- WHAT IS AYOBA?
Ayoba is a FREE instant messaging app for your smartphone. - ON WHAT PLATFORMS CAN I USE AYOBA ON?
Ayoba is currently available for only Android devices. Ayoba will be coming soon to iOS and
web. - HOW DO I START USING AYOBA?
Download the app from the Android play store and sign up to get started.
To download the app, open the Google Play Store, search for Ayoba and download. - HOW DO I VERIFY MY NUMBER?
Once you have downloaded the app, open it and follow these steps:
Enter your Name
Choose your country from the drop-down list. This will automatically fill your country
code
Enter your phone number in the box below
Tap verify to request a code
Enter the 6-digit code you receive via SMS.
If you did not receive the 6-digit code by SMS
Wait for the countdown timer to finish and select Send SMS again.
Don’t guess the code, or you will be locked out for a period. - WHAT MAKES AYOBA BETTER THAN OTHER IM SERVICES
MTN customers get FREE Ayoba data. This means that MTN customers will be able to
send and receive text messages, audio, video, images and files within the Ayoba App
without incurring any additional data costs.
Ayoba users can receive SMS notifications of messages received in Ayoba when offline;
for MTN to MTN customers, the SMS are not charged.
Ayoba customers can also within Ayoba send and receive SMS from non Ayoba users
(e.g. on feature phones); for the MTN to MTN customers, the SMS messages are not
charged.
Users can follow their favorite Ayoba channels to stay updated
MTN customers can send Mobile money from within the app
In addition to English, users in Uganda can choose Luganda and Swahili as their
languages on Ayoba. - CAN I USE AYOBA ON MY NEW PHONE?
If you’re moving from one type of phone to another and keeping your number, you’ll keep
your account info. Your account information is tied to the phone number. Simply download
Ayoba on the new phone and verify your number.
If you’re moving from one type of phone to another and not preserving your number,
download Ayoba on the new phone and verify the new phone number. - CAN I USE AYOBA TO MAKE VOICE CALLS?
You can make voice calls from the Ayoba app to any of your Ayoba contacts. The call will be
charged as a standard voice call and uses your available airtime or minutes available.
Importantly, making a call within the app does not use data and is not free. - CAN MAKE VIDEO CALLS WITH AYOBA?
No. This feature is currently not available. - CAN I USE AYOBA ON TWO DEVICES?
Your Ayoba account can only be verified with one number on one device. If you have a dual
SIM phone, please note that you still must choose one number to verify with Ayoba. There is
no option to have an Ayoba account with two phone numbers. - CAN I CHAT TO PEOPLE THAT DON’T HAVE THE AYOBA APP?
You can send messages via Ayoba to anyone, even if they do not have the app on their
device. Messages sent to people who haven’t downloaded and registered on Ayoba will be
received as SMS text messages and will include links to view other files and content if
applicable.
MTN customers can respond to Ayoba SMS messages using SMS, for free, even if they do
not have the Ayoba app installed on their device. - CAN I ADD CONTACTS, EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT USING AYOBA?
When creating a new chat, tap on the menu in the top right-hand corner. Then enable Show
SMS contacts. You will now be able to view all your contacts, even those who are not using
the Ayoba App.
If any of those contacts download the Ayoba app and register with the phone number listed
in your contacts app, the Ayoba app will automatically update their status to a full Ayoba
user. - CAN I SEND IMAGES OR FILES TO CONTACTS WHO HAVE NOT DOWNLOADED THE AYOBA APP?
You can send images, videos, and links to contacts who have not downloaded the Ayoba
app. These contacts will receive an SMS notification which will include a link to view the
content. Note that viewing and/or downloading the content may incur data charges by the
network provider. - I HAVE RECEIVED AN AYOBA MESSAGE, BUT I DON’T HAVE THE APP. CAN I STILL VIEW THE MESSAGE?
You can view text messages and files sent from an Ayoba user via Ayoba, even if you haven’t
yet downloaded the free Ayoba app. - IS A CUSTOMER CHARGED DATA WHEN USING AYOBA?
MTN customers will be able to send and receive text messages, audio, video, images and
files within the Ayoba app without incurring any additional data* costs.
- Each user is allocated 1GB of usage a month; upon hitting that threshold, the user will
start to be charged off their normal data.
- IS AN MTN CUSTOMER WITH AYOBA CHARGED FOR SENDING SMS TO MTN
CUSTOMER WITHOUT AYOBA
SMS text messages sent to MTN non Ayoba users are free. - IS AN MTN CUSTOMER WITHOUT AYOBA CHARGED FOR SMS RESPONSE TO MTN CUSTOMER WITH AYOBA?
MTN customers will be able to respond to Ayoba SMS messages using SMS, for free, even if
they do not have the Ayoba app installed on their device. Non-MTN subscribers will receive
messages from Ayoba as an SMS but will not be able to respond. - DO I NEED TO HAVE THE AYOBA APP TO SEND AND RECEIVE MESSAGES FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO ARE USING AYOBA?
Ayoba works best when you’re communicating with someone else who also has Ayoba on
their phone. That said, we have made a special effort to be inclusive of everyone, and unlike
other messaging apps, you can chat to anyone regardless of whether they have the Ayoba
app or not.
Messages sent via Ayoba to your contacts who don’t have the Ayoba app, will be delivered
to your contact(s) as SMS text messages, and will include links to view images or files in their
browser. - DO I NEED TO REGISTER AGAIN IF I UNINSTALL AND REINSTALL THE APP?
No, you don’t. All you need to do is download Ayoba from the Google Play Store again.
Enter your name, select your country from the drop-down menu, enter your phone number
and select verify.
Note: if you have backed up your chat history before deleting the app and reinstalling it,
your chat history will be automatically restored. - HOW DO I CHANGE THE LANGUAGE ON AYOBA?
To change your phone’s language:
Android: Go to your phone’s Settings > System > Languages & input > Languages. Tap
and select a language.
If you’re using an Android phone, you can also change Ayoba’s language from within
the app. To do so simply tap the menu and select Settings and tap on language.
Select desired language and tap continue. - HOW DO I BACK UP MY AYOBA CHATS?
Simply tap on the menu button, then select Settings, then tap on Maintenance and select
Chat Backup. This will securely backup your chats into the Cloud and allow you to restore
your chat history if need be. Note that your backups are not stored locally on your device,
and so you will need access to the internet to make a backup. - HOW DO I ADD OR UPDATE MY PROFILE PHOTO?
If you have not yet selected a profile image:
Open the menu on the top left of the app
Tap the edit icon, then tap the profile photo > Camera icon
Choose a photo from your gallery to use as your profile photo
If you already have an existing profile photo:
Open the menu on the top left of the app
Tap your profile photo or the edit icon
If selecting the edit icon, then tap your profile pic > camera icon
Choose a photo from your gallery to change your current profile photo - HOW DO I UPDATE MY DISPLAY NAME?
Open the menu on the top left of the app. Tap your Display Name or the edit icon and
then edit or add your new display name - HOW DO I ADD OR UPDATE MY STATUS?
Open the menu on the top left of the app
Tap your status or the edit icon
Add a new status and select the tick icon to confirm or select a status from the list of
your previous statuses.
Note: If you block a contact, that person will not be able to see your profile photo or your
status updates. - IS IT SAFE USING AYOBA?
To keep your data safe and ensure your privacy, Ayoba incorporates sophisticated end-to- end encryption. This ensures that only you and the person (or people) you’re communicating with can read what is sent. Nobody else can read your messages, not even the team at Ayoba. It goes without saying that Ayoba will never share your details with third parties without your permission. You can manage your Privacy settings within the app by selecting Messaging from the Settings menu, and then tapping on Privacy.
- HOW DO I DELETE MY ACCOUNT?
There are a few simple steps to follow if you decide to delete your account. Note that this process cannot be reversed under any circumstances, even by the Ayoba team, so please be sure that this is something you want to do. Follow these four steps to delete your account:
Open the Ayoba app
Open the menu on the top left of the app
Top Settings > Maintenance > Delete your account
Confirm by pressing OK
Deleting your account will:
Permanently delete your Ayoba account
Erase your message history
Immediately remove you from all your Ayoba groups
Some important things to note:
You will not be able to access to your account
Deleting your account doesn’t affect the information other users have relating to
you, such as their copy of the messages you sent them
Copies of some material (e.g. log records) may remain in our database but are
disassociated from personal identifiers. - IS AYOBA OWNED BY MTN?
No. MTN has partnered with Ayoba to enhance communication needs of MTN customers by
providing an IM service. Ayoba is made in Africa. - WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT AYOBA?
Visit www.ayoba.me for more information.
How to see people who have seen your status on ayoba
I really want to thank MTN Uganda for the best services. Cause I as a student, Ayoba has helped me so much while connecting with friends to know my university programs. Thank you MTN.