Top 6 Online Course Platform Mobile Apps 

Why should you care about a mobile app for your students? 

Delivering effective online courses has a lot to do with accessibility.

People are busy and may be listening to your program while driving or folding laundry!

Which means that you need to make it as easy as possible for them to consume your content on the go…

This may even be a deal maker for some people, knowing they will always be watching it on their phone.

And although most online course platforms are mobile responsive, being able to offer a native mobile app can make a great difference.

So today we’re breaking down the platforms that offer the best mobile app and how they compare!

There are a few things to understand about SaaS platforms (as most popular online course platforms are) offering a mobile app:

Mobile Responsive Vs Mobile App

As mentioned before, most if not all popular online course platforms we review on the site are mobile responsive.

Which means that if you ask your student to open a browser tab on their phone (Safari, Google Chrome,...), go to your login URL and enter their details, they will be able to access your courses.

However, you can imagine that this isn’t the best User Experience…

They may have forgotten their login, which won’t auto-populate as it does on Desktop, or not have internet access at the time of wanting to watch your course (think train commute or plane trip).

This is when a native Mobile App can make things a lot easier with a one-time authentication (no password) and offline access.

Branded (OTT) vs Non-Branded (Centralized) App

Now that we understand the advantages of mobile apps vs mobile responsive, let’s break down the two categories of mobile apps usually offered.

The first one is an Over-The-Top application (branded) and the second one is a centralized application (non-branded)

To cut to the chase: an OTT app means that you will have your own app in the app store, so you can tell your student to go download the “Jenny’s Academy App”.

A Centralized app means that your school will be found inside your platform’s app. So for example they’ll download the Kajabi app and then find your school there.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both and although we won’t get too deep on these in this articles, let’s quickly go over the pros and cons:

Offering an OTT App means a much more congruent experience for the student and more control since you will usually be the owner of the white-labelled app, but this also means that you have to keep up with updates and pay a premium for it.

Offering a Centralized App means that you’ll never have to worry about keeping up with regulations or updates and stability of the app but you will have to explain to your students why they’re downloading the app of a platform they’ve never heard about…

All of these things are to take into consideration when deciding, first of all, if you really need a mobile app for your students, and second of all which kind!

That being said, let’s dive into some of the top online course platforms mobile apps:

There isn’t a whole lot you can customize apart from a few branding elements and color palette, but generally the mobile app has a great UX, as with most Kajabi features.

Students can consume your videos, audios modules with their phone locked (just like they would with music).

They can also access Community products if you have any setup for a group experience on the go.

You’re also able to send push notifications and students can use video casting to watch your course on any screen.

There isn’t really any big downside to the Kajabi App apart from the inability to customize much of the layout and flow, as for all centralized apps.

Note that to use Kajabi Community on your phone, you'll need to download a separate app.

Passion.io doesn't just offer a mobile app as an addon, their whole platform was built to be used as an app!

This means launching your own customized app in just a few clicks

See our full Passion.io App review here

You'll be able to change the design to a great extent using the native drag & drop builder:

This gives you a lot of flexibility to make this look exactly how you want it.

You can of course also offer a Desktop app version for your users when they're at home, but again Passion.io is mainly built to be used on mobile first.

Other features include a Community tab, a Tracker and a home page builder

Pricing for the platform is on the more expensive side but this is for creators that want to offer an extra special experience!

Teachable offers a centralized app on iOS devices only on all of its plans.

Once inside your school, they can easily navigate through your lessons, take quizzes and assessments, or download any PDF.

Content can be accessed offline too and will jump to the timecode they’ve left off at.

The only kind of customization you can make as a school owner are the thumbnail and background picture of your school in the app

Another thing to understand is that centralized apps are usually not meant for school owners to be managing their courses or accessing the admin dashboard!

When it comes to accessibility, Mighty Networks is often at the top… and its mobile app is proving this right once again!

Mighty Networks app is available on all plans on Android and iOS for free with the centralized app.

The login experience is fairly intuitive and simple (no need for your student to remember their password).

The overall UX of the app is simply outstanding.

It really has nothing to envy to any social media apps, which is really the big promise of Mighty Networks!

On top of this all, the Mighty Networks app is not only made for students but also for Network owners (you) to manage everything from your phone.

Now, if you do want to customize this even more or simply want to get your own OTT app in the app stores, and are willing to drop a few coins, you can also request it!

Mighty Pro will help you white-label your community app in as little as 4 weeks (according to their website).

This may only be necessary for course creators with a substantial budget but it’s good to know it’s an option!

Because Uscreen provides such a great student experience, we had to include it in this top list!

Read: this isn’t necessarily going to be the most affordable thing to do. 

That being said, this OTT app will allow for full customization of branding and management of live streaming for example.

You can even launch your own branded Apple Watch App, useful for fitness instructors for instance to help their students track their calories and follow their progress.

The app also includes the possibility for push notifications and in-app purchase, which can create a great boost in sales!

According to their website the whole process would take about 4 weeks before you see your own branded app in the store, ready for download.

Videos can be consumed with a locked screen and offline.

Overall the Uscreen app looks promising if you have the budget for it!

New Zenler launched their mobile app in mid 2022 and positioned themselves among the few all-one-platforms that offer this feature.

The app is very similar to the one Kajabi offers with a few options.

Branding: which will allow you to change a few colors (but not any design)

Push notifications: to set up when and how receives these on their mobile device

You won't be able to use it as an admin to check your sales or the platform's backend but your student can now easily access all of their courses on the go.

This includes accessing the Communities you've setup!

That's pretty much the gist of it but if you want to dig in more, read our full review on the app