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Tenancy API: Resident App
Purpose: The engine behind the Way of Life residents' app (mobile and web). It's everything a resident does with their tenancy from their own device, logging in, viewing documents, raising support, paying rent, and reading community content.
Primary users: Residents. Staff never use this directly; they see the results in Portal.
See it live: no screen of its own; it powers the Way of Life residents' app (iOS, Android and web). See Accessing the systems.
The residents' mobile app and web app both run on this. Features are added in versions over time, so newer capabilities (documents, transactions) sit alongside older ones without breaking existing app versions.
Sign-in & account
What it does: Lets a resident register, log in, recover a forgotten password, refresh their session, and log out.
Who uses it: Residents.
Key rules:
- A resident can only log in if they have at least one active tenancy, otherwise sign-in is refused.
- Password-reset links are valid for 30 minutes.
- Registration is rate-limited to deter abuse.
Social sign-in
What it does: Lets residents sign in with Google, Facebook or Apple instead of an email and password, on both the web and in the mobile app.
Who uses it: Residents who prefer social login.
Key rules:
- Social login never creates a new resident. It only connects to a resident record that already exists. If the social account's email isn't already known, the resident is sent through a linking step rather than being signed up.
- Linking a social account is confirmed by an emailed link, and a resident can unlink a provider later.
Profile
What it does: View and update account details and settings, set or remove a profile photo, and see which social accounts are linked.
Who uses it: Residents.
Documents
What it does: Lets residents view and download their tenancy documents, upload their own, and request a full download of everything.
Who uses it: Residents.
Key rules:
- Documents are grouped into folders, and include documents attached to their apartment.
- A single document can be opened from a secure link without logging in, so it works straight from an email.
- "Download all" runs in the background and emails a link to a ZIP of every document the resident can see.
Support requests
What it does: Lets residents raise a support request and track it, see the available request types, submit one, view their submissions, and follow replies.
Who uses it: Residents; staff respond from Portal.
Key rules: The request types on offer come from the resident's building, and a building can tailor its own set.
Rent payments
What it does: Lets residents pay rent and other charges from the app, through a three-step flow, choose what to pay, get sent to the payment provider, and return once it's done.
Who uses it: Residents.
Key rules:
- The app checks the selected charges are real and works out the net amount owed before creating a pending payment.
- On a successful payment, the matching transaction is raised in Qube automatically and any related notifications are marked as read.
- The whole payment feature can be switched off centrally if needed.
Charges & transactions
What it does: Shows a resident what they owe and what they've paid, grouped into due, overdue and paid.
Who uses it: Residents.
Key rules: A charge counts as overdue once it passes a set number of days; the lists are briefly cached for speed.
Notifications
What it does: Delivers notifications to the resident's registered devices, lets them see and mark notifications as read, and manages which devices receive push messages.
Who uses it: Residents.
Key rules: Notifications only go to residents who have them enabled. (The delivery itself runs through Portal's notification system, see the Portal page.)
End of tenancy
What it does: Lets a resident give notice to leave, pick a vacating date and give a reason, from within the app.
Who uses it: Residents planning to move out. This feeds Portal's Move-Out Tracker.
Section 13 (rent increase)
What it does: Lets a resident see a Section 13 rent-increase notice served to them, along with its status, and respond to it.
Who uses it: Residents at renewal.
Maintenance (Fixflo)
What it does: Lets a resident see the maintenance and repair issues logged for their apartment.
Who uses it: Residents.
Key rules: The resident's details are filled in automatically from their account.
Statements
What it does: Lets a resident download a statement or report of their account.
Who uses it: Residents.
Community & content hub
What it does: The editorial and community content shown in the app, the tenant handbook, events (with a calendar feed), offers, bookable spaces, referrals, and banners.
Who uses it: Residents.
Key rules: The events calendar feed is public so it can be subscribed to; the rest is tied to the resident's tenancy.
Integrations used by Tenancy API
| System | What it's used for |
|---|---|
| Fixflo | Showing maintenance/repair issues |
| Firebase | Delivering push notifications |
| Google / Facebook / Apple | Social sign-in (links to existing residents only) |
| Payment provider (Stripe / SagePay) | Rent and charge payments |
| Qube | Raising the transaction once a payment succeeds; account statements |
Related documentation
- Social Sign-In (repo doc)
- Resi App UAT test plans (2.3.x / 2.4 features)
- UAT Testing Plan Template, Mobile Residents App
Note: some older endpoints remain for backwards compatibility with earlier app versions and are marked as legacy in the code.