Desktop and mobile apps

Bitment runs in a web browser, but you don't have to use it that way. A native desktop app is available for Mac and Windows, and on a phone you can install Bitment as an app on your home screen. This page covers getting both, keeping the desktop app current, and the one feature that's desktop-only.

Where to find it

Download links live in two places: the "Get the app" panel on the sign-in screen, and the Apps section of your account dashboard (behind your avatar, or Settings › Account). See Your account and signing in.

Key concepts

Desktop app: a native Mac or Windows application that loads your firm's Bitment workspace, rather than a browser tab.
Auto-update: the desktop app checks for and offers new versions on its own.
Installed app (mobile): adding Bitment to your phone's home screen so it opens and behaves like a native app, including real notifications.

Get the desktop app

From the sign-in screen's Get the app panel, or your account dashboard's Apps section, choose the download for your platform (Mac or Windows). The download is detected automatically based on the device you're on.
Install it the way you would any other application on your computer.
Sign in the same way you would in a browser; your session and everything in your workspace is identical either way.

Keeping the desktop app up to date

The desktop app updates itself, you never have to uninstall it and download a new copy.

When a new version is published, the app offers it shortly after you open it: Install and Relaunch installs it and reopens the app, and Later dismisses it (you'll be offered it again next time).
To check for a new version whenever you like, choose Check for Updates…. On a Mac, that's in the app menu (the app's name at the very top-left of your screen, beside the Apple menu). On Windows, it's in the Bitment+ menu at the top of the app window.
It tells you either what's available or that you're already current.

Most improvements need no update at all. The desktop app loads your workspace from your firm's own server, so nearly everything new is simply there the next time you open a window. Updates to the app itself are only for changes to the native wrapper.

A desktop-only feature: Browser

The Browser app is available only in the Mac and Windows desktop app. It's a real embedded web browser inside your workspace, with its own tabs, history, and settings, useful for keeping a client's bank portal or a vendor site open alongside the rest of your work. It doesn't appear in the dock at all when you're using Bitment in an ordinary web browser tab.

Install Bitment on your phone

Bitment can be installed on a phone's home screen like a native app, complete with its own icon and, where your browser supports it, real push notifications.

From the sign-in screen's Get the app panel, or your account dashboard's Apps section, choose the mobile install option.
On an iPhone, this walks you through Safari's Add to Home Screen steps. On Android, supported browsers (like Chrome) can install it with a single tap.
Once installed, open it from your home screen icon, exactly like the sign-in and workspace experience you'd get in a browser, but full-screen and without browser chrome.

Tips

If you're not sure which platform's app you need, use the "Get the app" panel; it detects your device and highlights the right option.
The desktop app and the browser version share the same account and the same data; there's nothing to keep in sync between them.