Install the RaceWatch app on your phone

Is RaceWatch in the App Store or Google Play?

No. RaceWatch is a web app that installs from your phone's browser. Once added, it sits on your home screen with its own icon and opens full screen like any other app.

Installing from the browser has practical advantages. There is nothing to download from a store, it takes up very little space, and every time you open it you get the latest version, with no updates to wait for. The experience is the same on iPhone and Android.

The web address is race.watch. Everything in the member app, from racecards to Tracker+, works the same in the installed app as in the browser. The only difference is convenience: one tap from your home screen instead of opening a browser and typing the address each time.

How do I add RaceWatch to an iPhone or iPad home screen?

Open race.watch in Safari, open the Share menu, choose Add to Home Screen and tap Add. The RaceWatch icon then appears on your home screen.

On recent versions of iOS, Share sits in the menu behind the three dots beside the address bar; on older versions it is the square with an arrow pointing up. In the list that opens, Add to Home Screen may be below the first row of options, so scroll down if you cannot see it.

If Add to Home Screen is missing altogether, check that you are in Safari itself rather than a browser inside another app, and that the page has finished loading before you tap Share.

How do I install RaceWatch on an Android phone?

Open race.watch in Chrome, tap the three dot menu in the top corner, choose Install app or Add to Home screen, then confirm. The RaceWatch icon appears with your other apps.

The wording varies slightly between Android versions and phone makers, but the option is always in Chrome's main menu. Some phones show a prompt at the bottom of the screen offering to install the app, which does the same thing in one tap.

Once installed, RaceWatch opens in its own window without the browser's address bar and appears in the app switcher like any other app. To remove it later, delete the icon in the same way as any other app; your account and subscription are not affected.

Why is the install option not showing on my phone?

The install option only appears in the phone's main browser. Browsers built into other apps, such as links opened inside social media or messaging apps, usually hide it.

If you followed a link to RaceWatch from another app, you are probably in that app's built in browser. Look for an option such as Open in Safari or Open in Chrome, or copy race.watch into the main browser yourself, and the install option will appear.

On iPhone, Safari is the most reliable route. On Android, Chrome is the most reliable, and if the menu shows Add to Home screen rather than Install app, that works just as well.

• Open race.watch directly, not through another app
• Use Safari on iPhone and Chrome on Android
• Scroll the Share list on iPhone to find Add to Home Screen
• Look for Install app or Add to Home screen on Android

Will I stay signed in after installing RaceWatch?

Usually, yes. Sign in once in the installed app and it normally remembers you on that phone, just as the browser does.

On iPhone the installed app keeps its own storage, separate from Safari, so the first launch from the home screen usually asks you to sign in even if you were already signed in in Safari. On Android the installed app normally shares Chrome's sign in.

If you ever get signed out, sign in again with the same email and password. Your membership belongs to your account rather than to the phone, so signing in again brings everything back.

How do RaceWatch alerts reach my phone?

Channel alerts are sent through Telegram. Install Telegram, join the C, G or F channels you want in RaceWatch, and their alerts arrive on your phone.

Telegram delivers alerts quickly and keeps a history of every message, which suits race day, when timing matters. It is free, and it works on tablets and computers as well as phones, so the same alerts can follow you from a desk to the racecourse.

With the app on your home screen and Telegram installed, you have RaceWatch set up on your phone: racecards and tools in the app, and channel alerts arriving as they happen.

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