If you were redirected here after you scheduled your call, it means that your request went through! Please check your Email for confirmation of your booking with all details.
This article is a guide on how you can prepare yourself and your phone to get the most out of a support call with our team. Click here to purchase support / migration calls.
Please note: our calls are usually NOT regular phone calls. Instead we use the online platform Jitsi Meet.
Here is a quick overview of the content covered here:
0. Planning ahead
1. Connecting to the Internet
2. Updating the operating system (OS)
3. Updating installed apps
4. Registering Above Privacy Suite account (only applies if purchased)
5. Joining the call on Jitsi Meet > connecting from another device / platform
6. Showing up for the call
0. Planning ahead
In order to get most out of the call, feel free to prepare a list of things to accomplish and migrate, and please try to get all the devices and login credentials ready for the call.
For longer sessions like migration sessions, we recommend to prepare more extensively.
- Think ahead of your strategy - more...
- Get all devices / credentials / data ready
Depending on what you want to achieve, please try to think ahead of all the devices, data and information you may need along the way for those specific goals.
Examples:
- old SIM card > Transfer SIM card guide, Migrating SIM from iOS
- Google or Apple ID + password
- existing Email account credentials
- contacts file as an exported .vcf > Export contacts guide
- WiFi password
1. Connecting to the Internet / VPN
To have a proper starting point we recommend to already connect the phone to the internet before the call. You can do so either with WiFi, via the Ethernet adapter or with mobile data from the Above SIM (or any other active SIM card you may have).
Explore the options in the phone settings section - WiFi can be activated and managed, as well as mobile data:
Settings > Network & Internet
Here is another quick way to activate and connect to WiFi through the quick settings (swipe down from the very top of the screen):
Note: If you are using a VPN, check if you see a small key symbol towards the top right of the screen where the battery shows - this means that the VPN is active.
Please try out to if the internet (still) works as expected.
(ex. try using the search field from the home screen)
Additional VPN settings:
Settings > Network & Internet > VPN
All active VPN apps will be listed in here. By clicking on the gear icon to the right you can define them to connect automatically: 'Always on'
And whether or not it should Block connections without the VPN are blocked (VPN kill-switch). If your VPN is not working, this will block you from connecting to the internet.
2. Updating the operating system (OS)
The operating systems we use regularly receive updates. For best security, functionality and overall experience it is generally recommended to always update to the latest version.
Once the phone is connected to the internet, it should automatically show you pending system updates in the notifications - pull down once from the very top of the screen to see them in detail in the notifications section.
If you want to be sure whether the latest update is installed, to manually check for a new one or just to get more options, you can navigate to:
Settings > System > System Update
Note: Installing an update may take 5-15 minutes in total. You may be prompted to reboot your device and it may take a while to start and set itself up.
3. Updating installed apps
Most of the apps are in constant development and may have major improvements in newer versions.
Please consider taking some time to update all the apps to their latest versions using either F-Droid or Neo Store. Here is a guide
If you want to use the virtual phone number, we strongly recommend to update the app Cheogram, which is the XMPP client used to bridge to the cell network.
4. Registering the Above Privacy Suite account
Note: this section is only relevant if you purchased the optional Above Privacy Suite
After making the purchase of the Above Privacy Suite (APS), you will get an Email to the address you provided with the subject line: "Above Privacy Suite"
It will give you a link to the website where you can create your new account on our private servers:
register.above.im
On this site in the field for 'CUSTOMER EMAIL' just put in your original Email that you originally made the purchase with.
Then feel free to define the username and password for your new APS account.
Note: We recommend to use a strong password (and save it in a password manager like Bitwarden or KeepassXC).
Once your account is created you will get another Email to your customer Email with the subject: "Your Above Privacy Suite Account Information"
You are now ready to use your accounts and services from your Above Privacy Suite!
To set those up we invite you to check out our guides.
5. Joining the call on Jitsi Meet
You can join the Jitsi call from any device. We recommend to join the call directly from a computer.
Just click this link:
https://jitsi.above.im/45
For computers, just click the link we provided via Email or open a web browser and type the URL into the web address bar. Be sure to give the required permissions inside the browser, as well as in the system settings of your operating system. Check out our guide on how to use Jitsi Meet with desktop computers to verify that everything is working properly. You can check your setup inside a Jitsi call in the Settings menu, inside the 3 dots.
For iOS devices you can install the Jitsi App from Apple's App Store.
For Android devices we recommend getting the Jitsi app through F-Droid.
On the Above Phone, you'll have the Jitsi Meet already installed.
Join the call via the Jitsi app
Option A - Manually type in the URL
1. Open the Jitsi app on your phone. It's a blue / white genie icon.
2. On the top part there is a field that just generates random room names. This is where you can enter the complete URL that was provided in the Email - ex. https://jitsi.above.im/45
3. Then just tap on CREATE / JOIN
It will take you to the lobby of the chatroom where you can test your microphone and camera. Be sure to accept the permissions here!
4. Just tap on Join Meeting to jump in.
Note: The room name equals the duration of the call. As an example, for 45min Free Calls we generally use this link: https://jitsi.above.im/45
Option B - Scan QR code of the link
On the Above Phone you can scan this code using the 'Camera' app (bottom right on home screen) and setting it to 'QR Scan' bottom left
Here is the same link in form of a QR code.
The scan result of this code will show you the link mentioned above for you to just click on.
Just tap on the link - it will open up in a browser app.
Here just tap on 'Join this meeting using the app'. It will forward you to the Jitsi Meet app right into the chatroom.
Once in the call, you can activate the Microphone and the Camera using the buttons of the navigation menu on the bottom side of the screen - be sure to allow the permissions when prompted! (this app is open source and privacy friendly).
Note: for Screen sharing the camera permission is required.
Caution: When connecting with multiple devices to the same call, be sure that before you enter the call with a new device, be ready to disconnect the ifrst device from the call or turn off the microphone and mute the sound / speaker completely on one device!
Otherwise it will create a very distracting audio noise loop with the nearby devices 'hearing' each other.
General info on Jitsi:
Jitsi is a decentralized video conferencing platform that respects your privacy (unlike Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, Duo, etc.).
It can be used on all the popular platforms and even through a web browser without requiring any account or personal data of any sort - this is why we use it for our calls.
Feel free to check out our guides on Jitsi Meet to learn more about all the features and ways to use it.
6. Showing up for the call
In order to get the most out of the call it is recommended to show up right on time. Please consider that our appointment times are according to central time timezone, so CST in winter and CDT in summer.
If you are not sure about the time difference, you can use this site: https://time.is/CT
Please note that the call will be canceled if you are not on the call within 10 minutes after the scheduled time. If you can not make it after all, please let us know as soon as possible. If you cancel at least 12 hours before the set appointment, we are happy to reschedule the call for you.
We are excited to help you in your process of achieving solid digital privacy!