Support & Contact

Common problems

I didn’t get my OTP

RaisedHand signs you in with a one-time PIN sent by SMS. If it doesn’t arrive:

• Give it 60 seconds. SMS delivery in South Africa is sometimes slow, especially on a congested network.
• Check the number. It must include the country code — +27 for South Africa — and no leading zero after it. So +27 82 000 0000, not +27 082 000 0000.
• Check your signal. An SMS cannot arrive on Wi-Fi only. Move somewhere with reception and try again.
• Check your blocked or spam SMS folder — some Android messaging apps file automated messages there.
• Airtime is not required to receive an SMS, but a fully suspended line will not receive one.
• Wait before retrying. Requesting many codes quickly can trigger a temporary rate limit. Wait about 15 minutes, then request one more.
• Dual SIM? Make sure the SIM with that number is active in the phone.

Still nothing after all that? Email kagiso.thobane.73@gmail.com with the phone number you are trying, your network, and your phone model.

I can’t upload a photo, PDF or video

• Give the app permission. Android: Settings → Apps → RaisedHand → Permissions and allow Photos and media (and Camera, if you are taking the picture in the app). iOS: Settings → RaisedHand → Photos.
• Check the file type. Attachments must be an image, a PDF or a video. A Word document, spreadsheet or ZIP will be rejected — export it to PDF first.
• Check the file size. Very large files, especially long videos, will fail on a weak connection. Trim the video, or photograph the page instead.
• Try Wi-Fi. Uploads that fail repeatedly on mobile data usually succeed on a stable Wi-Fi connection.
• Free up storage. A phone with almost no free space cannot prepare a file for upload.
• Update the app to the latest version from Google Play, then force-close and reopen it.

The app is crashing or won’t load the feed

• Force-close the app and reopen it.
• Check that you are on the latest version from Google Play.
• Restart your phone — unglamorous, and it works more often than it should.
• If it keeps happening, email us with your phone model, Android or iOS version, and what you were doing when it crashed. Crash reports come to us through Firebase Crashlytics, but your description tells us where to look.

My question hasn’t been answered

Answers come from other students, so nobody is obliged to reply. You will get answers faster if you:

• tag the correct grade and subject — a mis-tagged question is shown to the wrong people;
• attach a clear photo of the actual question, in focus and right way up;
• say what you have already tried and where you got stuck, rather than posting only the question;
• ask one thing at a time instead of a whole exercise.

Reporting a user or a post

Anything that breaks our Community Guidelines can be reported from inside the app.

1. Open the question, answer, comment, chat message or profile.
2. Tap the … menu.
3. Tap Report.
4. Choose the reason that fits best and add a short note if it helps.
5. Submit.

Reports are confidential — the person you report is not told who reported them. We review reports and may remove the content, warn the user, suspend the account or ban it permanently, depending on how serious it is.

If you cannot report something in the app — for example the app won’t open — email kagiso.thobane.73@gmail.com with a screenshot, the display name of the person involved, and roughly when it happened.

How blocking works

Reporting tells us about someone. Blocking stops them reaching you, straight away, and you do not have to explain yourself to anybody.

1. Open the person’s profile, or tap the … menu on one of their posts or messages.
2. Tap Block.
3. Confirm.

Once you block someone:

• they cannot send you direct messages;
• they cannot comment on or reply to your questions and answers;
• you stop seeing their posts and answers in your feeds;
• any follow relationship between you is removed.

They are not told that you blocked them. You can unblock someone later from Profile → Settings → Blocked users.

Account questions

Changing your grade, name, school or avatar

In the app: Profile → Edit profile. Change your grade at the start of the school year so questions reach the right students.

Changing the phone number on your account

Email kagiso.thobane.73@gmail.com from a contactable address with your display name, the old number and the new one. We verify before changing anything, so that nobody can take over your account by asking.

Deleting your account

In the app: Profile → Settings → Delete Account. If you cannot sign in, see the Account & Data Deletion page for the email route, exactly what we delete, what we keep and how long it takes.

Privacy requests

Access, correction, deletion or an objection under POPIA: kagiso.thobane.73@gmail.com. We respond within 30 days. See Your rights under POPIA.

Making your email easier to answer

Tell us as much of this as you can and we will usually solve it first time:

• your display name in the app;
• your phone model and Android or iOS version;
• the app version (Profile → Settings → About);
• what you expected to happen and what happened instead;
• a screenshot, if there is anything to see.

Please do not email us anyone else’s phone number or personal details unless it is part of a report you are making.