ask to attach location information to the recording the first time a recording is started or stopped. The setting is remembered for starts and stops going forward, but can be changed in the Seguro app’s Settings screen.
The Seguro app will obtain the mobile device’s latitude and longitude, and include it with the recording. It also obtains the approximate address, using a process called reverse-geocoding, and includes it as well in the recording. Note that the location may vary somewhat, depending on the accuracy of the mobile device’s GPS, and so the address may vary as well from one recording to another, even if they are started from the same place.
Adding Photos
You can add photos for both the start and end of a recording. Users often find this useful to provide proof that a shipment was intact at the start of a trip, or, conversely, to show suspicious condition at the end of the trip.
The Seguro app requires Camera permission to add photos to a recording.
Adding Shipping Information
For Premium account users, tracking information for popular carriers (currently UPS, FedEx, DHL and USPS) can be added when a recording is started. The app can scan the barcode on a waybill, or the user can type in the tracking number manually. The app will attempt to recognize the carrier from the format of the tracking number (for instance, it knows that tracking numbers that start with “1Z” are UPS) but some carriers may need to be set manually. The app requires Camera permission to scan barcodes.
If the tracking info is not added at the start of the recording, it can be added at the end, or any time during the recording. This is often useful because the tracking number may not be available when the Seguro device is packed with the shipment.
Reviewing Your Recordings
To review your past recordings, tap the Recent Recordings button on the home screen. A list of recordings will appear, most recent first. Completed recordings are colored green, red, or blue (for in-range, too high, or too low, respectively) and incomplete recordings are gray.
Tapping on an individual recording displays the recording detail screen, which includes a chart of the trip as well as various statistics and datapoints. If the start or stop location is provided, you can see a detailed map of the location by tapping on the address. Also, if your account allows, you can display any photos included, as well as the detailed tracking information.
Settings
The Settings screen can be accessed from the home screen by tapping the gear icon (if you’re not signed in) or the user avatar (if you are signed in). The settings available are:
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Use Fahrenheit for temperature This will initially default to “on” if the language of the mobile device is set to an American language setting (i.e. US English or US Spanish). Otherwise, the setting will be off, and Celsius will be used for temperature settings and display.
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Add mobile device’s location to recordings This setting only appears on Android devices, and only after the first start or stop of a recording. For Apple devices, location is controlled through the device’s permissions.
If you are signed into your cloud account, your name, profile picture (or initials), email and account type are displayed at the top of the settings screen. The Logout button is located under your email.
