--- title: Which ShootCal app should I use? description: Use ShootCal in your browser, install the web app, or use the Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android apps with the same account. url: "https://shootcal.com/docs/devices-and-platforms/" updated: "2026-11-13" category: The ShootCal app / Start here --- # Which ShootCal app should I use? # 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](https://app.shootcal.com/app/) 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](https://app.shootcal.com/) in a modern browser. The web app includes the calendar, agenda, projects, 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 app** at the bottom of the sidebar to see the options for your device. Installation starts only when you choose it. You can also open **Settings**, then **Preferences**, and find **ShootCal app** under **Alerts > On this device**. - **Chrome or Edge (Windows or Mac):** open [app.shootcal.com](http://app.shootcal.com) and choose **Install** (the download icon) at the bottom of 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](http://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 > Preferences > 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 current [ShootCal for Mac download](https://shootcal.com/desktop/) brings the complete web workspace into its own window. Sign in with the same ShootCal account you use on the website and your iPhone or iPad. You can manage your schedule, studio setup, booking settings, integrations, contracts, invoices, Galleries, and Website there. It also includes Mac menus, notifications, downloads, and a limited offline schedule for today and the next 30 days after loading online. App Store editions and older installed Mac versions may differ. Check the [App Store listing](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/shootcal/id6768516075) for its requirements and available features. You can also use the complete web workspace in a browser or install it from your browser using the steps above. 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](http://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](http://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** (the download icon) at the bottom of ShootCal’s sidebar 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 focuses on your calendar, fast appointment editing, golden-hour scheduling, reminders, and widgets. **Clients & Booking**, studio setup, invoices and contracts, reports, Galleries, and Website open the signed-in ShootCal web workspace. You can still choose a session type and edit client details while editing an appointment. Device settings and unfinished saves stay in the app. On iPhone with version **1.8.29 or later**, including iPhone Duo, tap the list button beside the month name for a full agenda. The calendar grid slides away to give your sessions more room; tap the calendar button to restore it. The month menu and Today remain available, and switching modes keeps your place in the agenda. On iPad, wide windows keep the full month grid and taller windows use the stacked month and agenda layout. ## 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 In Android version **1.3.32 or later**, use **Show full agenda** in the floating toolbar to slide the calendar grid away and give the event list the screen. Use **Show calendar and agenda** to restore it. Your agenda position and browsed month are preserved when you switch modes, and calendar filters remain available in the full agenda. The ShootCal Android app signs in with the same ShootCal account and focuses on your calendar, agenda, appointment editing, maps, reminders, and home-screen widgets. In version **1.3.13**, **Clients & Booking** and the management links in Settings open the signed-in web workspace, matching the iPhone and iPad app. Pending booking requests open the Requests page directly. Appointment details include links to prepare an invoice or contract on the website, and deposit status is read-only there. Client details and session types remain available in the appointment editor. **Settings → Saved changes on this device** keeps unfinished saves and their recovery controls available. The home-screen widget can shrink to one row for a compact view of your next session, or grow to show more sessions. ## 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](https://app.shootcal.com/) 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](/docs/app/account-sign-in-and-permissions). --- ### Discover more from ShootCal Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.