Skip to main content
You don’t need to install anything. Need Alert works in your phone’s or computer’s browser. Subscribing to an item doesn’t put you in a line or give you a position: when the establishment sends the alert, all subscribers are notified at the same time.
1

Scan the QR code

Point your phone’s camera at the establishment’s QR code, or open the link they shared. The item page shows the establishment and how many people are waiting.
2

Sign in

Click Sign in to subscribe. If you don’t have an account yet, sign up with your name, email, and password. After signing in you go straight back to the item.When you sign up, you get an email to confirm your address. You can subscribe before that, but alerts only arrive after you confirm the email. If it didn’t arrive, the reminder at the top of the screen lets you resend it.
At times Need Alert accepts sign-ups by invitation only. The sign-up screen then offers Join the waitlist: leave your email and you’ll get a message when sign-ups open.
3

Subscribe

Click Notify me, choose how long you want to be notified, and click Confirm.
4

Turn on notifications

Need Alert asks for permission to send notifications. Click Enable alerts and allow it in the browser. Without this permission, the alert only shows while Need Alert is open.
On iPhone and iPad, notifications only arrive when Need Alert is installed on the home screen. See Alerts and the app.

​
Choose how long to be notified

For a one-time alert item, you’re notified once and your subscription closes. To be notified again, subscribe again. You can change these choices later in My subscriptions.

​
Items with sensitive data

Some items reveal health data, like your blood type in a donation campaign. In those cases, the page tells you up front, and you need to check an extra consent to subscribe.

​
Find establishments without a QR code

In Find establishments, search by name, neighborhood, or city, filter by category, or use Near me with the radius you prefer. On the establishment’s page, the Items open for subscription section lists the items you can subscribe to. Click See item and subscribe.

​
When you can’t subscribe

  • Paused item: the establishment paused subscriptions for now. Come back later.
  • Item no longer available: the establishment stopped the alerts for that item.