General Store — Mail Alert app
In many small communities there is no door-to-door delivery — all the mail goes to the General Store, and residents drop in to ask Anything for me? Mail Alert turns that around. The person sorting the mail holds each envelope up to the phone camera; the app reads the name, matches it against the resident list, and tells the resident their mail is waiting — by the email or SMS they chose when they opted in.
See it on the phone
These are the same screenshots used on the App Store and Google Play listings.
How it works
- Residents opt in at the counter — name, the email address or mobile number they want alerts on, and the words to match their mail against. Consent is recorded with the entry. There's a printable opt-in form residents can fill in at home.
- Staff scan the mail — point the camera at each envelope. Reading pauses while the camera is moving so blurry sweeps can't cause false alarms, and zoom and camera-light controls help with hard-to-read mail. Local addresses flash NEXT (or PO BOX if you set that phrase). Leftover mail for someone who has moved — address matches the current resident, but their Exclude text is also on the envelope — flashes OLD and is not alerted, so it can be returned to sender.
- The alert goes out — a match shows the envelope photo with the matched words boxed; staff press Accept and the alert is sent, then it's straight back to scanning. New users can review every message before it goes; once trust is built, switch review off and alerts go out hands-free.
Highlights
- Point and scan — on-device text recognition reads names and addresses; images never leave the phone. Sort cues flash in the frame: NEXT, PO BOX, Check address, or OLD for previous occupants.
- Alerts, your way — email and SMS through free options (the phone's own mail/SMS apps) or fully automatic sending through the shop's own email account (SMTP) or an SMS gateway.
- Email & SMS builders — design the messages: subject, wording, the envelope photo in the email, and your current shop specials as a friendly advertisement at the bottom. Live preview as you type.
- Message log — every alert (sent, cancelled, or failed) is recorded with the full message text. When someone asks "why didn't I get a message?", search their name and show them.
- Training mode — a no-send testing switch lets new staff practise scanning with a clear on-screen banner and nothing ever sent.
- Private by design — the resident list is AES-256 encrypted on the device, protected by an optional staff PIN, with no cloud and no account. A built-in "Your Privacy" page lets staff show residents exactly how their details are protected.
- Backing up and Syncing in store devices. — No personal information can be exported from this app. Backing up and syncing between store devices is done using high security encryption. The resident list can never be opened outside the app.
- Shop specials — post time-limited specials with a photo, and let them ride along on the bottom of alert emails.
- Make it yours — show a photo of your store on the main page.
- Backup & restore — encrypted backups kept on the store device.
New here? Start with the quickstart — a store can be up and scanning in about fifteen minutes.
Availability on Google Play, the Apple App Store, and Microsoft Store will be announced here.