Preview your app on your phone
Updated 17 July 2026
You never have to guess what your app looks like. Kinflo gives you two live previews: your real app running on your own phone, and an instant web preview in the browser. Both read the same configuration your dashboard saves, so design changes appear in seconds.
The Preview on device button
Open the Style Manager and look for the floating Preview on device button, an orange-to-yellow pill in the corner of the screen. The Homepage Builder has the same preview available from its header.
Clicking it opens a modal with a QR code. Scan the code with your phone's camera and follow the link.
What the QR code does
The code points at your app's own web address, a page that works on any phone:
- If the Kinflo Preview app is already installed on your phone, the page deep-links straight into it and opens your app, with your branding, features and content.
- If it is not installed yet, the page walks you through installing it (on iPhone this is via TestFlight, Apple's free app for pre-release apps), then opens your app.
- If you would rather not install anything, the same page offers a browser-based preview instead.
The Kinflo Preview app is a shared shell that loads your app's configuration, so you only install it once and it always shows your latest design.
Instant web preview
The modal also links to your hosted web app, your app running in the browser at your own subdomain. This is the zero-install option: open it on your laptop, phone or anywhere else.
The web preview is a real, member-facing app, not a mockup. The main difference from the mobile preview is that native features such as in-app purchases behave differently in a browser.
Changes appear in real time
The dashboard writes your configuration to Kinflo's backend, and your app subscribes to those changes live. In practice that means:
- Change a colour in the Style Manager and press Save, and the preview updates within seconds.
- Rearrange your tab bar in the Menus tab, save, and the app's navigation follows.
- Publish a post or a course and it appears in the preview's feed immediately.
There is no rebuild, no waiting and no cache to clear for design and content changes. (Some things, such as the app icon on your phone's home screen, are baked into the store build and update with your next release, see Branding: logo, icon and app name.)
Tips for a good preview session
- Keep the Style Manager open on your laptop and the preview app open on your phone, and design with both in view.
- Use the in-dashboard phone mockup for rapid iteration, then check the real device before you call a design final.
- Show the preview to a friend or founding member, a second pair of eyes on a real phone catches things a mockup will not.