Docs/onboarding: 'Get Buzz on your phone' how-to — mobile install + desktop pairing guide for workplace rollouts
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Description
## Summary
The desktop ⇄ mobile pairing flow is genuinely good — QR + short security-code verification, identity and communities transfer cleanly — but it is entirely undocumented for end users. There's no official "Get Buzz on your phone" page, no FAQ, and nothing in onboarding that tells a new member the mobile apps exist or how pairing works. This issue proposes an informational how-to page (docs/FAQ and/or an onboarding step) covering mobile install + desktop pairing, designed so workplace admins can roll Buzz out to non-technical office staff.
## Context: onboarding a real office onto Buzz
We run a hosted community for a workplace team. Getting staff onto mobile meant assembling, from scattered sources (store listings, source code, trial and error):
- which apps to install — *"Buzz — chat with your hive"* on the App Store, `xyz.block.buzz.mobile` on Google Play (neither store listing mentions pairing);
- where pairing lives on desktop — **Settings (⌘,) → Mobile → Pair Mobile Device**;
- what happens during pairing (security-code verification, identity transfer) and how it differs from an **invite link** (pairing copies *your* identity to your own device; invites create membership for someone else).
None of this is written down anywhere a end user or office admin would find it. We ended up producing our own printable one-page handout (store QR codes + a six-step pairing walkthrough) to hand to staff. Every organization deploying Buzz for a team will need the same artifact.
## Gap today
- **No user-facing doc** for mobile setup: the README targets developers; the desktop Mobile settings card has good microcopy, but you have to already know it exists.
- **Onboarding never mentions mobile.** After joining or creating a community on desktop, there's no "set up your phone" affordance.
- **Nothing shareable for admins** rolling Buzz out to a team.
- **FAQ-shaped questions with no official answer:** Does pairing move or copy my identity? What if the security codes don't match? Do push notifications work? Can I pair more than one phone? What should a new teammate use — pairing or an invite link?
## Proposal
1. **An official "Get Buzz on your phone" page** (website FAQ or `docs/`) with: store links (+ QR codes), the pairing walkthrough with the exact UI labels, the security-code explanation, and the pairing-vs-invite-link distinction.
2. **Surface it in onboarding:** after a user's first community connect on desktop, a dismissible "Put Buzz in your pocket" step (or a card on the welcome screen) deep-linking to **Settings → Mobile**.
3. **An admin-shareable artifact:** a printable/exportable version of the page, personalized with the community name and host. Precedent already in-product: the Members settings card exports an invite QR as `buzz-community-invite.png` — a "download setup guide" next to it would complete the rollout kit.
4. **Seed the FAQ** with the questions above.
## Draft copy — free to use
This is the step copy from the handout we made for our own staff (verified against the current desktop UI strings):
Six-step pairing walkthrough + notes
**Pair your phone with the desktop app**
1. On your Mac, open the Buzz desktop app and make sure it's up to date.
2. Press **⌘ ,** (Command+comma) — or click your **user icon** in the bottom-left corner — to open **Settings**.
3. Select the **Mobile** tab, then click **Pair Mobile Device**. A QR code appears: "Scan this QR code with the Buzz mobile app to securely pair."
4. On your phone, open the Buzz app. On the **Welcome to Buzz** screen, tap **Scan QR Code** and point the camera at your Mac's screen. (No camera handy? Use **Copy pairing code** on the desktop and paste it on the phone instead.)
5. A short **security code** now shows on both screens. Check that they match, then confirm on **both** devices. Only confirm a pairing you started yourself.
6. That's it — "Your mobile device is now paired." Your identity and your community appear on your phone.
**Good to know**
- Codes don't match? The pairing cancels itself for security — start over from the desktop.
- Pairing copies your existing identity to the phone — use it for your own devices. Onboarding someone else? Send them a community **invite link** instead.
- Push notifications are supported on hosted communities.
## Related
- #2312 — onboarding explanation layer for community creation. This issue is the mobile-side sibling: same principle (state the model and the steps up front), applied to getting a community's members onto their phones.
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start by locating the docs/FAQ or docs area, the desktop onboarding or welcome screen, and the Members settings card that exports an invite QR. Review the existing Mobile settings labels and the proposed pairing walkthrough. Done means an official phone-setup guide, FAQ coverage, onboarding link, and shareable rollout artifact are defined and implemented consistently.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Domain
- documentation, mobile-dev
- Issue type
- Documentation
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 52/100