Installing the app

The app is in preview: you install it with TestFlight, Apple's app for trying pre-release builds before they reach the App Store. It's free, and so is CrankPal at this stage.

You need an invitation. There are two ways to get one, and both lead to the same place.

Two ways in#

Places in the preview aren't unlimited, which is why there's a list: anyone who is already a customer of a workshop in the network goes first, because they're the person the app is built for.

From your workshop#

It's the shortest route, and the one that makes most sense: the app is at its best with a workshop on the other end — bookings, job status, quotes to approve.

1. Ask your workshop for the invitation

   Just mention it at the counter, or write from the customer area. The workshop sends you the link to join the preview.

2. Open the link on your iPhone

   Not on a computer: the link goes to TestFlight, which only exists on iPhone and iPad. If it arrived by email, open it from the phone.

3. Sign in with the account you already have

   If your workshop has registered you as a customer, your CrankPal account already exists: same email and same password as the workshop's customer area. Use Sign in, not Sign up, or you'll end up with two accounts and your bikes in the wrong one.

   If you've never set a password, ask the workshop to send you the customer area invitation again.

Once that's done, your workshop shows up already linked and you don't have to go looking for it: see Workshops and bookings.

From the waiting list#

If you're not a customer of a CrankPal workshop — or yours isn't in the network yet — the invitation comes from us.

1. Leave your email on crankpal.com

   In the Download the app section there's a Notify me when it launches button. All it needs is your email; the rest — name, city, how many bikes you have — is optional and helps us work out who to invite first.

2. Wait for the invitation

   It arrives by email, at the address you left. We don't promise a date: it depends on how many places free up.

3. Open the invitation on your iPhone and create your account

   Here you don't have an account yet: the app walks you through creating one at first launch. Name, email and a password of at least eight characters.

If you become a customer of a CrankPal workshop in the meantime, tell us — or better, ask them for the invitation directly: the short route is still the short route.

Installing from TestFlight#

From here on the path is the same, whichever way you arrived.

1. Install TestFlight

   Search for it on the App Store and install it: it's called TestFlight, Apple makes it and it's free. You only need it once.

2. Open the invitation

   Tap the link you were sent. TestFlight opens by itself and shows you the CrankPal entry.

3. Tap Install

   The app appears on your Home Screen like any other. From then on you open it normally: TestFlight is only there to install it and update it.

4. Accept notifications when it asks

   The app explains first what arrives on that channel — appointments confirmed, bike ready, quotes to approve. iOS asks once only: if you say no, the only way back is through the iPhone's settings. See Account, notifications and privacy.

How this differs from a normal app#

A test build doesn't behave like one downloaded from the App Store, and the differences are worth knowing up front.

• Updates come through TestFlight, not the App Store. They arrive often: that's the point of a preview.
• Every build expires after 90 days. When it does, the app stops opening and TestFlight offers you the update. It isn't a fault and you lose nothing: your data lives on your account.
• Apple sends us crash data, if you allow it in TestFlight. It tells us what broke and where.
• You can report a problem from inside TestFlight, screenshot included. It's the fastest route: it reaches us with the build number and your iPhone model already attached.
• When the app reaches the App Store you'll simply download it from there: same account, same bikes.

Common problems#