What the alerts mean

When Stealward notices something, it reaches you on the device you kept with you.

How fast

• A moved device pings your phone in about a second from the moment the sensors detect movement.
• If the watching device goes dark — unplugged, powered off, or offline — you’ll know within seconds.

Cutting through Do Not Disturb

Stealward’s alerts are sent as critical alerts, so they can come through even when your phone is on silent or Do Not Disturb. You grant this permission when you set up alerts; without it, alerts follow your normal notification settings.

What’s in an alert

An alert tells you what happened in plain words — for example, “Your backpack may have been moved.” That wording is generated by Stealward and passes through our systems and Apple’s push service in readable form, so it can be delivered. The name of your device in the alert is encrypted, so only your own devices can reveal which device it came from.

What the watching device does at the same time

Depending on your settings, the watching device can also sound a loud alarm and flash the screen to draw attention and deter whoever triggered it. On a Mac, the alarm is designed so it can’t simply be muted. It also shows a locked cover that blocks the usual ways to get back into the device.

This is a strong deterrent, not an unbreakable lock — someone determined who has the physical device may still get past it. The goal is to notice fast, alert you fast, and make walking off with your things far less appealing.