Permissions the app asks for
By the end of this article you know exactly what each permission is used for, so you can decide with a clear head when the phone asks.
The app asks for three things — your location, the camera and permission to show notifications — and it asks for each one only when it first needs it, never on install. Saying no never breaks the app: the feature that needed the permission steps aside and everything else carries on.
Location
When it asks. The first time you tap Current under Route start on the Work tab, or Use my location when adding a customer’s address. Before the phone’s own prompt, the app shows Location access explaining what it is for; tap Continue to go ahead or Not now to skip.
What it is used for. One reading, when you tap. Under Route start it becomes the starting point of today’s route so the app can put your stops in driving order; in the customer form it fills in the street address for the customer you are standing in front of. Your position is sent to Wax Stak only at that moment. The app never tracks you in the background — not while driving, not between jobs, not after hours — and never records your route.
If you say no. Home and Office still work as route starts, and you can type any address by hand. You will see Location access was declined, so we couldn’t use your current position. the first time; after that, Location access is off … with a pointer to your phone’s settings.
Camera
When it asks. The first time you tap Add photo on a job, Take photo on an expense receipt, or Scan VIN on a vehicle.
What it is used for. Before-and-after photos of your work, receipt photos, and reading a VIN barcode so you do not type seventeen characters. The app only ever opens the camera — it never reads your photo library and never saves the pictures to it. Photos are uploaded to the job, and before that the app strips the location and camera details a phone normally embeds in a picture, so a photo of a customer’s car never carries the customer’s address inside it.
If you say no. The app says Camera access is off. Turn it on for … in your device settings, then try again. and the job goes on without the photo. For a VIN, type it into the field and tap Decode VIN instead of scanning.
Notifications
When it asks. Right after you sign in for the first time.
What it is used for. Banners on the phone when something reaches you — most often that you were put on a job, or that a new online booking needs a technician. Tapping a banner opens the job. See Notifications on your phone.
If you say no. Nothing is lost; the same notifications wait for you in the app under You → Notifications, and the bell on the Work tab shows how many are unread. You just will not see them on the lock screen.
Turning a permission back on
The app cannot re-ask once you have said no; the phone decides that. Change it in the phone’s settings:
- iPhone: Settings → scroll to the app → switch on Location, Camera or Notifications.
- Android: Settings → Apps → the app → Permissions, or Notifications.
Come back to the app and try the action again. On Android, a first “no” to notifications is asked once more on the next launch; a second “no” is final until you change it in settings.
Good to know
- Face ID has its own one-time question the first time the lock screen uses it — see Lock screen: passcode and biometrics. The app never sees your face data.
- On Android, an “approximate” location is enough for a route start.
- Turning location services off for the whole phone shows Location services are off on this device. — that one is the phone’s master switch, not the app’s permission.