The CrankPal app

CrankPal has two separate programs. The workshop software is the one you use at the counter, and it's the subject of the rest of this documentation. The app is the one the cyclist uses, on iPhone or Android: they keep their bikes in it, see how they're doing, book with you and follow the job while you do it.

What it is#

An app that brings together two things that usually live apart: the state of your bike and your workshop.

On one side it counts how much you ride: with the phone's GPS, with a sensor on the wheel, by recognising your rides on its own, or by importing them from Strava, Garmin, Health (on iPhone) and Health Connect (on Android). From there it estimates how worn each component is and tells you when it's time for an inspection. On the other side it connects you to your workshop: you book on real opening hours, approve quotes, follow the job and find your documents.

CrankPal predicts, the mechanic diagnoses: the app's estimates tell you when to have the bike looked at, and the inspection is done by the person who has it in front of them.

The app is in preview: it's free to use and every feature is unlocked, with no subscription to choose. You get in by invitation, and the steps are in Installing the app.

The five tabs#

At the bottom of the screen there are five tabs, always the same. The one in the middle, with the CrankPal mark, is Prediction.

At the top of each tab there's the title and, where it makes sense, a button to add something: + Add bike in Bikes, + Add ride in Rides, + Add workshop in Workshops. Under the title of Bikes, Rides and Prediction there's the bike picker, with the bike's photo: tap it and choose which bike you want to see.

Do you need an account#

Yes. On first launch the app asks you to create an account or sign in with the one you already have. The account is one for the whole platform: if a workshop has already registered you as a customer, it already exists and it's yours. See Account, notifications and privacy.

If you just want to look around before deciding, the first screen has Explore with demo data: the app fills up with a sample bike and sample rides, which aren't yours and don't go anywhere.

Beyond the app#

Your phone gets a few extra things you don't need to set up.

• A widget for the Home Screen: the bike's dashboard, with the warning lights for each component group, the odometers and the level with its reason.
• The job status while the bike is at the workshop: on iPhone it shows up on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, on Android as a notification that updates itself. It goes from In progress to Waiting for parts to Ready for pickup without you opening anything.
• A watch app: on Apple Watch it records the ride and saves it to Health, on Wear OS it records it and sends it to the phone. Either way the ride reaches the app on its own.
• On iPhone, Siri and Control Centre start a ride or tell you how the bike is doing without opening the app.
• Cranky stickers: on iPhone they're already in Messages as soon as you install the app, and for WhatsApp there's a button in Profile.

Languages and units#

The app speaks 40 languages and follows your phone's. Distance, elevation and speed use your country's units: someone with their phone in British English reads miles, not kilometres, and the pages don't change because of it.

This documentation, on the other hand, exists only in Italian and English.

What changes for the workshop#

If you're a workshop, a customer with the app is a customer who reaches you on their own, and whom you reach without chasing them.

• They book on the slots you actually have free, and they already tell you which parts they want looked at: the request lands in Bookings like the others, with the list of parts to check.
• They get job status notifications on their phone instead of by email: see the preferred channel in Customers.
• They see quotes as soon as you send them and approve them right there, including parts approvals once the job has started.
• Their rides feed the mileage of the bikes on your records, so your wear predictions rest on real riding, not a guess.
• A bike you register in the workshop you send to them by email: they accept it in the app, check your details and say how they'll ride it. When you inspect the bike, the inspection outcome reaches their app with your note. See Bikes and census.

While the app is in preview it's invitation-only, and your customers get the fast lane: you send them the invitation. How it works is in Installing the app, which is also the page to send anyone who asks "how do I get it?".