Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why does the message “Cannot Draw Names — Draw names failed. There are too many group or history limitations…” popup when I try to draw names?
This is usually because too many people are in too few groups. Grouping allows you to limit people so that they will not draw a name of someone in the same group. In the people list view there are group headings that show above the happy face icons. If you want a simple exchange with no grouping limitations the heading on top of all of the names should show “Not grouped”. If this is not the case select each person and change the group selection to “Not grouped.”
This can also happen if there is a person in the exchange with a blank name. In the people list view (view with smiley faces) if there is a row that shows a smiley face but there is no name beside it check to see if this is supposed to be a person in the exchange. If so select the row and enter the correct name. If this is a extra entry tap “Edit” and delete it.
2. I sent texts and it shows successful but my people have not received their texts. What’s wrong?
A bug has been reported that if the default carrier “A.T. & T. Wireless” is used for participants after a new exchange is created the text notifications may not work. You can check after sending by reviewing the “Summary” “Log” screen. It should show any texts sent to A.T.&T. as phonenumber@txt.att.net. If not select each person, change the carrier to a different carrier such as Verizon, then tap the “Back” button. Select the person again, and then set the carrier back to “A.T.&T. Wireless”. Tap the action button and then send the text again. This issue will be corrected in the next update.
The text messaging feature uses the various carriers email to SMS gateways. What this means is that the Gift Exchange program sends the text as an email to a particular email address provided by each cell carrier. Make sure that for each participant to receive a text message the carrier is selected correctly for their cell carrier such as “Verizon”. or “A.T. & T. Wireless”. Also allow some time. It may take a few minutes before the texts make it to the participants’ phones.
3. Can I re-send a notification to just one person?
You may select any participant and then tap the action button (symbol with an arrow). A menu will appear to send the notification to just that person. If an email address is entered the option will appear to email that person. If a phone number is entered the option will appear to send a text to that person. The menu will also include the option to print the notification for that person. You must have an Air Print printer or Air Print software such as FingerPrint installed on a PC.
4. Some people did not get their e-mails. What’s wrong?
From the people list view (smiley facies showing) tap “Options”. Make sure your “From” e-mail address is set correctly. Correct it if needed and re-send the notifications. Allow some time and check your inbox. There may be an “undelivered” response message with an explanation. You may also ask your people to check their spam folder in case the message was put in there for some reason. From “Options” you may change the “send method” to “Native iOS” and then re-send any notifications for any people who did not get their notifications. This mode will display the regular iOS send screen and then you have to tap the send button.
5. Why are my changes to gift suggestions are not being saved?
Make sure you update to the latest Gift Exchange. Version 1.0.4 fixed a bug that in some cases the gift suggestions will not be saved. You can work around it by typing in your gift suggestion or update then make a change to the phone number or some other field before you press “Done”. If you just add a space to the phone number then tap “Done” this will take care of it and the space will automatically be removed so it won’t actually affect the phone number. On iPad you may have to tap the “Done” button and not just switch to another person.
6. How can I backup my data or send my Gift Exchange files to use with the PC version?
When you backup to iTunes or iCloud your Gift Exchange data is also backed up. You may also send your files as mail attachments. With the people list view showing select “Options”. Tap the action icon (the symbol with an arrow). Tap “Mail”. An email send form will appear with your *.gx file attached.
7. I created my list in Gift Exchange Lite, then purchased the full version. Do I have to type my list again in Gift Exchange Mobile?
No. Open “Gift Exchange Lite” then follow the number “6.” instructions above to send your file as an email attachment to yourself. Go to your mail and when the email is received tap the attachment. Select “Open In…” Gift Exchange Mobile.
8. Can I customize the notification messages?
Yes. Simply select your exchange and tap the “Options” button. There are three notification templates that you may edit to suit your needs, “E-mail template”, “Text template”, and “Suggestion template” (notification of gift suggestion changes). You may change any of the wording, just make sure you keep the essential variable tags. <name-to> is the name of the person the notification is to. <name-drawn> is the name of the person the recipient is to get a gift for. <history> shows a chart of the previous drawing history. <suggestions-all> shows all of the participants and any gift suggestions. <suggestions> are gift suggestions for the person the recipient is to get a gift for. Be sure that you keep the text and suggestion templates relatively short because of text limitations. After editing the templates you may test your changes by resending the notification to yourself only, before sending all notifications.
The template defaults are – e-mail:
Hi <name-to>,
<history><suggestions-all>
The name drawn for you to give a gift to is: <name-drawn>
Text:
<name-to>, Name drawn: <name-drawn> <suggestions>
Suggestion update:
<name-to>, Gift Suggestion update: <name-drawn> <suggestions>
Make sure your tags, such as <name-drawn> are all lower-case and do not have any spaces.
9. Can I be part of the exchange and not see who has my name?
Yes, Gift Exchange mobile can send notifications using either SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol – using your own e-mail provider) or a web service so the names will not be visible when the notifications are sent. If desired in “Options” the send setting may be changed to “Native iOS” so that the iOS send prompt will appear for each person. If this is used you may see the notification of each person. You may be able to cover part of the display with your hand or tap send quickly for each person so that you don’t see the names.
10. Why does the app crash when I delete a group name?
Update to the latest version of Gift Exchange Mobile. Versions prior to 1.0.5 might crash if you delete a group name while that is the selected group for the current person. In the mean time simply select a different group for the current person or “Not grouped” before deleting a group.