How do I Install the App and Turn On Push Notifications?

Trailhead is a Progressive Web App, which means you install it straight from your browser — no App Store, no Play Store, no waiting on review queues. Once it's on your home screen, it opens full-screen like any other app, loads faster, and can push notifications when someone tags you, comments on your build, or responds to a recovery request.

This thread walks through the install on iOS, Android, and desktop, how to turn on push notifications without the iOS quirks tripping you up, and what to do if something doesn't behave. If you're new to the platform, start here before you post your first build or trip report — a few minutes now saves you the "why didn't I get that notification" frustration later.

Open https://trailhead.lonepeakoverland.com in your phone's browser. Use Safari on iPhone and Chrome on Android — both for install support and for push notification compatibility down the line. Other browsers can render the site fine, but they don't all support PWA installation or web push the same way.

When you sign up, Trailhead runs a guided onboarding flow that walks you through handle selection, avatar upload, your first rig, and the key permission prompts in the right order. Follow it through to the end — it sets up the account correctly the first time and primes the cache so the installed app feels fast from the first open. The steps below are the fallback path if you skipped onboarding, closed the tab partway through, or want to revisit any of it later.

If you're walking through it manually, create an account with your email, pick a handle (this becomes your /users/<handle> profile URL — choose something you can live with), set an avatar, and write a short bio. Two reasons to do this before installing: your session carries into the installed app automatically, and your profile shows up cleaner the first time someone taps your name on a comment or feed post.

While you're in the browser, take thirty seconds to:

• Add a rig to the Builds tab so other users have context when they see your posts
• Toggle public or private profile under Settings based on how you want to share

Apple still requires the Add to Home Screen flow for PWAs, and there's a sharp catch — push notifications only work on iOS 16.4 or later, and only if the app is installed to your home screen. Skip this step and you will not receive pushes, period.

Open Trailhead in Safari (not Chrome, not Firefox — Safari is the only browser on iOS that can install a PWA). Then:

1. Tap the Share icon in the bottom toolbar (the square with the upward arrow)
2. Scroll the share sheet until you see Add to Home Screen
3. Tap it, confirm the name (leave it as "Trailhead"), and tap Add

The icon lands on your home screen. Open it from there — not from Safari — and Trailhead launches full-screen. If you see a Safari address bar at the top, you opened it from a browser tab. Close it and tap the home screen icon instead.

Android is more forgiving. Open Trailhead in Chrome — most users get an automatic install prompt within the first minute of browsing. If it appears, tap Install and you're done.

If the prompt doesn't show up, do it manually:

1. Tap the three-dot menu in the top right of Chrome
2. Tap Install app or Add to Home screen
3. Confirm

The icon lands on your home screen and in your app drawer. Open it from either spot and Trailhead runs in its own window with no browser chrome. On most Android builds you'll get a notification permission prompt the first time you trigger an action that would send one — say yes when it appears.

You can install Trailhead as a desktop app too. Useful if you do most of your trip planning on a laptop and want a dedicated window instead of one more browser tab.

Use Chrome, Edge, or Brave on the desktop side. In the address bar you'll see a small install icon (a monitor with a downward arrow, or a plus sign in a box) on the right end. Click it and confirm. The app opens in its own window and adds itself to your Applications folder on Mac or Start menu on Windows.

Safari on macOS supports a similar Add to Dock flow via the File menu in Safari 17 and later. Push notifications on desktop Safari follow the same rules as iOS — install required.

Once Trailhead is installed, open it from the home screen or app drawer, sign in, and head to Profile → Settings. You'll see a push notifications section with a toggle for the master subscription plus granular toggles for the specific event types Trailhead can send.

The events you can subscribe to include:

• Direct messages — someone sends you a DM, or a new message hits a group DM you're in
• Mentions — another user tags you with @yourhandle in a comment, thread, or feed post
• Comments and replies — activity on your trip reports, builds, threads, or feed posts
• Likes and follows — lighter-weight engagement notifications you can mute if they're noisy
• Convoy RSVPs — when someone says they're going to or backing out of a convoy you organized
• Recovery responses — when someone hits RESPOND on a recovery request you posted (these are the ones you want on)
• Forum replies — activity on threads you started or replied to

Flip the master toggle on first. Your browser will throw a permission prompt — Allow it. On iOS 16.4+, this prompt only appears if you installed Trailhead to your home screen first; if you don't see the prompt, that's the most common reason.

Then tune the individual event toggles. If you organize convoys or post recovery alerts, leave those on. If you find DM and mention pings useful but don't care about likes, mute the likes — you can always re-enable later.

A few patterns cover most of the install and notification issues users hit. Work through these before pinging support:

Install option doesn't appear in the share sheet (iOS). You're not in Safari. Chrome and Firefox on iPhone cannot install PWAs because Apple restricts the install API to Safari. Copy the URL, open Safari, and try again.

Install prompt never shows up (Android). The site may already be installed under a different account, or Chrome may have dismissed the prompt. Open Chrome's three-dot menu and look for Install app — that path works even when the auto-prompt is suppressed.

No notifications arrive after enabling them. Check three things in order: the app is installed to the home screen (not just bookmarked), system-level notifications are enabled for Trailhead in your phone's Settings app (iOS: Settings → Notifications → Trailhead; Android: Settings → Apps → Trailhead → Notifications), and the in-app toggles under Profile → Settings are switched on. If all three are correct, send yourself a test by having a friend DM you — DMs are the fastest event to trigger a push.

Notifications worked yesterday, stopped today. iOS sometimes silently revokes push permission after a long period of inactivity or after an OS update. Re-toggle the master switch in Profile → Settings, accept the browser prompt again, and you should be back online. On Android, check that Battery Optimization isn't restricting Trailhead in the background.

App feels stuck on an old version. PWAs cache aggressively. Force-close the app (swipe it away from the multitasking view), then reopen. If it's still stale, uninstall and reinstall — your account and all your data live on the server, so nothing local is lost.

Map tiles or feed images load slowly the first time. That's expected on first open over cellular. The PWA cache fills as you browse, and subsequent loads pull from local storage. If it persists past the first session, switch to Wi-Fi, open the Maps screen, and let it warm for thirty seconds.

If you've worked through this list and something still isn't right, use the Report a Bug button on your Profile page to send it to the team — include your device, OS version, and browser version so we can repro it on our end. Posting in this thread works too if you want a public answer that helps other users.