Which ShootCal app should I use?

ShootCal uses the same ShootCal account across its apps, including your appointments, clients, session types, booking requests, deposits, and reports, and every app signs in with that account. Choose the device that fits the work you are doing; you do not need every version.

Start setup on the website

New to ShootCal? Set up your studio on the website first. Sign in or create your ShootCal account and follow the setup walkthrough. Choose Set up with AI when offered, or the step-by-step walkthrough. AI setup follows the availability shown for your account; if it is unavailable, you can still complete setup without it. Review and save the settings you want, then use the same account in the web app or a supported mobile app. You can return to the website for booking, integrations, contracts, invoice settings, and other studio setup.

Web app: the complete studio-management workspace

Open app.shootcal.com in a modern browser. The web app includes the calendar, agenda, tasks, booking-request inbox, clients, session types, booking-page settings, reports, full contract editor, questionnaire builder, invoice settings, Stripe and manual payment setup, and account settings. Contracts and questionnaires are created and edited on the web.

Install ShootCal from your browser

On a Mac or Windows PC, you can install the ShootCal web app from your browser. The installed web app opens in its own window with its own Dock or taskbar icon and no browser tabs, can show notifications for sessions, booking requests, payments and signed contracts, and shows a badge on its icon when booking requests are waiting. After you sign in, choose Install at the bottom of the sidebar to see the options for your device. On a phone, open the navigation menu first. Installation starts only when you choose it. You can also open Settings, then Alerts, and find ShootCal app under On this device.

• Chrome or Edge (Windows or Mac): open app.shootcal.com and choose Install in the sidebar or use the installation option in Settings. You can also click the install icon in the address bar. In Edge, the three-dot menu also has Apps > Install this site as an app; in Chrome, the three-dot menu has Cast, save, and share > Install page as app.
• Safari on a Mac: open app.shootcal.com, choose File > Add to Dock, then click Add. This needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

After installing, open ShootCal from the Start menu, taskbar, Dock, or your Applications folder. If ShootCal is already open, opening it again brings that window forward instead of starting a second copy. In Chrome and Edge, right-click (or Control-click) the ShootCal icon for shortcuts to Calendar, Booking requests, Clients, Galleries, and Payments.

Sign in with your ShootCal account as usual. The installed app is the same web app, so it updates itself whenever ShootCal is updated and keeps working if you open ShootCal in an ordinary browser tab instead. It opens even without a connection and shows that you're offline; your schedule and records load, and changes save, once you're back online. To get session reminders, turn them on in Settings > Alerts. Your browser or Mac asks for permission first, and whether reminders appear depends on your system notification settings.

To remove the installed app, open it and choose Uninstall ShootCal from its menu in Chrome or Edge. For a Safari web app, drag ShootCal from your Applications folder to the Trash. Removing the app does not change anything in your ShootCal account.

ShootCal for Mac

The native ShootCal app for Mac is available from the App Store. Sign in with the same ShootCal account you use on the website and your iPhone or iPad. Use the native app for everyday scheduling, and open the website for initial studio setup, booking configuration, integrations, contracts, invoice settings, Galleries, and Website editing.

You can also use the complete web workspace in a browser or install it from your browser using the steps above. Check the App Store listing for the native app's current requirements and available features. Offline behavior depends on the installed app version. On Windows, install the web app from your browser using the steps above; no Windows desktop installer is offered.

Add the web app to an iPhone, iPad, or Android Home Screen

The iPhone, iPad, and Android apps are made for working on the go. If you want the complete web workspace on a phone or tablet too, you can add it to your Home Screen:

• iPhone or iPad: open app.shootcal.com in Safari, tap the Share button, then tap Add to Home Screen. If you see an Open as Web App switch, leave it on, then tap Add.
• Android: open app.shootcal.com in Chrome, tap the menu (three dots), then tap Add to Home screen and choose Install. Some phones show Install app in the menu instead.

Choose Install in ShootCal’s navigation to see the steps for your device. Chrome on Android can also offer its own Install action. The Home Screen icon opens ShootCal full screen, without the browser's address bar. On iPhone and iPad, session reminder notifications from the web app are available only after you add it to your Home Screen.

iPhone and iPad

The iPhone and iPad app is a native calendar tool with fast event editing, golden-hour scheduling, clients, booking requests, session types, reports, tasks, and contract-status links. It uses the same ShootCal account and adds a touch-first month and agenda experience.

Apple Watch and widgets

In versions that include them, the Watch app and complication surface upcoming sessions. Apple home-screen widgets can show the next session, time, location, sunrise and sunset, weather, and tide information when available.

Android

The ShootCal Android app (version 1.3.6 or later) signs in with your ShootCal account. Follow the sign-in options shown by the app; see the update notice below. It covers the day-to-day essentials: your calendar and agenda (cached for offline viewing in versions that support it), month view and search, event details with maps, home-screen widgets, your saved clients, and session types that stay in sync with your studio. Booking requests are listed for reference; choose Respond on ShootCal website to reply, accept, or decline. For everything else, the full web app works in any modern browser on Android.

A note on app updates

The ShootCal backend has been updated, and Apple and Android apps need a version that supports ShootCal accounts. Update from the App Store or Google Play: iPhone and iPad version 1.8.18 or later, and Android version 1.3.6 or later, support your ShootCal account. Until a supported update is installed on your device, open the web app and sign in with your existing ShootCal account, using your email and password, or the Google or Microsoft identity already linked to that account. You do not need to create another account or connect a calendar to use the web app.

What stays in sync

• Appointments, clients, booking requests, deposits, contracts, forms, and reports stay in your ShootCal account, so every app and the web workspace agree.
• A Google or Microsoft connection, set up on the website, syncs new appointments to the business calendar saved in web Booking Setup; there is no separate calendar choice for each event. Appointments created while disconnected remain in ShootCal only until you choose to sync them. Selected connected calendars can also block booking times.
• Your client roster and tasks are saved in ShootCal. Older Google clients and a Google task list you select can be explicitly imported; those copies do not establish continuous contact or task sync.
• Session types, booking settings, and app preferences sync through ShootCal services.
• A feature created on one surface can be opened from another, although its editor may live on the web.

For the exact provider permissions behind the optional connection, read Account, sign-in, and permissions.