Put Allstar on Your Phone's Home Screen

There is no App Store listing, and you haven’t missed one. Allstar runs in your phone’s browser. Adding it to your home screen is what “download the app” means here — and once you have, it behaves exactly like any other app on your phone.

Two minutes, and it’s worth doing before your first day rather than after.

On an iPhone

1. Open Allstar in Safari

   It has to be Safari. Chrome on an iPhone can’t do this, and neither can the browser inside a text-message or social app — so if you got here from a link somebody sent you, tap the share icon and choose Open in Safari first.

2. Tap the Share button at the bottom of the screen

   The square with an arrow coming out of the top.

3. Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen

   It’s below the row of apps, in the list of actions. Scroll — it’s further down than people expect.

4. Tap Add

   The icon appears on your home screen. Open it from there from now on.

On an Android phone

1. Open Allstar in Chrome

   Or whichever browser you normally use.

2. Look for the Install button

   Chrome usually offers it by itself — a bar at the bottom, or Install app in the ⋮ menu. If you’re on the App setup screen during setup, there’s an Install button right there that does the same thing.

3. Tap Install

   Then open it from the icon rather than from the browser.

Why it’s worth two minutes

Not just a shortcut. Three real differences:

• It works better with no signal. An installed app gets its own storage allowance from the phone, which is what lets your leads, your route and your downloaded map survive on a phone that’s been in a dead zone all morning. A browser tab’s storage is the first thing the phone clears when it wants space.
• It opens full-screen. No address bar, no browser tabs — about 15% more screen for the thing you’re actually looking at, which is noticeable on a route list held in one hand.
• On an iPhone, notifications only work once it’s installed. That’s Apple’s rule, not ours. If you want follow-up reminders and appointment alerts to reach this phone, this step has to happen first.

If you can’t find the option

• On an iPhone, in Chrome or Firefox: it isn’t there. Only Safari can add to the home screen on iOS. Open the same address in Safari.
• Inside another app’s browser (a message, a social app): a yellow bar at the top tells you. Get out to the real browser first — and you should anyway, because the camera and your location don’t work in there.
• Already installed: the option disappears once it’s done. Check your home screen before hunting for it again.

Signing in afterwards

The installed app and the browser are separate as far as your phone is concerned, so you’ll be asked to sign in once more the first time you open the icon. Once only.

You don’t lose anything by this. Sign in, and everything is where you left it.