Review check-in photos

When someone you hold checks in with a photo, the photo waits for you to approve or reject it. You choose when photos are needed on their page (see Manage their lock and Photo check-ins).

Find photos to review

You get an alert, "Riley checked in with a photo". Waiting photos from their current lock also show as 📷 1 to review on their card on Home, and under Needs your attention on a wide screen.

Open their page and scroll to Check-ins this lock. A check-in waiting for you shows 📷 Awaiting review and a Review button.

Approve or reject

1. Tap Review, or the photo.
2. If Ask before showing check-in photos and proof is on in Settings, tap View photo first. The photo hides again when you leave the app.
3. Check that the device is clearly visible and the photo looks current. The Stamped code is the one-time code CageCheck printed on the photo when it was taken, so an old photo can't be passed off as new.
4. Add a note to them if you like (up to 300 characters).
5. Tap Approve or Reject. You can also tap Reject & assign a penance (see below).

What CageCheck checks for you

Each photo shows its number, when they checked in and when the camera took it, and whether it was Taken with the in-app camera or Chosen from photo library. CageCheck also warns you about photos that look reused or edited, for example:

• identical or nearly identical to an earlier check-in photo
• the same image uploaded by another account
• a camera timestamp that's days old
• camera-roll details on a photo taken with the in-app camera

Serious warnings add a ⚠ Flagged chip in the list. "No camera timestamp" on its own is common and isn't a reason to reject.

A photo taken with no signal says when it was taken and how much later it was sent, and its stamp shows the time it was taken. It's flagged if their phone's clock was changed while it waited. See Offline check-ins.

Video check-ins

They can check in with a short video instead of a photo (see Video check-ins). In the list it has a ▶ on its picture and a Watch button. It may say Getting the video ready for a moment after they check in; you can approve or reject it once it's ready. The same band with the code, serial number and time runs under the video. Watch it through, then Approve or Reject as usual. CageCheck warns you if the video is longer than the time it took to record, which means it may not have been filmed live.

What they see

• Approved: they're told you approved it, with your note.
• Rejected: it counts as a missed check-in, and they're told, with your note. Your name shows next to the note on their check-in. If they haven't checked in since, their check-in clock goes back to their last good check-in, so they need to check in again now with a new photo. If it was the photo showing they'd locked back up after a timed release, the release opens again and they need to send a new photo straight away. Copies they shared to X or Bluesky are deleted.

Reviewing a photo also marks the check-in as seen. For a check-in without a photo, tap Ack to let them know you've seen it. It then shows Seen.

Give a penance for a rejected photo

Tap Reject & assign a penance. The photo is rejected, then Assign a penance opens, linked to that check-in, with their hard limits at the top. Describe the penance, choose how they do it and when it's due, and tap Assign penance. If you tap Cancel instead, the photo stays rejected with no penance.

The button only shows when you can give a penance right now. It's hidden while tasks and penances are paused (see Pause tasks and penances), and when they already have 10 open penances from you; a short line under the buttons says why. See Penances.

Undo a review

You have one hour to change your mind.

1. In Check-ins this lock, tap ↶ Undo next to the check-in. It shows the minutes left. You can also open the photo and use the undo button there.
2. Tap Undo approval or Undo rejection to confirm.

The photo goes back to waiting for review, so you can decide again. Undoing a rejection takes the missed check-in off their record, and if they haven't checked in since, their check-in clock goes back too. They're told you undid it.

An undo doesn't bring back copies they shared to X or Bluesky, and it doesn't cancel a penance you gave. Cancel the penance separately if you want to.