Install & log into the mobile app

Five minutes from "no app" to "logged in with your first project synced for offline use". This tutorial covers both iOS and Android.

Step 1 — Download

On your phone:

• iOS: App Store (search "Planscape BIM")
• Android: Play Store (search "Planscape BIM")

The app is around 85 MB. On a decent connection the download takes a couple of minutes.

Step 2 — First launch

Open the app. You'll see a brief 3-screen intro carousel — swipe through or tap Skip.

Step 3 — Grant permissions

The app asks for four permissions. For this tutorial, allow all four (you can revoke later):

• 📷 Camera — for site photos and QR scanning
• 📍 Location — for the GPS site map ("Allow While Using App" is fine)
• 🖼️ Photos — to attach existing photos
• 🔔 Notifications — for issue assignments and comments

Step 4 — Sign in

Enter the email and password you used for the web app. Tap Sign in.

If your firm uses SSO, tap Sign in with SSO instead — you'll be redirected to your identity provider.

Step 5 — Pick a project

The project picker appears. For this tutorial, pick the project you created in Create your first project. If you don't have one yet, do that first.

Step 6 — Pre-sync

You land on the project home screen. Top-right corner has a cloud icon. Tap it → Full pre-sync.

You'll see a progress bar with three phases:

1. Metadata — issue list, team list, document register (~5 seconds).
2. Documents — PDFs marked "Site reference" (variable; depends on count and size).
3. Map tiles — Mapbox tiles for 5km radius around project pin (~30 seconds on 4G).

On a normal 4G connection the whole pre-sync takes 2–10 minutes depending on project size. For a fresh demo project it's well under a minute.

Step 7 — Verify it works offline

Quick offline test:

1. Put your phone in airplane mode.
2. Switch back to Planscape.
3. Tap the Map tab — the map should still render with the project pin visible.
4. Tap the Issues tab — the list shows (currently empty, that's fine).
5. Tap + New issue, fill in a quick title ("Test offline"), tap Save.
6. You should see a small yellow chip: "Queued — will sync when online".
7. Turn airplane mode off. Within 10–30 seconds the chip disappears and the issue is on the server.

If all of that worked, you're ready for a real site visit.

Step 8 — Explore the bottom tab bar

Five tabs, left to right:

• 🏠 Home — project summary + quick actions
• 📋 Issues — issue list, raise new issue
• 🗺️ Map — GPS site map with pins
• 📄 Docs — document register, view PDFs
• 👤 Profile — settings, sign-out, switch project

What you've achieved

• App installed on your phone.
• Signed in with your firm credentials.
• A project pre-synced for offline use.
• Confirmed offline mode works end-to-end.

What's next

• Try raising an issue from your phone (6 min)
• Try using the GPS site map (7 min)
• Try capturing site photos (5 min)
• Read the mobile onboarding guide for the full feature tour