Answers to common questions about using Petboost on your phone or tablet.

No. Petboost is a mobile web app, a Progressive Web App (PWA). Visit business.petboost.com in your browser and add it to your home screen. It then opens full screen from its own icon, with no address bar, and takes about 30 seconds to add.

On an iPhone or iPad, the install video shows the steps: How to add Petboost to your home screen

Petboost is a Progressive Web App, not a native app, so it is not listed in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. That is deliberate: the same app runs on phones, tablets and computers, and a change reaches every device as soon as it is released, with no app store review. To install Petboost, visit business.petboost.com in your browser and add it to your home screen. See Add to Home Screen. On an iPhone or iPad, this install video shows the steps.

Follow the steps for your device. On an iPhone or iPad, the install video shows them: How to add Petboost to your home screen. Add to Home Screen has them for every browser.

Once it is added, tapping the Petboost icon opens the app full screen, with no browser bars.

Yes. Petboost works on iPads and Android tablets, the same app as on a phone or a computer. A tablet is particularly good for:

Add Petboost to your tablet's home screen the same way as on a phone. See Add to Home Screen for the steps for each device.

Very little. The version on your phone or tablet is the same app as the one on your computer, so scheduling, payments, customer management, automations and reports all work there. The one exception is the bulk edit grids for pets and for services: on a phone-sized screen they show "The bulk edit grid requires a desktop or laptop computer for the best experience", so use a tablet or a computer for them.

Yes. You can:

Yes. You can:

Payments work the same way on your phone as on a computer. From the booking:

To take a payment with no booking behind it, open the customer's profile and select New Sale on the Sales tab. See Payment Processing.

Yes. Every calendar view is available: Day, Week, Month and Timeline. Tap a booking to open it. To move a booking by dragging it, switch Drag Lock off first. It is on by default.

Dragging a booking works once Drag Lock, under the view button on Appointments, is off. It is on by default on every device, so touching and holding a booking does not move it by accident. There is more room to grab and move an appointment on a tablet or a larger screen. On a phone, the screen is usually too narrow to drag reliably, so reschedule by opening the booking and selecting Manage, then Edit.

If you reschedule often during the day, a tablet in landscape or a computer suits drag and drop better.

Petboost adapts its navigation to a smaller screen:

If you cannot find a feature, search for it. Everything on your computer is on your phone too, though an option can sit under a menu or on a different path on the smaller screen.

Yes. Petboost rearranges the layout to suit the screen:

Your data is all still there. The layout adapts so that everything stays usable on a smaller screen without pinching or zooming.

Yes. Petboost sends push notifications to each team member on each device they turn push on for, from My notifications in the menu under your photo and name. Email and text alerts to the business keep arriving as set in Settings. See Business Communications.

Signing out, Switch user, Reset & Update and entering Kiosk Mode turn push notifications off on the device they happen on. Refresh page on the Update available screen and the automatic recovery after repeated loading errors can turn them off too. Turn them back on in My notifications.

To turn on push notifications for a device, follow these steps:

On iPhone and iPad, push notifications do not reach a browser tab, in Safari or any other browser.

Petboost sends a push notification for these events, named as they appear in My notifications:

A visit rated one or two stars pushes; a higher rating shows in the bell only. Your day, Assigned to you, Taken off a visit, Your tomorrow changed, Your visit moved and Your schedule changed reach only the team member they are about.

Every other event shows in the bell only. Each person gets only the events their role can see and that are switched on for them in My notifications. The booking and booking payment events reach the team members on the appointment, plus anyone with Every appointment on. A booking with nobody assigned yet reaches everyone who has that event switched on. Pause on every device on that page stops push notifications to all your devices at once, and Resume on every device starts them again. Turning off In the app or Sound does not stop push notifications. Customers get no push notifications from Petboost: their alerts come by email or text.

Push to your devices, Quiet hours and the Approve and Reply buttons are switched on business by business. If you do not see them, ask us in chat. To keep an event in the bell and off your devices, turn it off under Push to your devices in My notifications. Quiet hours are on from 10 pm to 7 am for every team member: notifications still arrive in that window, without sound. A missed call, a voicemail, a pickup overdue, a payment still unpaid, a dispute, a failed payout, Stripe needing details, a Petboost bill that needs you and online booking that needs you still arrive with sound. Change the times or turn quiet hours off in My notifications.

Tapping a notification opens the booking, the message thread or the setting it is about. A declined card opens the booking at its payment, a cancellation opens that day on the calendar, and a text opens the thread with the reply box ready.

On a computer or an Android phone, a booking request's notification has an Approve button and a text's notification has a Reply button. Approve confirms the booking without opening Petboost and then shows Approved. When the booking needs a check first, such as a mobile service address, a deposit or a vaccination certificate, the notification shows Approve needs you instead, and tapping it opens the booking ready to approve. iPhone and iPad show no buttons; tap the notification to open the booking.

If your business has more than one location, each notification names its location, and tapping it opens that location.

Yes. Add Petboost to your iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet, on as many devices as you like. Every device works from the same account data.

Yes. You can be signed in on your phone, tablet and computer at once. Other devices do not update live. A booking made on the reception tablet shows on your phone the next time the calendar loads: when you open it, change its date or view, or switch back to it from another app. Mission Control and other pages load fresh data when you open them, or when you come back to Petboost after at least a minute away.

There is no limit to the number of active sessions. Common set-ups include:

All devices share the same account and data. You do not need a separate licence for each device.

Yes, without an app store. When a new version is out, a New Version button appears at the top of Petboost, and selecting it loads the new version. Otherwise the update loads the next time you open Petboost after closing it.

There is no version number to check. If New Version is showing, a newer version is ready: select it to load it.

No. There is nothing to update by hand and no app store to visit. Select New Version when it appears, or close Petboost and open it again.

Petboost needs an internet connection for your data. It keeps the app's own files on your device, so it opens quickly even on a weak signal, and data loaded in the last few minutes can still show if the signal drops for a moment, for example in an underground car park. Anything that saves or loads new data, such as creating a booking, taking a payment or sending a message, needs a connection. With no connection, Petboost shows a page saying you have lost your internet connection.

Use Petboost on Wi-Fi or a reliable mobile network.

Less than an app store download. Petboost keeps a copy of its own files on your device so it opens quickly, and your appointments and customers stay on Petboost's servers.

After the first load, Petboost reuses the files stored on your device, so moving between pages mostly loads your data rather than the whole app.

Open Petboost from the home screen icon, not from a Safari tab. Safari can drop a signed-in session when it clears website data. Add the app from Safari with Add to Home Screen, then always open that icon. See Add Petboost to Your Home Screen.

Do not share one owner password so that "anyone can get in" after a logout. Give each person their own login. To change who is signed in, open the menu under your photo and name at the top of the page and select Switch user. To change a password, see Change your account password.

This happens when you open it from a bookmark rather than the home screen icon, or when Chrome on Android added a shortcut instead of installing the app.

Reset & Update and signing out turn push notifications off on this device. Turn them back on in My notifications.

If pages are not updating, content looks stale or something is not loading, clearing the browser cache usually fixes it. After clearing it you may need to sign in again. Your data is stored on Petboost's servers, so nothing is lost.

Yes. Petboost uses the same encrypted connection on mobile as on a computer. Your login is secured, payment data is handled by Stripe, and all data is encrypted in transit.

Yes. Once you are signed in, you stay signed in between uses, so you do not sign in each time you open the app. Open it from the home screen icon: Safari can drop a session when it clears website data.

No. Petboost has no page for managing active sessions. To sign out on a device, sign out on that device.

Petboost chose a Progressive Web App on purpose:

For Petboost, the home screen app opens full screen from its own icon like a native app, and it updates without an app store. It needs an internet connection for your data. It can send push notifications to each device you turn them on for: see Does Petboost send push notifications?.