You will need the Full Write App permission to set up the app. To assign an App Builder seat to an organization, you will need the Full Account permission, with that organization in your reach.
The One Church mobile app is included with every One Church Software subscription. For what the app does and what members can use it for, see Do you have a mobile app?
Everything on this page lives under Mobile App in the left navigation menu of One Church Software. That page has two tabs:
General - the settings covered in this article: turning the app on, your images, your colors, and pre check-in.
Builder - your screens and side menu, available with the App Builder add-on. If your account has more than one organization, each organization that uses it needs its own App Builder seat.
Setting up the app
Turn the app on
Go to Mobile App in the left navigation menu and stay on the General tab.
In the Setup panel at the top left, turn on Enabled?
Click Save Now in the banner that appears at the top of the page reading You have unsaved changes!
When the app is on, a green Enabled badge appears under the Mobile App page title. That badge is the quickest way to confirm the state of the app at a glance.
Warning: There are two toggles on this page labeled Enabled? and they do very different things. The one in the Setup panel at the top is the master switch for the whole app. The one in the Pre Check-In panel lower down turns on that single feature only. If you have turned the app on and members still cannot find your church, check that you used the one at the top.
With more than one organization
If your account has more than one organization, each organization needs two separate things before its members see its own app. Both are needed:
The app turned on for that organization - an organization whose app is off is left out of church search and the list members switch between, and its branded app cannot be opened.
An App Builder seat - lets the organization have its own screens and versions. Assign it by editing the organization at Settings & Tools > Your Organization > Account Settings, on the Organizations tab. Without a seat, that organization's members see your base version, and any version you chose for it is kept for later.
An organization holds an App Builder seat when it is assigned one or has Branded App, which includes App Builder. During a free trial every active organization holds App Builder, but a trial never includes Branded App. With only one organization, the App Builder add-on or a trial covers everything.
If you choose a version for an organization that has no seat, saving is refused with "[Organization] has no App Builder seat. Assign one under Account Settings > Organizations." How do add-on seats work? explains seats.
Note: If the organization a member is viewing turns its app off, the app asks them to choose another organization. If no organization has the app on, the app is turned off. A branded app is fixed to its organization, so it shows as turned off instead. A member whose organization is archived moves to your default organization.
Add your images
The Setup panel asks for two images. Both are worth getting right, because they are the first things a member sees of your church in the app.
Search Preview - the logo members see beside your church's name in church search, and at the top of the side menu. Upload a square image, 200 x 200, that looks good on a white background.
Loading Screen - the image shown while the app starts. We recommend 960 x 1600 with a solid color along the edges.
Tip: A logo with a transparent background can disappear against the white of the search results, which is why the Search Preview field asks for one that reads well on white. Check it against a white background before you upload it.
Set your colors
The Colors panel controls the colors used throughout the app, so it can match the rest of your church's branding. There are four fields, each taking a hex value:
Primary - your main brand color.
Light Primary - a lighter companion to the primary.
Dark Primary - a darker companion to the primary.
Action Button - the color of the app's main action buttons.
Two helpers sit beside the fields. Generate palette fills in the rest from your primary color, and reset returns the fields to their defaults.
Tip: You do not need to design a dark mode. The app builds a full light palette and a full dark palette from these four anchors, and each member chooses System, Light or Dark for themselves in the app's own preferences.
Choose the pre check-in code format
The Pre Check-In panel controls the feature that lets members check their family in ahead of time and arrive with a scannable pass.
Turn on Enabled? in the Pre Check-In panel. The Barcode Format choice appears underneath once the toggle is on.
Choose a Barcode Format:
QR Code - recommended. QR codes are far easier to scan from a phone screen, and screen glare does not affect them. They need a 2D barcode scanner.
Striped Barcode - harder to scan from a screen, and glare can make it impossible.
Click Save Now in the unsaved-changes banner.
Tip: If your scanners cannot read the passes members bring in, this setting is where to look first rather than the member's phone. Switching to QR Code resolves most scanning reports.
Once the app is on
If your church does not appear in church search
Members find your church in the app by searching, and there are two independent reasons a search can come back without you. Neither one produces an error message, so both need to be checked rather than guessed at. Check them in this order.
Confirm the app is switched on. Go to Mobile App > General and check the Enabled? toggle in the Setup panel, not the one under Pre Check-In. A church with the app switched off never appears in search, however good its address is. This is the most common cause by a wide margin.
Confirm your address can be located. Search matches on your location, not on your church's name, so the address on your organization has to be complete and resolve to a real place. Set it at Settings & Tools (Cog icon in the tool-bar) > Your Organization > Account Settings: open the Organizations tab and edit the organization. If your account has more than one organization, check the address of each one that uses the app, because search lists each of them separately. A vague or mistyped address, or a postal code that does not exist, returns an empty list.
Because search works on location rather than name, a member typing your church's name into the search field will not find you that way. Point them at the location or postal code options instead. The member's side of this is covered in How do members find and join our church in the One Church app?
Build your screens and menu
With the App Builder add-on, the Builder tab is where you design what members actually see: your home screen, any number of extra screens built from content blocks, and the side menu that links them together. The builder works in versions, so you can create a version, edit it, and publish it when it is ready.
Publishing is instant and needs no store release. Members pick up a published change the next time they open or refresh the app.
If your account has more than one campus or organization, the Publish button in the builder is replaced by the Publishing tab, where you choose which version each organization and campus sees:
A signed-in member sees their campus's version when that campus belongs to the organization they are viewing, else the organization's version, else your base version.
A guest sees the organization's version, else your base version.
Each version belongs to one organization. Editing it needs Full Write App with access to one of that organization's campuses. Changing or publishing the base version needs access to every campus of every active organization.
Warning: Editing a version that is already published is editing what members see right now. In that state the builder shows a Published badge and a banner reading You are editing the live, published design. Changes appear in the app immediately. If you want to rework your app without members watching it happen, use Add New to create or duplicate a version, work there, and publish when you are ready.
Helpful Tips
Turning off a previously enabled app removes access for everyone, including members who already have it installed on their device. With more than one organization, it removes access to that organization only.
The Save Now button appears only once you have made a change. If you see no banner, there is nothing waiting to be saved.