Installation
When you load the website on your device for the first time there should be a yellow prompt at the bottom of the screen. If you interact with this, like closing it, the prompt will be hidden from you from then on — because in case you just want to use the site, or already installed the app, you don’t want to see this prompt all the time. If you have dismissed the prompt but want to see the it again you can visit the page in an incognito window, or in an extreme case clearing all your Atomic cookies should reset it.
How you install the app depends on your device type:
iOS
Apple does not let us make a one-button install prompt for you, they also don’t support the installation of PWAs from anything other than Safari right now. Bummer!
You’ll have to manually install it, but at least that is pretty easy.
- Open the site in Safari on your device
- Tap the Share icon, its that square with an arrow poking up, you know the one
- Tap ‘Save to Desktop’
- Confirm the install popups
- You should be good to go with an Atomic icon on your home screen to launch
Android
Should be an install button on the yellow prompt that makes this process smooth.
It should work in most browsers but it’s hard to test every combination, keeping it all Google using Chrome is what we’d suggest.
- Open the site on your device
- Chrome is the suggested browser
- Tap the install button on the yellow prompt at the bottom
- Depending on the browser there might be a generic install prompt as well you can click
- Confirm the install popups
- You should be good to go with an Atomic icon on your home screen to launch
Using the app
Find the app on your home screen wherever you saved it and open it up.
You’ll have to log in to get to your programs of course.
Once you do you’ll be on your HQ just like the web version. From there you can Resume your last program, jump into Alpha, pick a new program from the list, and all that good stuff.
Support
We just launched this and can’t test every scenario so you might find a problem we didn’t catch yet: If you run into trouble please reach out and let us know, and we’ll sort your issue out if able and you’ll help us catch bugs and improve the app for everyone!
What sort of app is this?
We use a Progressive Web App (PWA), which is not the same sort of native app that is commonly in app stores. This should run on your device regardless of the operating system, you shouldn’t ever need to update it, and you don’t need to search for it in the app store you should be able to just install it off your browser and be ready to rumble. Here is some marketing razzle-dazzle on what a PWA is,
Progressive
PWAs work for all users, regardless of browser. That’s because PWAs are developed with progressive enhancement, using any features available on the user’s browser or device.
Responsive
PWA user interfaces fit any form factor, mobile, desktop, or tablet.
Connectivity independent
PWAs are enhanced with service workers that can let users work offline or on low-quality networks.
App-like
They use the application shell model, making them look like native apps and providing app-style navigation and interaction.
Fresh
The apps are always up to date with the latest content, thanks to the service worker update process.
We are just rolling this out and have more features planned down the road for push notifications and other features so stay tuned for upgrades.
