# Get your first alert on your phone

> From nothing to a saved place whose warnings arrive as notifications on your phone, in a few minutes and with a free account.

Get started · Tutorial · https://wxalerts.org/docs/get-started/phone-alerts/

By the end of this page you will have one saved place and a phone that is
told when a warning covers it. It takes a few minutes and costs nothing.

These steps use the Android app. On an iPhone or iPad, follow
[Alerts on iPhone without the app](/docs/alerts/iphone-without-the-app/)
instead, which does the same job from the Home Screen.

## 1. Install the app

On the phone, open the [WxAlerts page on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.wxalerts.mobile)
and install it. It needs Android 9 or later.

## 2. Sign in

Open **WxAlerts** and sign in, or create a free account when asked. If you
create an account, confirm your email, then come back to the app and sign in.

Push is on every plan, and any WxAlerts app signed in to your account gets push
for all your places.

## 3. Save a place

1. Sign in on the [Account page](/account/) and open **Places**.
2. Tap **Add a place**.
3. Under **Where?**, search for a town, county or ZIP, and choose the match.
4. In **Call it**, name the place, for example *Home*.
5. Leave **Alert levels** as it is. Warnings are ticked, which is the right
   start: a warning means act now.
6. Tap **Save place**.

## 4. Check the place

Open the place you just saved from **Places**. Its settings show which kinds of
alert it sends, anything muted, and whether it is paused. Make sure it is not
paused. Push covers every place you save, so there is nothing to attach.

## What you have now

A saved place, and a rule on it that sends warnings to your phone as ordinary
notifications. An alert covers your place when the polygon the National
Weather Service drew contains it.

## Where to go next

- [Saved places and alert rules](/docs/alerts/saved-places/): add a second
  place, or reach another person.
- [Rules and channels](/docs/alerts/rules-and-channels/): what a rule can
  watch, and the other ways an alert can reach you.
- [How an alert reaches you](/docs/alerts/how-alerts-reach-you/): the path a
  warning takes to your phone.