Approving Sign-ins on Your Phone
How the Seayora app asks you to approve a sign-in, what the two-digit number is for, how to block one and secure your account, and the PIN or pattern that locks the app.
If you have the Seayora app installed and signed in, signing in on a new device sends a prompt to your phone rather than a code to your inbox. You confirm with Face ID, your fingerprint, or the PIN or pattern you chose when you set the app up — and if the sign-in was not you, the same prompt is where you stop it.
Only a phone that is signed in to the app on your account, and has been opened in the last 30 days, is asked. If you signed out of the app or deleted it, that phone is no longer asked — the sign-in screen sends a code to your email (or by text, if you choose) instead, straight away, rather than waiting on a phone that cannot answer. Pressing “Send a code instead” on the waiting screen does the same at any time.
What happens when someone signs in
- The sign-in screen shows a two-digit number and waits.
- Your phone buzzes with “Is this you?” and shows the same number, along with the browser, the operating system, the IP address and the approximate location the sign-in came from.
- You tap “Yes, that’s me” and confirm it is you with biometrics or your app PIN or pattern. The sign-in screen continues immediately.
- If nobody answers within two minutes the request expires and the sign-in screen offers a code instead.
- A code is emailed (or texted) at the same moment the prompt is sent, so you can sign in without the phone: tap “Enter the code instead”. If the code could not be sent, the screen says so and lets you ask for one, rather than asking you to type a code that never arrived.
The two-digit number is the whole point
A prompt with nothing but an “Approve” button is a prompt people eventually tap to make the buzzing stop — which is exactly what somebody who has stolen your password is counting on. The number breaks that: if you are not sitting in front of a sign-in screen showing that number, the request is not yours. Never approve a prompt whose number you cannot see on a screen in front of you, and never read the number out to anybody who phones you.
Nobody from Seayora will ever call and ask you to approve a sign-in prompt or read a number from it.
If it was not you
The prompt has two ways to say no, and they do different things.
| Choice | What it does |
|---|---|
| Not now | Blocks that one sign-in. Nothing else changes. Use it for a mistyped email address or a colleague on the wrong laptop. |
| No — secure my account | Blocks the sign-in, removes every trusted device from your account so the next sign-in anywhere has to be verified again, and emails you a link to change your password. Use it whenever somebody else may have your password. |
To be exact about what securing your account does: it signs every device out of your account, including the phone you pressed it on, so you sign back in with your password afterwards. Changing your password from the emailed link then makes sure the old one cannot be used again.
You can still report a prompt for 24 hours after it expires. If you glance at your phone twenty minutes later and realize you never tried to sign in, open the app and say so — that report still counts.
The app lock: your PIN or pattern
The first time you sign in to the Seayora app on a phone, it offers you a lock. You choose either a four-digit PIN or an Android-style pattern connecting at least four dots, and you enter it twice so you know you can reproduce it. If your phone has Face ID or a fingerprint reader, the app then offers to use that as the fast way in — you confirm with the sensor there and then, so a reader that cannot read you is found out on the setup screen rather than at the lock screen next morning. Your PIN or pattern stays as the fallback for whenever the sensor does not cooperate.
- You are asked once per phone, and “Not now” is a real answer. Without a lock, you approve a sign-in on that phone with a tap — match the two-digit number first. With a lock, approving takes your PIN, pattern or face as well.
- Seayora asks for it again whenever the app has been closed for more than a minute. A quick trip to another app and back does not.
- Five wrong attempts signs you out of the app. Nothing is lost — sign back in with your password and choose a new lock.
- Set it, change it or remove it any time under Settings → Sign-in & app lock. Removing it means that phone approves a sign-in with a tap again, and the app says so before you confirm.
Your PIN never reaches Seayora
The PIN or pattern is stored only on that phone, in the platform’s own secure keystore (the Android Keystore or the iOS Keychain), and it is checked on the phone. It is never sent to Seayora, we cannot see it, and we cannot reset it for you — if you forget it, sign out of the app and sign back in with your password. What the account does record is that a lock exists on that handset and which kind it is, so your security settings can tell you which of your phones is protected.
Your face and fingerprint never reach Seayora either. The app asks the operating system whether it is you and receives yes or no; the biometric data itself never leaves the device’s secure hardware and Seayora has no access to it.
When the prompt does not appear
- No app installed, or notifications turned off for Seayora — the sign-in screen falls back to an emailed or texted code automatically.
- Phone off, out of signal, or the notification dropped — open the Seayora app and the prompt is waiting; the app checks for one every time you open it.
- You are in a hurry — “Send a code instead” is on the sign-in screen from the first moment, so you never have to wait out the two minutes.
Where to find all of this
| Where | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Website — Settings → Security | See which of your phones can approve a sign-in and how each is locked, review and remove trusted devices, and manage codes and your authenticator app. |
| App — Settings → Sign-in & app lock | Set, change or remove your PIN or pattern, turn Face ID or your fingerprint on or off, and review or remove trusted devices. |
Frequently asked questions
My phone shows a different number from the one on my screen. What does that mean?
Somebody else is signing in to your account, at the same moment you are. Choose “No — secure my account”, then change your password using the link we email you.
Can I turn the app lock off?
Yes — Settings → Sign-in & app lock, then “Remove the app lock”. It is worth knowing what you give up: with no lock, anybody holding your unlocked phone can approve a sign-in with a tap, so the two-digit number is then the only check. The app tells you that before you confirm, and you can set a new lock on the same screen at any time.
I forgot my PIN. Can support reset it?
No, and that is deliberate: it never leaves your phone, so nobody at Seayora can see or change it. Sign out of the app, sign back in with your password, and choose a new one.
Does approving a sign-in also trust that device?
Yes. Once approved, that browser is added to your trusted devices and will not be challenged again until you remove it — you can see and remove it from your security settings on either the website or the app.
Someone else uses this phone too. Will they see my prompts?
Signing out deletes your app lock and your notification registration from that handset, and whoever signs in next sets their own lock. While you are signed in, your prompts go to you.
Why does it say “approximately” next to the location?
The location is worked out from the IP address, which is often a nearby city rather than where the device actually is. Use it as a rough signal — the device, the browser and the two-digit number are the reliable parts.
Related guides
Related features and guides
- Account Security: SSO, 2FA & Passkeys — Documentation. How to secure your Seayora account with single sign-on, two-factor authentication, device verification, passkeys (WebAuthn), and resetting a forgotten password.
- Data & Privacy Controls — Documentation. How Seayora handles your data, the privacy rights you may have, and how to exercise them.
- Roles & Account Types — Documentation. The difference between landlord, management, service professional, and tenant accounts — and what each role can do on Seayora.
- Secure In-App Messaging — Feature. In-app messaging between landlords, tenants, staff, and contractors — searchable, tied to the property, and never routed through a personal phone number.
- Two-Factor Authentication & Device Security — Feature. Two-factor authentication (2FA/TOTP), new-device sign-in alerts, device verification, and passkey-based sign-in protecting every Seayora account.
- Sign In From Any Device — Feature. Seayora runs in the browser on desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone with one account. Messages, voice notes, call history, documents, and payments stay in sync in realtime across every device you are signed in on.