Use our iPhone 'App'

[Scotty]

Ok, its not really an app !! but the forum software now has a feature built in that will work on iPhones that are capable of using IOS 16.4 or later and function like a standalone application. It allows you to create a shortcut on the home page of your phone that functions like a native App, sends you notifications and generally utilises as much screen space as possible. You do not have to do this to use the site on mobile, but I have been using it for a few weeks and it seems pretty stable and easy to use and just feels better than a browser window.   

A few clarifying notes first:

• If you have iOS 16.3 or earlier then you can still do the regular desktop shortcut I describe below, but you will not get the notifications and it will still open in a browser. The 'app' format (called Progressive Web App or PWA) is an Apple feature for iOS 16.4 and up. 
• If you have android then you may be able to do similar but I don't know as I have never used Android phones, always an Apple guy. 
• This will work using Edge or Safari on iPhone. It does not appear to work on Chrome on iPhone. Thats a limitation of Chrome or Apple, not sure which and nothing we can do to make it work. 

 

OK, you made it this far and want the CTO 'APP' on your home screen. Great! Read on... (if any image is too small, please click on it for full size).

 

 

MS EDGE MOBILE

• Load CTO in your browser. Click the 'more' icon in the bottom right
  
  
   
• This will load additional options for Edge. Click on the Share icon and 'Add to Home Screen' and give it a name. 
  
  
   
• This will add the icon to the home page
  
  

 

SAFARI MOBILE

• Load CTO in your browser. Click the 'share' icon in the bottom taskbar
  
  
   
• This will load additional options for Safari. Click on the 'Add to Home Screen' and give it a name, then click ADD
  
  
   
• This will add the icon to the home page
  
  

 

You can now view the site as an almost full screen progressive web app. 

 

Configure Notifications (optional)

From here it does not matter if Edge/Safari was used.  

• Go to https://caleythistleonline.com/notifications/options/ on the main site. If using mobile that would be as shown below. 
  
  
   
• Configure the various notifications to send you email or, if you want it on screen, to push it to you where that is an option
  
  
   
• Next time you get a message or another notification that is pushed to you it will alert you on your phone like a regular app. 
  
  

 

One caveat - this will NOT (currently) show the number of unread messages or notifications on your app like regular apps. This is a limitation from Apple, not from the software. 

 

[tm4tj]

Samsung Galaxy (oldish phone)

I opened site in browser, clicked on 3 dots in top right and got an option to download CTO App

Is that it? Previously I had browser on my mobile home page as a google chrome link, but now have the app on apps page. It signed me in without doing anything else.

[Scotty]

Could be ... I dont use Android so not sure. Will need to see if I can snaffle the wife's phone later and test it

 

[+Gringo]

I have an oldish Samsung Galaxy too. I've always used the web browser when I've had to access CTO. Must admit that isn't very often. Just the occasional NPL edit.

[Scotty]

7 hours ago, Gringo said:

I have an oldish Samsung Galaxy too. I've always used the web browser when I've had to access CTO. Must admit that isn't very often. Just the occasional NPL edit.

Got a hold of the wife's Galaxy S10 for about 2 minutes last night and using Chrome it did seem to offer the option to 'install app'. But i never got a chance to test further. I assume this does the same thing and hopefully it uses the features now built into the forum software itself to display the site better than a standard browser window. 

[tm4tj]

Not sure if I notice any difference. Chrome worked ok on CTO. I'm used to it now but I'll continue with 'app' and see if it copes as well.

[Scotty]

3 hours ago, tm4tj said:

Not sure if I notice any difference. Chrome worked ok on CTO. I'm used to it now but I'll continue with 'app' and see if it copes as well.

if current way works for you then stick to it  ... This is just another option for users to try and optimise mobile experience which now make up more than 50% of our traffic.