diff --git a/frontend_tests/node_tests/activity.js b/frontend_tests/node_tests/activity.js
index 4e03cdb8c0..7a1a9dc979 100644
--- a/frontend_tests/node_tests/activity.js
+++ b/frontend_tests/node_tests/activity.js
@@ -868,14 +868,14 @@ run_test('electron_bridge', () => {
     assert.equal(activity.compute_active_status(), activity.ACTIVE);
 
     window.electron_bridge = {
-        idle_on_system: true,
+        get_idle_on_system: () => true,
     };
     assert.equal(activity.compute_active_status(), activity.IDLE);
     activity.client_is_active = false;
     assert.equal(activity.compute_active_status(), activity.IDLE);
 
     window.electron_bridge = {
-        idle_on_system: false,
+        get_idle_on_system: () => false,
     };
     assert.equal(activity.compute_active_status(), activity.ACTIVE);
     activity.client_is_active = true;
diff --git a/static/js/activity.js b/static/js/activity.js
index bd80b18c0b..87ebd1a465 100644
--- a/static/js/activity.js
+++ b/static/js/activity.js
@@ -272,11 +272,11 @@ exports.compute_active_status = function () {
     // * For the electron desktop app, we also know whether the
     //   user is active or idle elsewhere on their system.
     //
-    // The check for `idle_on_system === undefined` is feature
+    // The check for `get_idle_on_system === undefined` is feature
     // detection; older desktop app releases never set that property.
     if (window.electron_bridge !== undefined
-            && window.electron_bridge.idle_on_system !== undefined) {
-        if (window.electron_bridge.idle_on_system) {
+            && window.electron_bridge.get_idle_on_system !== undefined) {
+        if (window.electron_bridge.get_idle_on_system()) {
             return exports.IDLE;
         }
         return exports.ACTIVE;
diff --git a/static/js/notifications.js b/static/js/notifications.js
index 23a3ee83d4..4b468e8f8e 100644
--- a/static/js/notifications.js
+++ b/static/js/notifications.js
@@ -271,7 +271,9 @@ if (window.electron_bridge !== undefined) {
     // is often referred to as inline reply feature. This is done so desktop app doesn't
     // have to depend on channel.post for setting crsf_token and narrow.by_topic
     // to narrow to the message being sent.
-    window.electron_bridge.send_notification_reply_message_supported = true;
+    if (window.electron_bridge.set_send_notification_reply_message_supported !== undefined) {
+        window.electron_bridge.set_send_notification_reply_message_supported(true);
+    }
     window.electron_bridge.on_event('send_notification_reply_message', function (message_id, reply) {
         const message = message_store.get(message_id);
         const data = {