This feature is currently in beta testing. Admins may apply for all beta features here. 

Since this feature is in beta, this Quickstart guide & documentation is liable to change.

Note: You can check compatibility for the Path App with your devices here.

Currently supported with this release:

Planning to support in future versions:

No plans to support:

When the app is opened, the first thing it does is check for any updates. There may be a new app build or a new version of the Blocks client. If any updates are found, the app will attempt to download these updates while continuing to show the app loading screen. If these updates fail for any reason (offline or error) the app will fall back to the last downloaded version.

Once the app has initialized it attempts to authenticate the user. If the user had logged in previously this will succeed and the app will load into the last state of the app. If the user was switching schools before the app was last closed, the list of schools will be displayed, otherwise the last selected school will load for the user’s path. If authentication fails, the app will reset its cache and display the login flow.

The app uses a login flow that is optimized for SSO. Since the user may use SSO rather than a password, we do not immediately show a password field. Rather, the user must enter their email first which allows the app to check if that email for its login methods. If a user has no SSO login methods, only the password field will be displayed. If a user has a single membership with SSO, only that SSO login method will be displayed. If a user has multiple memberships, the password field and all additional login methods will be displayed.

Once the user has logged in, they will be able to access any schools where they have an active membership. If they have only a single membership, the app will immediately load into the user's home path for that school. If they have multiple memberships they will see a list of their school memberships. The user will not need to login for each school membership. Whatever login method they used to authenticate will allow them to access any of their memberships. Even if a user logs in with SSO specific to one school membership, once they are authenticated they can access any of their memberships.

Once the user has selected a school membership, they will see their learning path with all their current and completed courses. Only existing enrollments will be displayed. There is currently no method to add to the user’s path from within Path app. If any of the courses have been loaded previously, the user will see a shortcut button allowing them to immediately jump back into their next step. If the user wishes to switch schools or log out, they can do so from their home screen by pressing the school logo button in the top left corner.

The course path displays the learner path for a course. Once a user has made some progress, they can see a progress report similar to web version by tapping on “You’ve completed” status message. If any progress has been made the app will automatically scroll the user to their next path item when navigating into the course. The user’s next item will always be highlighted with a “Start” or “Resume” prompt which opens the lesson and step.

If Blocks content for a step exists it will be rendered into a web view for the learner. The learner should always be able to access the latest Blocks because of this. Blocks content integrates with the “Complete Step” button, enabling it or disabling it depending on the user interaction required. Pressing the “Complete Step” button will automatically advance to the next step. If a user has completed or skipped a step, they can reset their completion by tapping on the completion status button. In the future this button will load a Feedback screen for their completion so this interaction will need to change (probably to a long press or side swipe).

A user can view their cohort by tapping on the avatars or member count displayed immediately below a course path title. This will allow them to see their teachers and/or moderators as well as their fellow learners and progress being made. If a user taps on a teacher or moderator profile they will be able to contact the teacher via email.

When a user views their path, the app will load any upcoming steps and schedule notifications for those steps if they have due dates. The notification will only display when the app is closed or running in the background; notifications will not interrupt a learner who is actively using the app (aka in "focused" mode). If a user completes or skips a step that has a due date, the scheduled notification will be canceled. If a notification is tapped, the user will be redirected into the app and the lesson screen for the notification will be opened.

Path App caches all the data it loads, so once a screen has been loaded once it’ll be available in offline mode. This includes schools, courses, paths, cohorts, etc. Any images, such as course covers, avatars, and background images, will also be cached. The only thing that can’t be cached is Blocks content. This must be downloaded manually (see below). If a user has a poor connection, it is recommended that they disconnect entirely so that offline mode can be enabled. The app displays a status bar above the app when in offline mode. In offline mode any inaccessible content is grayed out and disabled. Schools, courses, steps, etc that haven’t been cached will not be accessible while in offline mode. In offline mode all requests (such as loading or completion actions) are still attempted but the connection error is hidden and the requests are saved for later. This means if a user completes steps while offline the app will sync those completions when the app comes online later. If a user logs out the cache will be purged, so the user will need to load screens while online so they can see them again while offline.

Download toggles are displayed at the path and step level. Toggling at the path level simply downloads each step in sequence. Currently downloads cannot be paused or canceled. If connection is lost or an error occurs the entire download will be thrown away and the user will need to toggle the download on again. Once a path or step has been downloaded, it will have an extra downloaded badge wherever it is displayed. The only Blocks media that don’t support downloads are embedded media. If Blocks content is not displaying offline and has no embeds, then this is a bug. If a school wishes to promote an offline path on Path App, it is recommended that they avoid using embeds in a path.