The most asked question
"Is there an app?" Yes, but not in the App Store or Google Play. Willow installs from the browser you already have. Once it's on your home screen, it opens in its own window like any other app.
PWA vs native app
A progressive web app is a website built to behave like an app. Installing it puts an icon on your home screen or Dock and opens Willow in its own window, but the app itself stays on the web.
A native app is downloaded from a store, built for one platform, stored in full on your device, and updated only when you install the next version. A web app stays on the web. That one difference explains everything below.
What you get
Always the current version
Store apps go stale. A study of three years of app traffic found that on some platforms a quarter of requests came from versions more than 100 days old. A phone full of apps waiting on updates is normal.
Willow has no versions to fall behind on. Every page loads from the web, so what opens is what's live. When something is fixed or added, you have it the next time you open the app. No update to install, no "update required" screen.
Takes up almost no space
Storage is the top reason people delete apps. In a 2023 survey of more than 11,000 people, 32 percent said they delete apps to free up space, ahead of ads or never using the app.
A web app barely registers. Twitter's web app needed less than 3 percent of the storage of its Android app. Starbucks' was 233 KB against a 148 MB iOS app. Willow works the same way: your phone holds an icon and a small cache, and your records live in your account, not on the device.
One account, every device
Nothing syncs, because nothing needs to. Sign in on your phone, your tablet or your laptop and the same records are there. Add a vaccine at home tonight and it's on your phone at the clinic tomorrow. Switch phones, even from iPhone to Android, and you just sign in again. Nothing to reinstall, nothing to transfer.
No store between you and your subscription
Willow Premium is $6 a month or $48 a year, billed through Stripe on the web. No app store takes a cut. Apple's standard commission is 30 percent, or 15 percent for small businesses, and Google Play takes 15 percent on subscriptions. Willow pays neither, so the price you see is the whole price. Cancel anytime, and your records stay.
What's different
- No App Store listing. Searching the App Store or Google Play for Willow finds nothing. You reach Willow by link, and on iPhone the install is a step in the Share menu, not a Get button.
- Reminders come by email, not phone notifications. Willow does not send push notifications today.
- Install steps differ by device. Apple, Google and Microsoft each put the install button somewhere different. The steps are below and take under a minute.
- Most features need an internet connection. Pages you opened while online open again without signal, read-only, with a line saying when that copy was saved. Photos, documents and edits need a connection.
Why Willow is built this way
Your pet's records should open on whatever device is in your hand when you need them: the laptop at home, your phone at the clinic, a tablet at the boarding desk. Only the web does that with one app, no download, no store account and no update. It also means a fix reaches everyone the moment it's live, instead of waiting in a store queue and then on each phone.
How to install Willow
Open willow.community in your browser and sign in, then:
- iPhone and iPad. In Safari, choose Share, then Add to Home Screen. Other iOS browsers may have the same option in their own menu.
- Android. In Chrome, choose Install app from the menu, or accept the install prompt when it appears.
- Mac and Windows. In Chrome or Edge, choose the install icon at the right end of the address bar. In Safari on macOS Sonoma or later, choose File, then Add to Dock.
The Installable app guide in the help center, available once you're signed in, has the same steps and what to expect afterwards.