App

Your platform can sit on the student's phone home screen as an app, with your name and your icon. In Settings → App you configure that app. It does not go to the App Store or the Play Store: the student installs it from the phone's browser.

The idea in one minute

The app is the student area itself, installed as an app. The technology is called PWA. It opens in its own window, without the browser bar, with your icon on the home screen.

The most important rule: the app is only available when an Icon is uploaded. Without an icon, the phone does not offer to install it.

The notice at the top of the App identity tab shows the state:

• App configured: "The icon is set and the app can be installed on compatible devices."
• Setup pending: "Upload an icon to make the app available on compatible devices."

The three tabs

The three tabs are saved together, with Save now in the footer bar.

App identity

• App title: the name shown when installing and on the phone's home screen. Left blank, the student area's Page title applies. Keep it short, because long names may be cut on the home screen.
• Icon: square PNG, 1024×1024, up to 350 kb. It is what activates the app.
• App ID: the app's unique identifier, such as my-school. Do not change it after publishing: it is how the phone recognizes the app already installed.

Installation

What the phone shows when it offers the installation:

• App description: the text that introduces the app.
• Category: the one that best represents the content. The options are Business, Education, Finance, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities.
• Screenshots: images shown during installation. Vertical PNG or JPG (9:16), up to 800 kb per image. You can upload more than one.
• Background color: the color of the loading screen, when the app opens.
• Theme color: the color of parts of the app interface, depending on the device. For example, the status bar.

Android linking

This tab is only for those who have their own Android app, published on the Play Store, that opens this domain. Android asks for a public file on your domain that proves the link between the app and the site.

• Enter the Package name, such as com.yourcompany.yourapp.
• Enter the Certificate SHA256 of the app's signing certificate, in the AA:BB:CC:… or AABBCC… format.

With both saved, the screen shows the Linking file and the Open file button. The linking file is the public address Android checks. Until then, the status is Linking pending.

The two fields are optional and independent. With only one filled in, the file is not published, but the rest of the screen still saves. A value outside the format is refused, with the field's message.

Step by step

To activate the app:

1. In the dashboard, open Settings → App.
2. In App identity, fill in App title.
3. Upload the Icon.
4. Set the App ID. Do this only once.
5. Open the Installation tab.
6. Write the App description and choose the Category.
7. Upload the Screenshots.
8. Adjust Background color and Theme color.
9. Click Save now.

The notice on the first tab becomes App configured. To see the result as the student does, open the platform on a phone and install it.

How the student installs it

1. On the phone, the student opens the platform address in the browser.
2. The student uses the browser's own install option: Add to Home Screen in Safari on iPhone, or Install or Add to Home Screen on Android.

Once installed, the icon sits on the home screen with the App title. The app opens straight into the platform.

On the login screen of the Classic model (Access screens), the platform helps the student. For a few seconds, it shows the instruction for the browser in use, with the icon of the button to tap.

Heads up: this is where most mistakes happen. Bia tries to install the app from Chrome on her iPhone and cannot find the option. On iPhone, installation only works through Safari. In another browser, the notice asks to open it in Safari.

Good to know

Frequently asked questions