For trainers

Branding & client install

How your logo, brand color, and business name move from the Settings tab into your clients' hands — and the one install step that has to happen for the home-screen experience to feel like your app.

The short version You upload a logo + pick a color in Settings → Branding. Your clients install the PWA from their phone. The logo lands on their home screen. Without the install step, they get a generic browser bookmark — not your brand.

Where branding lives

Branding is a Business-tier feature. Three things you control from Settings → Branding:

Logo — uploaded as SVG or PNG. Used as the home-screen icon, splash screen, and in-app header on the client PWA.
Brand color — a single accent color that replaces INGOT's default cream throughout the client PWA. Picked from a color picker or hex input.
Business name — your gym / coaching practice name. Shows on the splash screen, in emails (welcome + weekly reports), and at the top of the client PWA.

The full setup walkthrough is on the Settings & branding page.

What gets branded — and what doesn't

Branded: the client PWA

Everything your client sees — the login screen, splash, all in-app screens, the home-screen icon, the welcome email, the weekly reports they receive. This is "your" app from their perspective.

NOT branded: the trainer dashboard

Your dashboard stays INGOT-branded. It's a tool for you, not a marketing surface for your clients. That's intentional — you don't need to see your own logo while doing admin work.

NOT branded: the gym-owner dashboard

If you're on a gym account, the gym owner's dashboard is also INGOT-branded (dark theme only). Branding is per-trainer, not per-gym, since gym owners manage multiple trainers each with their own brand.

The install gap — and why it matters

Here's the trap a lot of trainers miss the first time. You set up your branding perfectly. Your client logs in. They see your logo at the top of the PWA. Everything looks right.

Then they close their browser tab. The next day, they go to use "your app." What do they see?

Without installing, the client has to:

Remember the URL or dig through their email for the link.
Open a browser.
Sign in again (because browser sessions on mobile expire faster than installed PWAs).
See a browser address bar at the top — not your brand.
No push notifications for new messages or reports.

That's not a branded experience. That's a website. The install step is what makes INGOT feel like your app.

What changes after install

🏠 Home-screen icon

Your logo appears as a tile on their phone's home screen. Tapping it opens the PWA directly — no browser chrome, no address bar. Full-screen app experience. They see your icon every time they unlock their phone.

🎨 Branded splash screen

When they tap the icon, the OS shows a splash screen with your logo on your brand color background while the PWA loads. ~1-2 seconds of pure brand impression every session.

🔔 Push notifications

Only installed PWAs can receive push. Without install, your "Your weekly report is ready" or "Marcus sent you a message" pushes never fire. On iOS, this is enforced strictly — uninstalled PWAs literally cannot subscribe to push.

📶 Offline workout logging

Installed PWAs cache the app shell + active workout. Your client can log every set in a gym basement with no signal. Without install, the service worker doesn't register reliably on iOS, and offline behavior degrades.

The first-week onboarding script

When you add a new client, walk them through this on day one:

"Check your email." — Confirm they got the welcome email (with your business name + logo).
"Tap the Open INGOT link." — Drops them on your-branded login screen.
"Set a new password." — Forced on first login.
"Now install the app to your home screen." — Walk them through the iOS Safari or Android Chrome flow. Don't skip this. Reference: Installing the PWA.
"Allow notifications when it asks." — So they get pinged for your messages and reports.
"Open it from the home-screen icon now, not the browser." — This is what registers the standalone install.

Common iOS trap iPhone users often open the welcome email in Chrome (because that's their default browser) or in the Gmail app's built-in browser. Neither works for PWA install on iOS. You MUST tell them to open the link in Safari specifically. From Safari, the share sheet → "Add to Home Screen" is the only path that installs as a PWA with push enabled.

Verifying the install worked

When your client opens the app from the home-screen icon (not the browser), the PWA enters standalone mode. Two telltales:

No browser chrome — no address bar, no tabs, no back button. Just your app.
Splash screen flashes your logo — for a moment between tap and app open.

If they see a browser address bar, they didn't install — or they're opening from the browser instead of the home-screen icon. Both have the same fix: re-install from Safari and open from the icon.

If you're not on Business tier

Clients still get the PWA experience — they can still install, get push, see offline logging. But everything is INGOT-branded by default — INGOT logo on their home screen, INGOT cream as the accent color. The client app just looks generic.

For solo trainers building a real brand, upgrading to Business is the unlock. See your Subscription tab for current pricing.