Installing Onflow Ads as an app
Onflow Ads is installable. On a phone it lands on your home screen; on a desktop it lands in your dock, taskbar or Start menu. It opens in its own window with no browser bars, starts faster on repeat visits, and gets a short menu of shortcuts straight into the pages you use most.
Nothing about your account changes. It is the same site, the same session and the same data, in its own window.
Where the button isβ
There is one Install app button, and it sits wherever you look for it:
- Signed in: open the account menu (your initials, top right; on a phone, the menu button) and look above Help & Guide.
- On the public site: in the menu on a phone, and in the Product column of the footer.
- On your dashboard home: now and then, a small card in the corner offers the same thing (see the reminder card).
The same button changes its words to match your device, so it always does something useful:
| The button says | When | What a tap does |
|---|---|---|
| Install app | Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera or Samsung Internet on Android or a computer | Opens your browser's own install prompt |
| Install app | Safari on iPhone and iPad, or on a Mac | Opens a short picture guide with the two steps to follow |
| Open in browser | Inside Telegram or another app's built-in browser, which cannot install apps | Explains how to open the page in your real browser, with a Copy link button (and Open browser on Android) |
| Update app | You are in the installed app and a newer version is ready | Updates the app and reloads it once, in place. Nothing is reinstalled |
| Check for updates (with Up to date beside it) | You are in the installed app and it is current | Checks now and tells you the result in a small notice |
If the button is not there at all, your browser cannot install apps from a page (Firefox on a computer, for example), or you already installed the app and are looking at the site in a normal tab. See why the button is sometimes missing.
What you getβ
| Once installed | Detail |
|---|---|
| Its own window | No address bar, no browser tabs. The window colour matches the site's own dark background. |
| A home-screen or dock icon | The Onflow Ads app icon β the white symbol on an Onflow Red tile β in the right shape for each platform: a standard icon on desktop, a full-bleed mask-safe version on Android, an opaque one for iOS. |
| Faster repeat visits | Versioned stylesheets, scripts and icons are cached on your device, so a cold start does not refetch them. |
| One window, not a pile of them | Opening an Onflow Ads link reuses the window that is already open instead of stacking new ones. |
| Four shortcuts | Long-press the icon on Android, or right-click it on a desktop dock or taskbar. |
| An offline page | A page served from your own device when the network drops, instead of a browser error. |
The four shortcutsβ
| Shortcut | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Your channels, campaigns and earnings |
| Wallet | Top up, withdraw and see your balance |
| Boost | Order growth services |
| Marketplace | Buy and sell sponsored posts |
Each one is a normal signed-in page. If your session has lapsed you land on the sign-in page and come straight back after.
Step by stepβ
Android, and Chrome, Edge, Brave or Opera on a computerβ
- Open
https://onflowads.comin the browser. - Press Install app in the menu (or on the reminder card).
- Your browser's own install prompt opens. Confirm it.
- Onflow Ads is added to your home screen or apps, and a notice confirms it: App installed.
Changed your mind at the prompt? Nothing happens and nothing is remembered against you; the button is offered again later.
iPhone and iPadβ
Apple does not let a site open an install prompt, so a tap on Install app opens a short picture guide headed Add Onflow Ads to your Home Screen:
- Tap the Share button, the square with an arrow pointing up. On an iPhone it is in the bar at the bottom of the screen (at the top in some browsers); on an iPad it is at the top, beside the address.
- Scroll the list and tap Add to Home Screen, then Add.
Press Got it to close the guide. Onflow Ads now opens full screen from your Home Screen.
Open onflowads.com in Safari and try again. Recent versions of Chrome and Firefox on iPhone offer it too, but Safari always does.
Safari on a Macβ
A tap on Install app opens a guide headed Add Onflow Ads to your Dock:
- Open the File menu in the menu bar and choose Add to Dock.
- Check the name and click Add. Onflow Ads opens in its own window from then on.
On an older Mac, Safari cannot do this. Chrome or Edge can install the app instead.
Inside Telegram or another appβ
Links you open from Telegram (or Instagram, Facebook and similar apps) open in that app's own built-in browser, and those cannot install apps. The button there says Open in browser. A tap explains the two ways out:
- use the menu in the top corner of that browser and choose Open in browser (it may say Chrome or Safari), or
- press Copy link and paste the link into your browser. On Android, Open browser hands the page straight to your phone's browser.
Then install from there as above.
Updating the appβ
The app updates itself: every time you open it, the newest version of Onflow Ads loads. You never need to remove it and install it again.
When we release something new while the app is open, the button in your account menu changes to Update app. Press it and the app switches to the new version and reloads once, right where you were. Your session, your settings and anything already saved stay exactly as they were.
When there is nothing new, the same place shows Check for updates, with Up to date beside it. Press it to check straight away; a notice tells you either Update available (with an Update app button) or Up to date.
Only the first press counts. The app updates once and reloads once, however many times the button is tapped.
The reminder cardβ
On your dashboard home, a small card may offer the app: Get the Onflow Ads app, with Install app and Not now.
| Behaviour | Detail |
|---|---|
| Where it appears | Only on the dashboard home, and only where the button would say Install app |
| When it never appears | On your first visit, inside the installed app, inside Telegram or another app's browser, and over the cookie dialog or another card |
| How often | At most once every 14 days (the interval is set by Onflow Ads and may change) |
| Not now or the close button | Hides it until the next interval. The menu button stays available whenever you want it |
Why the button is sometimes missingβ
The button is hidden until there is something real to offer: your browser has said it can install the site, you are on Safari where the guide applies, you are in an app's browser where Open in browser helps, or you are inside the installed app where updates are offered.
So on Firefox on a computer you will never see it, and that is correct rather than a bug: a hidden button is better than one that does nothing. Once you have installed the app from Chrome, Edge or another browser that offers the install prompt, a normal tab stops offering it; open the installed app instead.
Safari, on iPhone, iPad and Mac, never tells a website that you already added it to your Home Screen or Dock, so Safari tabs keep showing Install app (and, now and then, the reminder card on your dashboard home). If you have already added it, you can ignore both and open Onflow Ads from its icon.
If the button does not appear and your browser offers no install option of its own, that browser cannot install web apps. Onflow Ads works exactly the same in a normal tab; nothing is locked behind installing.
The offline pageβ
Installing β or visiting the site at all β registers a small helper in your browser. It stays out of the way: page loads always go to the network first, and only if the network genuinely fails does it show a page it stored on your device:
You're offline We can't reach Onflow Ads right now. Check your connection and try again β your work isn't lost.
It carries a Try again button and the line "This page is served from your device by Onflow Ads."
That page is generated on your device, not sent by our servers, so it appears when your connection dropped β not when Onflow Ads is down. If your connection is fine and it keeps appearing, check the status page from another network. The maintenance holding page is the different-looking page you get when the site itself is paused.
Nothing on your account is affected and no work is lost. Only files whose address already changes with every release are cached β never pages, never your data, never anything from your account β so an installed app can never serve you a stale version of the site.
If something goes wrongβ
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No Install app button anywhere | Your browser cannot install web apps, the app is already installed, or you are inside Telegram's Mini App view | Use the browser's own install option if it has one, open the installed app, or carry on in a tab |
| Open in browser instead of Install app | You are in an app's built-in browser (Telegram, Instagram and similar) | Press it, copy the link or open your browser, and install from there |
| Install app shows a guide instead of a prompt | Your browser gives sites no install prompt (Safari) | Follow the two steps, then press Got it |
| Add to Home Screen is missing from the Share menu | You are not in Safari, or on an older iOS | Open onflowads.com in Safari and try again |
| Add to Dock is missing from Safari's File menu | Your macOS is older than Sonoma | Install through Chrome or Edge instead |
| Check for updates says you are up to date, but a friend sees something new | Releases reach everyone within minutes; your app may simply not have been asked yet | Close the app fully and open it again, or press Check for updates in a minute |
| Could not check for updates | The check needs a connection | Check your connection and press Check for updates again |
| The icon is the white Onflow Ads symbol on a red tile, not what you expected | That is the app icon from the Onflow Ads brand kit | This is the intended icon. An app installed before the current design can keep its old icon until your browser refreshes the app's details; on iOS, remove it and add it to the Home Screen again |
| The app opens the sign-in page from a shortcut | The shortcuts point at signed-in pages and your session lapsed | Sign in; you are returned to the page you asked for |
| You want to remove it | It is a normal installed app | Uninstall it the way your platform removes any app: long-press the icon, or use the browser's installed-apps list. Removing it changes nothing about your account |
Relatedβ
- Cookie preferences β the other card that can appear in the same corner of the page.
- Maintenance windows β the other page you may land on when something is unavailable.
- The system status page β how to tell whether the problem is us or your connection.
- Troubleshooting & FAQ β the rest of the common fixes.