HelpScout Hub




This app works with the customer support desk Help Scout. I developed it to help me quickly get in answer or monitor support and get out. With this free app you can easily keep track of support with the following features:

- Work with multiple Mailboxes
- Work with all of your Folders
- Keep up with Conversations
- Browse Threads
- Pull to quickly refresh on any page similar to your mail client.

Make a one time upgrade to Pro in app to unlock these features:

- Download and Share attachments
- Fully edit and manage conversations. Update the status or assign conversations to other users.
- Respond or add a Note to a thread while reassigning or changing the status.
- Delete Conversations and Notes

This is just the first version with additional feature coming such as:

- Create new conversations
- Access Saved Replies (I've contacted HelpScout about adding an API endpoint for this feature)

HelpScout Hub works off of the Help Scout API and requires your API Key which you can generate under your user settings on the Help Scout website.


Security


I had a good question come to me about security of the app.  Here was my response which details some of the security steps i've taken with the app:

"I developed the app with security in mind as I use the app for my main business as well. The api token is only stored on the device in the iOS Keychain (docs here). The app interacts with no other services (I don't even collect crash and error reports). The Help Scout api is only accessed over HTTPS (docs here) and the token is only used in the auth header of the request as detailed in the API docs."

39 comments:

  1. UnknownMay 28, 2014 at 1:32 AM

    Hey! We were wondering if there were any plans to create an Android version of the Helpscout app. It would be an ideal solution for our support team. Thanks in advance for your reply.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JasonMay 29, 2014 at 6:36 AM

    Hi there! I currently have no plans to port an Android version over. I'm primarily an iOS developer. But thanks for using the product and I hope it's making you more productive!

    ReplyDelete
  3. TimAugust 4, 2014 at 2:27 PM

    I just downloaded your app, and I figured I'd try the Pro features out. I can't figure out how to do the in App purchase to upgrade to Pro. Am I missing something?

    ReplyDelete
  4. JasonAugust 5, 2014 at 7:06 AM

    Hi Tim,

    If you haven't yet upgraded to Pro, the app will prompt you to upgrade when you attempt to use a pro feature (such as replying to a thread). Apple handles the transaction from there. Once you've upgraded all of the pro features will be available to you. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. KungFuGripAugust 6, 2014 at 3:27 PM

    Jason thankfully I stumbled upon your HelpScout app and upgraded to pro. Whenever I got to reply>assign or change status I get the Oops error. Any help you can lend?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JasonAugust 6, 2014 at 6:59 PM

      Hi KungFu!

      The "Oops" errors are returned directly from HelpScout along with a message. Could you let me know what the message is? Typically this has something to do with permissions. Thanks!

      Delete
    2. KungFuGripAugust 8, 2014 at 12:18 PM

      Thanks for the response Jason. "Input could not be validated". This occurs whenever trying to switch status or assign.

      Delete
    3. JasonAugust 11, 2014 at 4:35 AM

      Hmm, that's a new one on me... Thread assignments seem to be working fine on the API. Does it only happen on one Thread in particular? I would try deleting the app and reinstalling making sure your API key is correct. After reinstalling just choose "Restore Purchase" to get the pro upgrade again. Hope that works!

      Delete
  6. UserAugust 18, 2014 at 4:24 AM

    I need notifications in the app... any chance of adding support for notifications in iOS?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JasonAugust 19, 2014 at 5:51 AM

      Hi there! As of yet there's no practical way to implement push notifications although it is a feature I'm interested in. I'll post an update if anything's changed. Thanks!

      Delete
  7. AnonymousOctober 6, 2014 at 4:02 PM

    Hi, I was wondering if it was in the road map to allow the open/unassigned case count to be seen from the main mailbox menu? Also if there was access to the saved responces that would be great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JasonOctober 17, 2014 at 1:12 PM

      Hi Rob, sorry for the late reply, this one made it under the radar somehow :) I don't have any plans to show an aggregate of open/unassigned on main mailbox menu, but can see how that would be helpful. I am working on an update and will investigate the feasibility of the feature.

      As for Saved Responses, there's no API available for those lists so the best I could do is allow you to create local responses you save on your device. Which is a feature i'm working on. Thanks for the suggestions!

      Delete
  8. AnonymousOctober 17, 2014 at 12:47 PM

    As a user who just got notification about the changes to the api interfaces, can you tell me if HelpScout Hub will break on Monday?

    Also would love to hear back on my last questions... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JasonOctober 17, 2014 at 12:57 PM

      Hi Rob,
      I have not received any notification of an API change. I do know that the API is versioned and is still on V1. I suspect if there were breaking changes a new API would be launched under the V2 namespace and the V1 would remain intact. So no, the app should remain up and fully functional. Thanks!

      Delete
    2. AnonymousOctober 20, 2014 at 7:16 AM

      Hi Jason, this is the email I got on Friday about this...R

      ---

      Support,

      On Tuesday of this week, Google announced a very serious security vulnerability called POODLE. I won't cover the complete details, but wanted to let you know that Help Scout systems were patched yesterday. Your connection to the web application remains secure and there's nothing to worry about.

      The rest of this email is for API Users and developers. Anyone else can feel free to stop reading and enjoy your weekend. :-)

      We have yet to apply the patch to our API servers and plan on doing so Monday at 1pm EST. The patch will no longer allow SSL 3.0 connections and force clients to use the more secure TLS protocol.

      There is a possibility that the upgrade could break an integration you have installed or created to communicate with Help Scout. If so, we've created a new endpoint URL, apint.helpscout.net, which you can use temporarily. This endpoint still allows SSL 3.0 connections, thus is vulnerable to the POODLE vulnerability.

      We're providing the new endpoint as a temporary measure, so that developers can update their integrations and move back to the more secure api.helpscout.net endpoint. Our team will work with any parties using the temporary endpoint and make sure they get moved over quickly.

      Typically we'd like to give more notice before making an API change, but due to the seriousness of the POODLE vulnerability, we are taking action as quickly as possible.

      Don't hesitate to reply to this email if we can answer any questions. Have a great weekend!

      --
      Nick Francis
      Co-founder at Help Scout

      Delete
    3. JasonOctober 20, 2014 at 7:31 AM

      Thanks for posting that Rob. I saw the POODLE patch but completely missed the "API" warning they gave. Luckily, I designed the iOS client to handle SSL or TLS thus once they've switched over the protocol, the client will just continue to work. I'll monitor it after the patch, but there should be no issue. Thanks!

      Delete
  9. AnonymousOctober 20, 2014 at 6:25 PM

    Awesome, thanks Jason!

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownOctober 24, 2014 at 12:44 PM

    I can't purchase the app with iPhone 6. Stuck on loading screen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownOctober 24, 2014 at 12:45 PM

      This is within the App not from the App store.

      Delete
    2. JasonDecember 1, 2014 at 5:31 AM

      Hi Jason,

      I am aware of an issue where when "restoring purchases" and there is a problem the screen will continue to "load". This has been fixed in the latest version which should be released any day now. As a fix be sure and just use the "Upgrade" option. If you've already upgraded, Apple is aware of this and will just restore the purchase and not bill you twice. Thanks!

      Delete
  11. Nancy SlessengerNovember 29, 2014 at 8:32 AM

    Hi Jason
    I have the pro version of this app. Every time I try to send a message or add a note it crashes. Any help gratefully received. I have an iphone 6 (small one) Many thanks, Nancy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JasonDecember 1, 2014 at 5:28 AM

      Hi Nancy,

      I am aware of a bug where if your API key has been revoked or just not working after it had worked it can cause a crash. I've got a new version in review right now which should fix the issue. One fix I know of is to delete the app and redownload it from the app store. When the app starts up for the first time, it should see that you're not logged in and bring up the API Key page.

      Delete
  12. JasonDecember 1, 2014 at 5:27 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kleine MelodieJanuary 10, 2015 at 4:10 AM

    Hi Jason! We are longtime customers to helpscout but new to the app and plan on rolling it out to about 20 agents for start. Unfortunately, we can not assign to "Anybody" which is a biggie for us. And it is not possible to start a new conversation at all? Also the app could be much much prettier by just changing the font to something like "Open Sans", and sticking to one font only instead of 2 or 3 as i currently see it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JasonJanuary 10, 2015 at 1:17 PM

      Hi Kleine,

      Thanks for the recommendations. Font use is something I do seem to neglect. I'll certainly give Open Sans a shot and see how it looks (it's Helvetica right now)!

      As for the assign to "Anybody"; this is a feature I've been working closely with the Help Scout API team on. As of now it's only available internally to them on the website. However they did assure me this API feature request did make it on their board, so i'm still waiting on them. Thanks again and please leave a good review on the App Store :)

      Delete
  14. Kleine MelodieJanuary 12, 2015 at 5:21 AM

    Thanks for the reply. Optically the app could really need some small tweaks. If you wish any input, i would be glad to help! (besides Helvetica there also seems to be Times New Roman in use for Conversation Texts).

    Would be great if "Anybody" came at some time. And how about starting new conversations?

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousJanuary 18, 2015 at 1:32 PM

    Hi Jason, I'm having an issue with the app crashing when browsing our support mailbox. It seems to do it on different fevices. Is there a way for me to get you a crash log?

    ReplyDelete
  16. IRFebruary 27, 2015 at 6:15 AM

    Hello Jason. We use your Help Scout app at work and this morning I noticed that when I was trying to assign a ticket to myself the names were not in any type of order out of a long list. Would you be willing to have the app sort the names in alphabetical order?

    ReplyDelete
  17. 4/4 School of MusicJuly 21, 2015 at 3:21 PM

    Keeps asking for api key and won't accept a new one. Help!

    ReplyDelete
  18. 44schoolofmusicJuly 31, 2015 at 1:44 PM

    Help! Keeps asking for api key and won't accept a new one. Help!

    ReplyDelete
  19. UnknownAugust 13, 2015 at 5:59 PM

    I cannot login. Keeps asking for API. I didn't have this problem before. Please help!

    ReplyDelete
  20. San DiegsSeptember 4, 2015 at 9:46 PM

    Hey Jason,
    I'm having the same issue as Alonzo & 44schoolofmusic. I've been using the HelpScout app for nearly a year without any problems. The other day it asked me for my API key without any warning. I copied and pasted it from the HelpScout website, but for whatever reason the app isn't accepting my API key. I've even gone through regenerating the API key. Any thoughts on this?

    ReplyDelete
  21. jkakSeptember 7, 2015 at 12:45 PM

    Same issue as mentioned above. Asks for API Key and I have regenerated another and still cannot use the App. This App was great when it was working. Do I have to get the Pro version to use the App going forward, or should the free version still be working?

    ReplyDelete
  22. UnknownSeptember 19, 2015 at 5:30 PM

    Same issue here, have downloaded the app, it says confirming api key, then get an error that says We need a valide HelpScout API Key to get started!

    ReplyDelete
  23. UnknownSeptember 29, 2015 at 10:58 AM

    I was hoping the August release would fix this API issue, but it doesn't.

    Help Jason!

    ReplyDelete
  24. darthaspNovember 17, 2015 at 4:24 PM

    I solved the API invalid issue by (re)generating the 'Help Desk API Key' - by default HelpScout seems to generates a 'Docs API Key' - I have to get HS Support to help with this in the end

    Hope this helps

    Phil

    ReplyDelete
  25. darthaspNovember 17, 2015 at 4:26 PM

    Hi Jason,

    IOS Apps works well thanks

    I notice however that it will not display folders where there are mixed user permissions

    I will only show them if the 'Everyone' or 'Me' option is selected

    Can this be amended?

    Thanks

    Phil

    ReplyDelete
  26. darthaspNovember 17, 2015 at 9:08 PM

    Hi Jason,

    Is there a search facility in the app - i'm using Pro Version but can't seem to find one?

    Thanks

    Phil

    ReplyDelete
  27. AnonymousNovember 27, 2015 at 12:32 PM

    Hi Jason,

    Any update on push notifications on the iPhone? This would be awesome and a very important feature. Other than that, it works well!

    ReplyDelete

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