TownMessaging Channels & Their Limits
You can reach your Townie from several chat apps — WhatsApp, Telegram, and plain text messaging. They’re all great for talking to your assistant on the go. But they each have limits worth understanding before you rely on them, especially around whether your Townie can message you first (notifications and briefings).
The one thing to know
Messaging apps are inbound channels — the best way to ask your Townie something from your phone. They are not a reliable place to receive proactive notifications, briefings, or alerts. For those, use email, the web app, or the iOS app.
This isn’t a Town choice — it’s how the messaging platforms work. Apps like WhatsApp only let a business message you within a limited window after you message it, so your Townie can’t reliably push a morning briefing or an alert to you there.
Channel comparison
| Channel | Ask your Townie things | Reliable for notifications / briefings | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No (Meta limitation) | Your phone number | |
| Telegram | Yes | Limited | The Town Telegram bot |
| Text messaging | Yes | Limited | A verified phone number |
| Yes | Yes | Your @town.com assistant address | |
| Web app | Yes | Yes | town.com |
| iOS app | Yes | Yes (push notifications) | The iPhone app |
WhatsApp is a chat thread with your Townie — send text, photos, and voice notes and it works on your request. It can’t read your other WhatsApp conversations, and it’s not a dependable notifications or briefings channel because of Meta’s messaging rules: your Townie can only reply within a window after you message it.
See Connecting to WhatsApp for setup and what it’s great for.
Telegram
Telegram works much like WhatsApp — a personal one-on-one thread with the Town bot for questions, voice messages, and photos, with inline approval buttons. Group chats aren’t supported, and like WhatsApp it’s best treated as an inbound channel rather than a notifications feed.
See Connecting to Telegram for setup.
Text messaging
Text messaging lets you text your Townie from your phone’s usual messages app — whichever way your phone sends, iMessage, RCS, or plain SMS. You connect it by verifying your phone number — tap the pre-filled text from the Text Messaging card (or scan its QR with your phone) and hit send. No desktop app required.
See Text Messaging for how to set it up and what it’s good for.
Where to get proactive updates instead
If you want your Townie to reach you — morning briefings, urgent-email nudges, approval requests — rely on:
- Email — briefings and summaries land in your inbox. See Email.
- The iOS app — real push notifications for approvals and alerts. See iOS App.
- The web app — the Tasks and Approvals views at town.com .
Related
- Telegram
- Text Messaging
- Reaching your Townie — Every way to reach your assistant