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Install on iPad

How to add FRA Flow to your iPad home screen so it opens like a native app and works offline on site.

By Richard Pryce·Last updated

FRA Flow is a Progressive Web App. There is no App Store download. You add it to your iPad home screen from Safari, and from then on it opens like any other app, runs full-screen without a browser bar, and works offline once you have pre-flighted the assessment.

Why install at all

Two reasons. First, the home-screen icon is faster to reach on a busy site than a Safari tab. Second, the app behaves better when installed: the device gives the app more storage room before it starts evicting offline data, the camera and microphone prompts match the experience of a native app, and accidental swipes do not close the tab.

You can use FRA Flow without installing, but if you are doing real site visits, install.

Install steps

  1. Open Safari and go to your FRA Flow URL (typically app.fraflow.com). Sign in.
  2. Tap the Share icon in the Safari toolbar (the box with the upwards arrow).
  3. Scroll the share sheet down until you see Add to Home Screen. Tap it.
  4. The icon name defaults to "FRA Flow". Leave it. Tap Add in the top right.
  5. Find the FRA Flow icon on your home screen. Tap it. The app opens full-screen.

The first time you open the installed app, sign in once. After that you stay signed in across sessions until you sign out explicitly.

What "installed" gives you on top of Safari

  • No browser chrome. The address bar and tab bar are hidden so the workbench gets the full screen.
  • Larger storage budget. iPad gives installed PWAs more local storage room before it evicts offline data. This matters during long site visits where you have captured fifty observations before reconnecting.
  • Camera and microphone prompts feel native. No "this site wants to..." banner each time you open a new tab.

What still needs Safari (or a desktop browser)

A handful of features sit outside the workbench and do not really need an installed app:

  • The full reports archive and version history.
  • Settings: users, branding profiles, billing.
  • Pre-pilot, the report viewer renders in browser only. PDF and Word exports ship in a later milestone.

Those are fine to do on a laptop. The installed iPad app is for the site visit.

If the install icon does not appear

A few things to check:

  • You must be in Safari. Other browsers on iOS (Chrome, Firefox) use Safari under the hood but the Add to Home Screen flow only surfaces from the Safari share sheet directly.
  • iOS occasionally hides the option until the page has finished loading. Wait for the loading spinner in Safari to disappear, then tap Share again.
  • If you are signed into a guest profile or private browsing tab, switch to your default profile.

Pre-flighting the visit

Once installed, the next step is pre-flighting the assessment so the property data and section template land on the device for offline use. That flow is covered in Your first FRA in 30 minutes under "Step 3. Pre-flight on the iPad".

Where to go next

Next

Add your first property →