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Text Winston by iMessage

Link your iPhone once and you can text Winston from Messages the way you would ask it in Chat. The link is yours, not the workspace's: each person links their own phone, and nobody else sees it. Linking takes one code and one text, and this page shows each screen.

iMessage is rolling out. If Text Winston is not in your Settings yet, or the dialog says phone linking is temporarily unavailable, it has not reached your workspace. Check again later or ask Support.

Before you start

You need an iPhone with iMessage turned on. Android phones and plain SMS texts do not work.
Any member can link a phone. You do not need to be an Owner or Admin, because the link belongs to you rather than to the workspace.
One phone links to one Winston account at a time. If your phone is already linked to another account or workspace, disconnect it there first.
Have the phone with you. The code is texted from it, and whichever phone sends the text is the one that gets linked.

1. Open Text Winston

Open Settings and scroll to the Account section at the bottom. Choose Text Winston.

Settings → Account → Text Winston.

2. Get a link code

A dialog headed Chat with Winston by iMessage opens. Read the two notes under Before you start, then choose Get link code.

The Chat with Winston by iMessage dialog: what you need, how it works, and the Get link code button — The dialog explains the flow before it issues a code. Choose Get link code.

3. Text the code to Winston

The dialog shows a message, LINK followed by an eight-character code, and Winston's phone number. The code lasts ten minutes, and the countdown under it shows how long is left.

The dialog showing the message LINK JM3A-47Z7, Winston's number, a Copy message button, the countdown and Waiting for your text — The code and Winston's number, as the dialog shows them on a computer. It waits for your text and updates itself when it arrives.

Send that message, exactly as shown, from your iPhone:

On a computer, start a new message on your iPhone to Winston's number and send the word LINK, a space, then the code. Copy message copies the text if your iPhone and computer share a clipboard.
On your iPhone, open this same dialog in the phone's browser and choose Text this message. Messages opens with the number and the text already filled in; send it.

The dialog open in Safari on an iPhone, with the code, Winston's number, a Text this message button and a Copy message button — The same dialog opened on an iPhone. Text this message opens Messages with the number and the message filled in.

A new iMessage on an iPhone addressed to Winston's number, with LINK JM3A-47Z7 typed and ready to send — A new iMessage to Winston's number with the message typed. Check it reads LINK in capitals, a space, then the code.

If you type the message by hand, check it before you send: iPhones like to change the capitals and autocorrect the code. Get a new code in the dialog issues another if this one runs out.

Only text the code from the phone you want linked, and do not forward or share it. Winston links whichever phone sends it to your account.

4. Your iPhone is linked

Within a few seconds Winston answers in the thread: Your phone is linked to Winston. Text here anytime to start chatting.

The Messages thread with Winston's number: the LINK message, Delivered, and Winston's reply that the phone is linked — Winston confirms in the same thread.

The dialog in Winston changes on its own to Your iPhone is linked, with the last digits of your phone and Winston's number. Save that number as a contact so the thread is easy to find. Nothing else needs to be set up.

The dialog reading Your iPhone is linked, with the masked phone number, Winston's number and a Disconnect button — Linked. Only you see this; a teammate who opens Text Winston sees their own phone, or the Get link code screen.

5. Text Winston

In Messages, open the thread with Winston's number and ask the way you would in Chat: yesterday's sales, what is low on stock, a category breakdown. Winston replies in the same thread, from the workspace you were signed in to when you linked, with the same connected data and the same rules about what needs reviewing before anything happens. See Asking Winston and Review and approve.

Anyone holding your unlocked phone can text Winston as you. Treat the link like your signed-in dashboard, and disconnect it before you hand a phone on or change numbers.

Disconnect or change phones

Open Settings → Text Winston again, choose Disconnect, and confirm. Texts from that phone stop getting replies. To move to a new phone, disconnect the old one and link the new one with a fresh code.

To pause without unlinking, text STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE to Winston. That stops Winston from chatting with you on that phone. Text START to let Winston chat with you again. The phone stays linked the whole time; only Disconnect unlinks it.

The dialog asking Disconnect this phone?, with Cancel and Disconnect buttons — Disconnect asks once. You can link again at any time.

If something goes wrong

What you see	What to do
Code expired	Codes last ten minutes. Choose Get new code and text the new one. If you already sent the old one just before it expired, choose Already texted it? Check again first.
Waiting for your text… and nothing happens	Check the text went to Winston's number as shown, reads LINK then the code, and came from an iPhone with iMessage on. A text from Android or a non-iMessage number never arrives.
"Couldn't get a code. Try again."	A momentary failure, or more than five codes in ten minutes. Wait a few minutes and choose Get link code again.
"You can't link a phone right now."	Winston refused to issue a code for this account. If the phone is linked to another account or workspace, disconnect it there first; otherwise contact Support.
Phone linking is temporarily unavailable	The linking service did not answer, or iMessage has not been switched on for your environment yet. Choose Retry; if it repeats, check again later.
Not available in this session	Phone linking only works from your own signed-in session, not from a Support masquerade or an API session. Sign in as yourself.
There is no Text this message button	You are on a computer. The button only shows when the dialog is open on a phone; send the message from your iPhone by hand instead.
Winston replies about the wrong store or workspace	The link is tied to the workspace you were in when you linked. Disconnect, switch workspace in the dashboard, and link again.

The dialog reading Code expired, with a Get new code button and an Already texted it? Check again link — An expired code. Get a new one, or check again if your text was already on its way.

For other connections, see Connect your tools. For Winston in your team's chat tools rather than your own phone, see Use Winston in Slack and Use Winston in Microsoft Teams.