This article outlines course features available on the Thinkific Mobile App and Branded Mobile App. Refer back to this article for updates as we continue to expand functionality!
In this article:
Overview
The Thinkific Mobile App and a Branded Mobile App allow your students to easily access their learning products wherever they are, using a native app on their mobile devices. Once your students have downloaded the Mobile App and logged in, they will have access to a variety of both Course and Community features.
As the Mobile App is being built out and improved, some features may not be available yet. Check out the breakdown of features below to see what is (and is not) currently supported by the Thinkific Mobile App and a Branded Mobile App.
Mobile App solutions built by Thinkific were designed specifically for your students, which means that any Admin activity will need to be done using the desktop web browser version of Thinkific. We recommend that creators design their products with the desktop (browser) experience in mind, and inform students that the Mobile App is a supplementary tool for students.
How It Works
Once your student has logged into the Mobile App, they will be brought to the Home screen. This screen lists their three most recently accessed courses at the top with an option to see all courses and a feed of the most recent Community posts below. Students can click the Home tab at the bottom of the app to be brought back to this main home screen.
If a student is enrolled only in one type of product (only courses or only communities), the other section will not be visible.
Your student can also view the full list of courses available to them by clicking the Learn tab, at the bottom of the screen, and search for courses by using a search function or by filtering courses by categories.
Once your student has selected a course, a screen with the course curriculum for that course will open. This screen will act as both an introduction to the course, as well as an index of the lessons contained within the course.
The course curriculum will show the following:
- A course name, percentage completed, and the total number of published lessons
- A Resume or Start button
- Link to a Community space, if the connection between the course and the community space has been added
- Lesson icons with a green checkmark indicating completed lessons
- Lesson icons with no green checkmark indicating lessons that were not completed
- Lesson type
- An indicator if a lesson is a prerequisite
- An indicator if a lesson is not yet available via a drip schedule - the indicated date will depend on the drip schedule type
- An indicator if a lesson can only be accessed via the web
Students can also collapse or open chapters by clicking on the chapter name.
From this screen, students will also be able to view their progress within the course, and select from:
- Start to begin the course (if they have not previously started the course)
- Resume to continue the course from the lesson the student was viewing last, or,
- Click on a specific lesson to resume learning from that point.
Supported Course Features
At this time, not all of the features that available within the web app will be available on the Mobile App. Below, you will find a list of what features are currently available on the Mobile App, and what features are not supported at this time.
| Features that are supported for Mobile | Features that are not currently supported |
| Lesson Type: Text | Apps: Any Thinkific App Store apps |
| Lesson Type: Video | Feature: On-lesson discussions |
| Lesson Type: Audio | Setting: Free preview |
| Lesson Type: Download | Setting: Access to the content offline |
| Lesson Type: PDF | Setting: Course Player appearance (individual course player customizations, ability to hide lesson type and icon) |
| Lesson Type: Multimedia | Setting: Course Player behavior customizations (disabling text copying, social sharing, customizing chapter and course completion messages, disabling chapter completion messages) |
| Lesson Type: Presentation | Feature: Disqus Discussion Forum |
| Lesson Type: Live | Feature: Course Reviews |
| Lesson Type: Assessment Lessons (Quizzes, Surveys, Assignments, Brillium Exams) | |
| Setting: Prerequisite Lesson | |
| Setting: Drip Schedule | |
| Feature: Default chapter completion message | |
| Feature: SCORM-Compliant courses |
To learn more about how different lesson types work for your students within the Mobile App, check out our article Courses in the Mobile App (Student Resource).
Disqus Discussion lessons are not supported on the mobile app, as the integration is no longer available on new Thinkific accounts created after May 2021. When trying to access a Disqus lesson, your learners will see a message "[Lesson name] Take this lesson on the web and return to the app once you're done" and will have the option to skip the lesson or view it on the web.
Important Considerations
- Features that are not available in the Mobile App can still be accessed using the web (browser) version of your Thinkific site.
- As the Mobile App is regularly being updated, features that are currently unavailable may become available down the line. Keep checking this article for more information on the latest releases: Mobile App Recent Updates.
- To learn more about your student's Mobile App course experience, check out this article Courses in the Mobile App (Student Resource).
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I see my courses?
In order for you to preview your course, you need to enroll as a student. Once you are enrolled, you can access your course from the Mobile App homepage. Using drip-released content or prerequisites? Don’t worry - as an administrator, you will have access to any lesson in the course.
Note: The Mobile App will also show you draft courses if you are enrolled in them.
What should I do if I have unsupported features in my course lessons?
All lesson types are now supported in the Thinkific Mobile app! However, if your course contains features that are currently unsupported on the Mobile App, like Disqus lessons, your students will still be able to access these features on the web (browser) app.
Is there a workaround for on-lesson discussions?
At this time we do not plan to support on-lesson discussion in the app. For creators looking to facilitate course and lesson discussions, we encourage you to create a community space linked to your course material.
Can my students enroll in Courses on the App?
In-app purchases are a Branded mobile-only feature. At this time students will not be able to enroll in courses from the Thinkific Mobile App. If you are interested in the ability to sell courses directly within the app, check out our Branded Mobile app solution!
We're continuously working on improving our Mobile App behind the scenes, but if you have feedback about what you'd like to see in the app, we want to know! Get in contact with us and let us know what functionality would be most valuable to you!
Learn More About the Thinkific Mobile App
Increase Engagement With the New Thinkific Mobile App