Mobile App Extension

The Mobile App Extension for UniversitySite is designed for iPhone and iPad. It lets you customize the LearningSite web app name and icon and prompts users to add LearningSite to the Home Screen from Safari.

LearningSite is not an app from the Apple App Store. “Deploy directly from LearningSite” means opening LearningSite in Safari on an iPhone or iPad and using Share → Add to Home Screen. Selecting the Apple icon in LearningSite opens these instructions; it does not open an App Store listing or install the app by itself.

Why install the web app?

For organizations using SAML single sign-on, the installed Home Screen web app supports LearningSite’s normal SAML authentication flow. Mobile users do not need a separate UniversitySite-specific password, and LearningSite can send them directly through the organization’s SSO process instead of presenting the UniversitySite password form. This does not guarantee that every user will see no authentication prompt: iPhone and iPad Home Screen web apps keep website data separate from Safari, so a Safari sign-in cookie alone may not carry into the installed web app. Whether the identity provider signs the user in silently or asks for sign-in or multifactor authentication depends on the organization’s identity-provider session, device SSO configuration, and security policies.

Install on iPhone or iPad

1. Open your organization’s LearningSite in Safari.
2. Select the Apple icon in the LearningSite navigation bar to open the “Get the App!” instructions.
3. Select Safari’s Share button.
4. Select Add to Home Screen. If it is not listed, scroll to the bottom of the Share sheet, select Edit Actions, and add it.
5. Turn on Open as Web App if that option is shown, and then select Add.
6. Open the LearningSite icon from the Home Screen.

Android and other mobile operating systems

Android users can continue to use LearningSite in their mobile browser. The Mobile App Extension’s installation prompt, customized Home Screen web app, and standalone launch experience are designed for and documented on iPhone and iPad; they should not be presented as an Android installation feature.

Deploy to managed Apple devices

For managed iPhone and iPad deployment, your IT team can publish the same HTTPS LearningSite address as an iOS/iPadOS Web Clip. This gives mobile users the Home Screen entry point while preserving LearningSite’s SAML SSO flow. There is no IPA or App Store package to request from Profiscience before starting. Your mobile device management platform may require your organization to provide the display name and icon separately.

For additional help with the values required by your mobile device management platform, contact support@profiscience.com.

Promotion of app installation

When a user visits LearningSite in Safari on an iPhone or iPad, LearningSite promotes the installation option without installing the app automatically:

1. On the LearningSite homepage:

   1. The “Get the App!” instructions are displayed the first time the user visits the homepage each day.

   2. On subsequent visits, the “Get the App!” balloon appears momentarily.

      

2. On other LearningSite pages:

   1. The Apple icon appears in the main navigation bar. Select it to reopen the “Get the App!” instructions.

      

Customization

In InstructorSite, go to Your Name menu → Global Settings → Mobile Settings. You can change the app name, app short name, icon, and launch mode to match your organization’s branding.

Authentication

1. SAML SSO is the recommended authentication method for the installed web app. It uses the organization’s normal SAML authentication flow rather than requiring a separate UniversitySite-specific password. Whether the identity provider displays its own sign-in or multifactor-authentication prompt depends on the user’s current identity-provider session and the organization’s security policies.
2. If your organization is not using SSO, email-based authentication remains available when LearningSite is opened in mobile Safari. It is not available from the standalone web app because Apple does not support opening email sign-in links directly in an installed web app.

Limitations

1. HTTPS is required.
2. Links in email messages open LearningSite in Safari rather than in the installed web app. The LearningSite experience is otherwise the same.
3. Safari cannot determine whether the standalone web app is already installed or switch to it automatically. LearningSite may therefore suggest installing the app even after it has already been added to the Home Screen.