How to use weSmile

Create your account and log in

Where it isHome page → «Create account» or «Log in»

• To create an account you pick a username, your name, your email and a password of at least 8 characters with a letter and a number. You can also sign up with Google.
• To log in, your username or email and your password are enough. Usernames aren't case-sensitive.
• Forgot your password? On the login screen tap «Forgot your password?»: you'll get an email link that works once and for 30 minutes.
• Verifying your email is optional (Settings → «Verify your email»). You need it, for example, to set up a company instantly.

Your profile

Where it isYour photo in the bottom bar («You») → «Your profile»

• Change your photo (up to 5 MB), your name, your username and your profile status line (up to 139 characters).
• In Settings, under «Who sees what», choose whether to show your phone, your status and whether to send read receipts. Your phone is hidden by default.

Adding friends and your link

Where it is«You» → «Add friend», «Share my link» or «My QR code»

• Every account has a permanent code and a username#1234. Type either one into «Add friend»: you first see who it is, then decide whether to add or block.
• Your link and your QR code do the same from outside: whoever opens them sees your card and sends you a request. Opening them never adds anyone by itself. If your link ended up somewhere you didn't want, renew it from Settings and the old one stops working.
• Requests arrive live in «You» → «Requests», with «Accept» and «Decline».

Install the app and notifications

Where it isSettings → «Add as an app» · on iPhone: Share → «Add to Home Screen»

• Once installed, weSmile opens straight into your chats and looks like any other app on your phone or computer.
• With «Turn on notifications» you get messages and calls even with the app closed. If you don't want the text readable on the lock screen, turn off «Show the message in the notification».
• You can be logged in on several devices at once. In Settings → «Active sessions» you see where your account is open and can sign out any you don't recognize.

Sending messages, files and voice notes

Where it isInside a chat: the «Attach» clip, the microphone and the sticker face

• The clip sends documents, photos and videos, the camera, audio files and your location. Up to 25 MB per file; you can also paste an image with Ctrl+V or send several photos at once.
• Use the microphone for a voice note (up to 5 minutes).
• Stickers, GIFs and emoji are in their panel. A message with only emoji (up to 3) shows up big.
• If you lose connection, the message waits («Waiting for connection…») and goes out on its own when you're back online.
• On a computer, from a chat's menu in the list, you can «Open in a window» or «Open side by side» to see two chats at once.

Reply, react, forward, edit and delete

Where it isPress and hold a message (or right-click)

• The reactions are at the top of the menu; «+» lets you react with any emoji or a short text. You set up the quick row in the appearance studio.
• «Reply» quotes the message (on a phone you can also swipe it sideways). «Forward» sends it to up to 5 chats. In a group, «Reply privately» takes you to your one-to-one chat with that person.
• «Edit» changes one of your texts and marks it as edited.
• «Delete» → «For me» removes it only from your screen; «For everyone» (only your own messages) really deletes it for the whole chat, file included.
• In a group, type @ and a name to mention someone (or @all). A mention notifies even if the chat is muted.
• Read receipts: one check means sent, two grey that someone saw it (in groups) and two colored that it was read. If you turn off your read receipts, you don't see other people's either.

Pin, archive, favorites and starred

Where it isRow menu in the list (right-click, double-click or ⋮) · swipe the row left

• Pin to top keeps up to 5 chats first. Favorites is a filter («Favorites» above the list), with no limit.
• Archive removes a chat from the list without deleting it; find it in «Archived». Mute silences notifications for 8 hours, 1 week or always.
• Starred: tap «Save» on a message and it goes to «Starred», so you can find it later.
• «View without read receipt» opens a chat without marking it read. «Notes to self» (in «You») is a chat only you see, for jotting things down.

Disappearing messages and view once

Where it isIn the chat: ⋮ → «Disappearing messages» · on a photo, before sending: «View once»

• With disappearing messages, anything sent from then on deletes itself after 24 hours, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 1 year or the days you choose (1 to 365). Anyone in the chat can change it, and it shows as ⏳ in the header.
• A «View once» photo opens only once and can't be forwarded. A website can't prevent screenshots.

Search

Where it isAbove the list: «Search chats» · inside a chat: ⋮ → «Search»

• The list search finds chats and people. Inside a chat, «Search» goes through its last 1000 messages.

Create a group

Where it isTop of the list → «New group»

• Give it a name and pick members from your contacts. Then, in «Group info», add a photo, a description and more people.
• A group's look (theme, wallpaper, ambience, border) is shared: everyone in the group sees it the same way.

Group roles

Where it is«Group info» → the member list

• Owner, Admin, Collaborator and Member. The owner, admins and collaborators can change the name, photo and look and add contacts; the owner and admins can remove people; only the owner names admins.
• If the owner leaves, another admin takes over. When the last member leaves, the group is deleted.

Invite link

Where it is«Group info» → «Invite with a link»

• Copy, share or show the link's QR. «Renew» makes the old one stop working. The link shows the group's photo and name, never who's in it.
• In «Who can join», a Public group lets people in directly with the link; a Private one (the default) asks first, and an admin approves it in «Join requests».

Channels and following one

Where it isIn a company space: «New group or channel» → «Channel» · to follow: the company's profile

• A channel belongs to a company: admins and enabled positions post; everyone else reads and reacts.
• A company's public channels (for example «Offers» or «Work with us») can be followed by anyone with an account, from the company's profile. Followers read and get notifications; readers can't see each other, and there are no calls in a followed channel. To leave, «Unfollow».

Where it isA friend's profile or their chat's menu in the list → «Secret chat»

• Only between two friends. The first time on each device you unlock your message key with your password (or a message PIN if you log in with Google).
• Text and files leave your device encrypted: the server stores something it can't read. Your key has an escrow copy so support can help you recover it if you lose your code, so it's end-to-end encryption with support recovery.
• Messages always delete themselves: after 5 minutes, 1 hour, 24 hours (default), 1 week or once read.
• On purpose it doesn't have: groups, forwarding, starring, stickers or GIFs, location, search, bots or the Assistant. And as on any website, screenshots can't be prevented.

Calling and answering

Where it isIn the chat or the row menu: «Call» or «Video call» · the «Calls» tab in the bottom bar

• Calls ring even with the app closed, if you turned on notifications.
• During a call: mute, turn the camera on or flip it, minimize it to keep chatting, and hang up. In «Choose camera, microphone and output» you switch devices (choosing the audio output works in Chrome and Edge).
• You can raise or lower each person's volume (0 to 300%); it only changes what you hear.

Group calls and screen sharing

Where it isIn a group: «Call» or «Video call» · in the call: «Share screen»

• Group calls go directly between devices. In large ones, the room is split up and another participant's device relays part of the audio and video; how many people fit depends on everyone's connection.
• Screen sharing works from a computer. Not from a phone (the browser doesn't allow it): there you have «Show what I see», with the back camera. Watching a shared screen from a phone does work.
• «Add someone from outside» moves the call to a room with a link to invite someone who isn't in the chat.

Call links and scheduled calls

Where it is«Calls» tab → «New link» or «Schedule call»

• A call link can be shared anywhere and, if you tick it, lets people in without an account, just with a name. It can be scheduled up to a year ahead and added to your calendar.
• Up to 20 links per person. They expire after 30 days, or one day after the scheduled call.

Where it isBottom bar → «Status» → «New status»

• A photo (up to 5 MB) or a text on a colored background. Only your friends see it, for 24 hours.
• You see who viewed it and how they reacted (on a phone, swipe up). Nobody else sees that list.
• When viewing someone's status you can react or reply: the reply lands in your chat with them, quoting the status.
• A text status can be edited (it doesn't extend the 24 hours) and any status can be deleted early.

Events and reminders

Where it isTop of the list: the calendar icon → «New»

• An event has a title, time (or all day), end, description, place, link and color. It can repeat (daily, weekly, monthly or yearly) and come with a weSmile call ready.
• Up to 3 reminders per event, from «At the time» to a week before. They arrive as notifications (and to your Partner, if you have one). Reminder timing is approximate: it may arrive a bit late.
• Editing or deleting a repeating event changes the whole series. Times are in Costa Rica time.
• You can also ask the Assistant: «remind me tomorrow at 3 to call the dentist», «what do I have this week?».

Group and company calendars

Where it is«Group info» → «Calendar» · a company's profile → «Follow the calendar»

• Every group has its own calendar: events notify everyone (except those who muted or archived it). The owner, admins and collaborators create and edit.
• With «Subscribe» you copy a link to see it in Google Calendar, iPhone or Outlook, and it updates by itself. «Download .ics» is a snapshot that doesn't update.
• In «My calendar», «Connect with Google» syncs your Google Calendar both ways: yours goes up to Google and whatever you add, change or delete there comes in here (marked «from Google»), so the Assistant sees your whole agenda. It syncs every few minutes and when you open the calendar, or with «Sync now». Your groups' and companies' events aren't copied to your Google. «Disconnect» removes weSmile's permission in Google and deletes what had come in from there.
• If you're connected to a company (on its team or a client), you can follow the public part of its calendar or add a single event to yours. Its events show up in your calendar with the company's name, and you're told about new ones or date changes.

Themes and the studio

Where it isSettings → «Appearance» · the studio: «Open the studio»

• Pick one of the built-in themes or make your own (up to 20). «Try a random one» surprises you.
• In the studio you adjust colors, the app's glass, bubbles, roundness and font size. Nothing changes until you save.
• «✨ Create with AI»: describe how you want it and it builds it (if you have an AI key or weSmile's free AI is available).
• Share a theme with «Copy share code»: whoever gets it in a chat taps «Use». With «Sync with my other devices» it looks the same everywhere.
• If your company locked its look, in its space you'll see its colors and can't change them; your menus, font size and animations stay yours.

Wallpapers, effects, ambiences and borders

Where it isStudio → «Effects», «Ambience» and «Border» · for one chat: its profile → «Customize this chat»

• Pointer effects (sparkles, fire, hearts or your own with your images): only you see them.
• Chat ambience (sparkles, snow, leaves…), animated border (aurora, neon, rainbow… or hand-made) and wallpaper: a photo or an animated GIF.
• Send effects: press and hold the send button (or right-click) and pick hearts, confetti, balloons… The other person sees them when the message arrives.
• A chat can have its own look, only for you. In a group, «Save this as the group's look» also shares it with everyone.

Menus, bar and language

Where it isStudio → «Menus» · language: Settings → «The app» → «Language»

• Reorder and hide the sections of the bottom bar and your «You» menu. «Chats» and «Settings» can't be hidden, so you're never left without a way back.
• In «Reactions» you set your quick emoji row, and in «Animations» choose all, gentle or none.
• The language (Spanish or English) follows your account on all your devices. Logged out, it's at the top of the public pages.

Appearance pieces

Where it isSettings → «Market» → «🎨 Pieces» · publish: studio → «Publish to the Market»

• Themes, pointer effects, ambiences and borders made by other people. Using one gives you your own copy.
• What you publish shows your name. In «My published» you withdraw or republish it; people who already used it keep their copy.

Stickers and packs

Where it isSettings → «Market» → «🎟️ Stickers» · make a pack: the 📦 in the sticker panel

• Browse packs and single stickers, with reviews. «Add» doesn't copy the file, so it doesn't waste space.
• A pack holds up to 30 of your stickers, with a cover. Tap a sticker someone sent you and it tells you which pack it's from so you can add it.
• If something isn't right, «Report» it (it's private). Nothing in the Market costs money.

Install a bot

Where it isSettings → «Market» → «🤖 Bots» · or Settings → «My bots»

• A bot's card shows what it can do before you use it. «Use» opens a chat with it, or add it to a group you own or admin.
• In a group, each person can choose «Don't read me». When the bot releases a new version, it's accepted before anything changes.
• «weSmile bots» (weather, jokes, good morning, currencies…) come ready to use.

Create a bot with AI

Where it isSettings → «My bots» → «Create a bot», «From template» or «Build with AI»

• With «Build with AI» you describe what you want and it leaves a draft to test in the workshop before publishing. You can also ask the Assistant.
• A bot can run at a set time (Costa Rica time, with days) or every few minutes (5 at least). Timing is approximate.
• With webhooks («Connections» → «Webhooks») another system sends data to the bot. For developers there's an API with per-bot tokens.

AI keys

Where it isSettings → «My bots» → «Your AI keys»

• To use artificial intelligence (AI bots, the Assistant, create with AI) you can use your own key from Claude, OpenAI, xAI, NVIDIA or Groq (Groq has a free tier). It's checked before saving and stored encrypted.
• Without your own key, when available, you use weSmile's free AI, with an hourly request limit.

What you can ask the Assistant

Where it isHidden by default: turn it on in Settings → «Appearance» → «Open the studio» → «Menus». Then it sits next to your photo (double-tap to switch)

• Write to it in its chat, or dictate with the composer's microphone (where the browser allows it). It uses your AI key or weSmile's free AI.
• You can ask it, for example: read and search your chats («what did Ari say in the puzzle group?»), send messages («tell Nicole I'm on my way»), react to, save or delete messages, add events and reminders, schedule calls, post your status, change the theme or look, build bots and themes, find stickers and follow a channel.
• Messages to people and groups are sent without asking you «yes»; it only asks which chat if the name matches several. Deleting a single message asks «yes», and emptying a whole chat asks for your password (and your second factor, if you have one).
• It never touches your password, email, second factor, sessions, keys or PIN. It doesn't enter secret chats either.
• Not sure how something works? Ask it «how do I…?»: it answers the basics and sends you the link to the part of this guide that explains it.

The Partner (the device)

Where it isSettings → «My Partner» → «Pair my Partner»

• The Partner is a desk companion built on an ESP32: the same Assistant, on a device you talk to out loud. You don't need it to use the Assistant.
• Pair it by connecting it to your WiFi and typing the 6-digit code weSmile gives you into its page (it expires in 10 minutes).
• Give it a PIN (4 to 8 digits): without one, anyone on your WiFi could read your chats from the device's page. The session doesn't expire on its own; it ends with the 🔒 lock or when you change the PIN. From the locked device, sensitive actions ask for the PIN, and emptying a chat by voice asks «yes» plus the last 2 digits of the PIN.

The log of what it does

Where it isIn the Assistant's chat: ⋮ → «Assistant log»

• Everything it actually did (who it wrote to, what it changed) is logged and also shows inside its chat, in a «What it did» card.
• The log is encrypted, it's yours, deletes itself after 30 days and you can clear it. It doesn't copy other people's message text.

How your messages are stored

Where it isSettings → «Privacy» → «Your messages» · the Privacy policy

• Your messages are stored encrypted in the database (AES-256-GCM). They're not end-to-end: the server holds the key, which is what lets you log in from any device and see everything instantly. We don't read them for any purpose of our own.
• If you want end-to-end, use a secret chat. Calls are encrypted between devices and never recorded.
• Files have no public address: each time someone in the chat opens one, they get a link that expires in 15 minutes. No ads, no data selling, no trackers.

Two-factor, app lock and sessions

Where it isSettings → «Security»

• Second factor to log in: scan a QR with an authenticator app and, besides your password, a 6-digit code is required. You get 8 backup codes: keep them, they're your way in if you lose your phone.
• App lock: a code, your fingerprint, Windows Hello or Face ID to open weSmile on that device. It's device-only; if you forget the code, log out and log back in.
• Active sessions: see which devices your account is open on and sign out one or all the others.

Blocking, deleting and what others see

Where it is«Block» on the profile or the chat's ⋮ · Settings → «Privacy» → «Blocked» · Settings → «Account» → «Delete my account»

• When you block someone they aren't told: they just can't message you, send you a request or see your profile anymore. Blocking doesn't apply inside groups. Unblocking doesn't make you friends again.
• Your full profile is seen by your contacts; your name and photo by people in your chats and whoever looks you up by code. Your status and phone, only if you make them visible.
• Deleting your account asks for your password and can't be undone: your one-to-one chats go (for the other person too), plus what you wrote in groups, your statuses, files and friendships.

What it is and how to get one

Where it isSettings → «My companies» → «Request a company» · or the «For businesses» page

• A company isn't another account: it's something your account has. You're still you, with your friends and chats; what separates work from personal is the chat. You can belong to several companies at once.
• With a verified email (or if you signed in with Google), the company is created instantly as a demo: 1 month (30 days), up to 25 people, and you're the owner. Without verifying, you can send yourself the verification email or leave the request pending until an advisor approves it.
• The first time, «Set up your company» guides you: industry (clinic, school, office, shop…), profile, inbox, roles and invitations. The industry brings suggested roles and channels.
• «Talk to sales» opens a chat that gathers your business details; a person confirms prices and approval.

Spaces: personal, company and outside

Where it isYour face at the top of the list → «Spaces»

• A space is what you're looking at: Personal (your stuff) or a company (its groups, channels, calendar and look). The list, calls, archived chats, notifications, search and calendar are filtered by space.
• One-to-one chats and statuses are always personal. Each browser tab can look at a different space.
• If you're from outside (client, patient, family, supplier), the company shows under «Where you're a client»: you see its card, your conversation with it, its communities, announcements and public events, nothing internal.

Roles, positions and invitations

Where it isThe company window → «People» (staff, roles, outside and invitations)

• The base is owner, admin and member, and positions narrow down what each person can do: invite, see people, publish, handle the inbox, create groups, view the audit, handle applications… The owner sets up roles.
• An invitation is a link that states the position people join with, how many can use it and for how many days. It's shown only once; «Revoke» turns it off. On joining, the person is added to their position's groups and the main channels.
• Outside people don't take up plan seats. Admins can remove someone instantly or with a grace period; people can also leave on their own. On leaving they keep their account and everything personal.

Channels, announcements and inbox

Where it isThe company window → «Communication» (groups, channels, inbox and publishing)

• Every company has two main channels: «Announcements» and «Team notices». An announcement can carry an event that goes into the calendar, and it rings the bell.
• There are channel templates (Offers, News, Work with us, Client notices). A public channel can be followed by anyone with an account. A community is a group the owner opens to outside people.
• Publishing as the company: it goes out from the company account («on behalf of» whoever asked). Admins request it and the owner approves.
• The inbox (off by default) is the door for outside people to write to you, with a link and QR: they pick question, complaint or idea, and it continues in a chat your team reads.

The company calendar

Where it isThe calendar → «My company» · when creating an event: «Who sees it?» and «Who's assigned?»

• Each company event is Private (admins and its creator), Assigned (plus the people assigned), Team (all staff or certain positions) or Public (outside people too).
• If you're assigned you see «Your turn», and the Assistant reminds you. Bookings coming in through an integration start private; non-admins don't see client, phone or price.
• The company calendar's subscription link only includes public events. If an admin connects a company Google Calendar («Sync with Google», one tap with their Google account, or with a service account under «Another way»), it's two-way: weSmile's events go out to Google and whatever is written in that Google calendar comes in, with the visibility chosen there (Private by default). If whoever connected it with their account stops administering, it has to be connected again.

Work with us and applications

Where it is«Work with us» channel → «Apply» · for the company: the applications inbox

• The company posts openings as cards in its jobs channel. Anyone interested applies with «Apply»; their email and phone are only sent if they agree to share them.
• Applications have statuses and notes, and «Accept and invite» sends the invitation with the position. Data is encrypted, only seen by whoever handles applications and deleted automatically (180 days open, 90 days closed).
• The company's website can also show its openings and send applications through an integration.

Integrations and office Partner

Where it isThe company window → «Automation» → «Integrations» → «Connect a system»

• A bookings integration lets another system (your website, your CRM) send its bookings to weSmile: they go into the company calendar and notify the group the owner picks. There's another one for website applications.
• When connecting you see the link and signature only once: store them on your system's server, never in a web page. Inside there's a guide with the format and examples for developers. You can pause, renew the signature or disconnect.
• Business bots: reception, appointments, help desk, orders, payments and more in the Market; plus the company's WhatsApp handled from a chat (under Meta's conditions).
• Office Partner (if the plan includes it): a company device for the front desk or warehouse. The owner registers it; each operator has their own number and PIN, it only reads company groups and what it does goes into the audit.

Audit, plans and billing

Where it isThe company window → «Control» and «Plan and account»

• The activity log records who joined, left or changed role, invitations and policy changes; it's deleted after 180 days. It never stores message text.
• The company groups audit (if the plan includes it) records who sent what kind of message, in which group and when, without the text. Only if the owner deliberately turns it on is text stored, encrypted and visible only to them. It's kept 30, 90, 180 or 365 days. Your personal chats are never audited.
• The company chooses who inside uses what (bots, Market, AI, Partner, Assistant, calls): everyone, only admins or no one.
• Plans (reference prices, confirmed in the proposal): weSmile Business in the cloud, US$4 per person per month; weSmile Private on your servers, from US$2,400 per year for about 50 people (larger teams, quoted); Office Partner, US$129 per device plus US$3 per month. When the demo ends, the company moves to the free plan: chats, groups, calls and website integrations (bookings, applications, comments) continue, and paid features turn off, including the AI chat on their website. The owner chooses which account and email pay.

Where it is«You» → «Help» · Settings → «Help & support»

• Pick Support, Complaint or Idea, write briefly what's going on and tap «Send»: a chat with the weSmile team opens where we continue the conversation (with screenshots, if needed).
• If you're in a company, you can send it on its behalf: the owner and admins will see it too.
• No account or can't log in? Write to soporte@wesmileapp.com. To request a copy of your data, write from your account's email.
• A bot or sticker pack that isn't right can be reported from its card in the Market.