Answer chats on iPhone and iPad
Use the Pengo app on iPhone and iPad to accept chats, reply, write notes, send files, snooze and resolve, plus Face ID lock and iPad keyboard shortcuts.
On this page
The Pengo app for iPhone and iPad has the same shared inbox as the web dashboard. This guide covers the screens you’ll use most and how to handle a chat from start to finish.
#Find your way around
The tab bar at the bottom has:
| Tab | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Inbox | Every conversation. The badge counts chats waiting in Unassigned. |
| Live | Visitors on your website right now. |
| Leads | Leads captured from conversations. |
| Intelligence | Actions waiting for your approval and questions Pengo Intelligence couldn’t answer. |
| More | Your availability, notifications, settings and Contacts, Team and Analytics. |
On iPad, Contacts, Team and Analytics also appear in the sidebar under Workspace.
#Work the inbox
The pills at the top of the inbox switch between sections:
| Section | Shows |
|---|---|
| Unassigned | Chats nobody has taken yet. |
| Mine | Chats assigned to you. |
| All | Every open chat. |
| Resolved | Closed chats, kept for reference. |
Pull down to refresh. Use the search field to search chats, people and messages. If your workspace has more than one website, tap the website name at the top left to see All websites or just one.
Each row has quick actions:
- Swipe right to Resolve (or Reopen a resolved chat).
- Swipe left to Accept an unassigned chat or Snooze it.
- Touch and hold for more: Mark as read, Accept chat, Resolve, Snooze… and Priority.
#Reply to a visitor
-
Tap a conversation to open it.
-
If nobody has the chat yet, tap Accept chat at the bottom. The chat is assigned to you.
-
Type in Reply to visitor… and tap the send button.
-
When you’re done, tap the ⋯ menu and choose Resolve.
Tap the visitor’s name at the top to see their details: contact info, the page they’re browsing now, attributes and tags.
#Notes, files and saved replies
- Internal notes: switch the composer from Reply to Note. Notes say Only your team sees this, and the visitor never sees them.
- Attachments: tap + and choose Photo library, Take photo or Choose file. Files can be up to 10 MB.
- Saved replies: tap + and choose Saved replies, or type / and the reply’s shortcut. To save a message as a new reply, touch and hold it and choose Save as reply.
Touch and hold any message to Reply to it, react with an emoji, Copy, Translate or Share it. You can Edit or Delete your own messages for 5 minutes after you send them. The visitor sees that a message was deleted.
#More actions in a chat
The ⋯ menu at the top right of a conversation has:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Assign to me | Takes the chat. |
| Hand back to Intelligence | Lets Pengo Intelligence pick the conversation up again. |
| Write an internal note | Switches the composer to a note. |
| Snooze… | Hides the chat until In 1 hour, This evening, Tomorrow morning or Next week. |
| Transfer… | Passes the chat to a teammate. |
| Tags… | Adds or removes tags. |
| Priority | Sets Urgent, High, Normal or Low. |
| Translate visitor’s messages | Shows the visitor’s messages in your language. |
| Pin to Lock Screen | Keeps the chat on your Lock Screen as a Live Activity. See Widgets and Live Activities. |
When a visitor writes in another language, a banner offers to Translate their messages for you.
#Help from Pengo Intelligence
Above the composer, Copilot can Suggest reply, Summarize the conversation or Translate draft into the visitor’s language. Nothing is sent until you tap send. Copilot uses Pengo Intelligence, so it needs a plan that includes it. See AI credits.
On devices with Apple Intelligence, Copilot can also write suggestions on the device when Pengo Intelligence can’t answer, and the inbox has Catch me up: a short digest of your open chats, written on your device.
#Set your availability
Go to More and pick Online, Away, Busy or Offline under Availability. It controls when Pengo routes chats and push notifications to you.
Online takes new chats while Pengo is open on one of your devices. If no Pengo app or browser tab is open, Pengo pauses you shortly after, and you’re back Online when you open it again.
#Lock the app with Face ID
Conversations contain customer details, so you can lock the app.
-
Go to More and find Privacy & security.
-
Turn on Require Face ID (or Touch ID, or your passcode on devices without them).
-
Under Lock, choose Immediately, After 1 minute or After 5 minutes.
With the lock on, notification actions on the Lock Screen need your device to be unlocked.
#Appearance
Go to More and choose System, Light or Dark under Appearance.
#Working offline
When you lose your connection, the app says You’re offline. Showing saved conversations. Replies you send are queued, and the banner tells you how many will send when you’re back.
#iPad extras
On iPad, the inbox shows your conversation list and the open chat side by side, with the visitor’s details in a third column. You can also open a chat in its own window: touch and hold it and choose Open in New Window, or drag it out of the list.
With a hardware keyboard:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘F | Search the inbox |
| ⌥↓ / ⌥↑ | Next or previous chat |
| ⌘↩ | Send (↩ alone adds a new line) |
| ⌘R | Resolve |
| ⇧⌘A | Assign to me |
| ⇧⌘N | Switch between reply and internal note |
| ⌥⌘I | Translate the visitor’s messages |
Open a chat on your iPhone or iPad and it’s offered to your Mac through Handoff, so you can continue in the web dashboard.
Common questions
Can I reply when I'm offline?
Yes. The app shows your saved conversations and a banner that says you're offline. Replies you write are queued and sent when you're back online.
Why can't I reply to a conversation?
Viewers have read-only access. The app shows "You have view-only access to this conversation" instead of the composer. Ask the workspace owner for a different role.
How do I use a saved reply?
Type / followed by the reply's shortcut, or tap the plus button and choose Saved replies. You create saved replies in the web dashboard.
Was this guide helpful?
Your answer helps us improve it.
Sorry about that. or contact support, and we'll fix the guide.