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iOS install issues

Common edge cases when installing FRA Flow on the iPad home screen, plus what to do about them.

By Richard Pryce·Last updated

The iPad install flow is straightforward (Safari → Share → Add to Home Screen) but a handful of edge cases trip people up. This page is the troubleshooter.

For the standard flow, see Install on iPad.

Add to Home Screen does not appear

Three causes, in order of frequency:

  1. You are in a non-Safari browser. Chrome and Firefox on iOS use Safari under the hood but the share sheet does not surface the Add to Home Screen entry. Open the page in Safari directly.
  2. The page is still loading. iOS occasionally hides the option until the page has finished. Wait for the Safari loading spinner to disappear, then tap Share again.
  3. You are in a private browsing tab. Add to Home Screen is disabled in private mode. Switch to a normal tab.

The icon installs but launches Safari instead of the app

This means the manifest is not being honoured. Two common reasons:

  • The PWA was not fully loaded when you tapped Add. iOS needs the manifest in cache. Open the app in Safari first, let it sit a few seconds while the service worker registers, then tap Add to Home Screen.
  • The home-screen icon was added from an old cached manifest. Remove the icon, clear Safari's site data for app.fraflow.com (Settings → Safari → Advanced → Website Data → search "fraflow" → Edit → Remove), then re-add.

The icon shows a blank or generic globe

Same root cause: the manifest was not in cache when the icon was added. Re-install via the steps above.

The installed app cannot use the camera

Three checks:

  1. Camera permission was denied. Settings → FRA Flow → Camera → Allow. iPad scopes camera permissions per app (the installed PWA counts as its own app). Re-allow if you previously denied.
  2. Microphone permission, separately. Voice notes need the mic; same path, Settings → FRA Flow → Microphone.
  3. iOS prompted you in Safari, not the installed app. Permissions granted in Safari do NOT carry over to the installed app. Open the app from the home screen icon and you will see the permission prompt the first time you tap Photo or Voice.

Offline data disappears after a week of not opening the app

Apple's WebKit evicts cached storage for sites you have not opened in seven days. If you go a week without launching FRA Flow, the cached observation data may be wiped.

Two practical workarounds:

  • Open the app weekly. Even briefly. Touching the home screen icon resets the seven-day timer.
  • Re-preflight before site visits. If you have not opened FRA Flow in over a week, re-preflight the assessment from the visit list before heading out. The preflight pulls everything fresh and the visit then runs offline as normal.

Working offline covers the broader offline contract.

The installed app shows an old version

iOS service workers update on their own, but the page may show the old UI for one extra load. Pull-to-refresh the home-screen-launched window. If the old UI persists, swipe the app away from the iOS task switcher and re-launch.

If you are seeing UI from before a known release, the service worker may be stuck. Clear Safari's website data for app.fraflow.com (steps above) and re-install.

When to escalate

If the install flow consistently fails on a specific iPad model + iOS version combination, send us the model, the iOS version, and a screenshot of the share sheet. We may have a tuned workaround for that combo, or it may be a new edge case to add to this page.

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