Teachable App Review 

 Updated: September 8, 2021

teachable app

What’s the Teachable mobile app?

The Teachable mobile app was one of the first to launch among popular online course platforms to help your students access their content on-the-go.

The app is currently only available on iOS devices and on all Teachable pricing plans.

In essence, the Teachable app is there to allow your members to consume your online programs with a native app on their phone and not having to awkwardly go through a web browser.

Teachable puts a word of caution to say that this is still only meant to be a complement of the desktop version, which should still be the primary way for your students to access their content.

The Teachable app is a Centralized app, meaning that your school will be inside the “Teachable” app in the app store and not by downloading a custom branded app of some sort.

This does limit the customization and ways you can edit the content there, so let’s break it down.

How does the Teachable App work?

In order to make your course available for your students and searchable once they have downloaded the Teachable app, you’ll simply have to make sure that myTeachable is enabled on your school.

Students will then be able to find your school in the centralized app:

Now, you might be wanting to understand why you’re not gonna get a branded app for your course…

Without going to deep into what a centralized app is, here is a quick summary


Pros:

  • You don’t have to worry about iOS regulation updates and other things to keep up with
  • It’s more reliable and stable, Teachable has the resources to provide a top-tier app
  • Students may already be using the app for other courses (from other schools) making it easier to adopt yours.

Cons:

  • You don’t have as much control on design and customization
  • You can’t influence much of the student experience in the app
  • More communication to explain to students why they have to download the Teachable app and how to find you.

In terms of student experience, once they have downloaded the app, students will need to remember and type out their myTeachable logins.

You can see how the Teachable’s app compare to other platforms in the industry in our article here.

Lastly, note that the app is not really made for you as a school owner to manage or post content. It’s made exclusively for course access.

What does the Teachable App look like?

Although there is little you can customize in the app apart from the thumbnail and the background color, it looks fairly good out of the box:

teachable-app-customization

All types of modules are easy to consume, including quizzes and attachments.

The app itself is blazing fast and can also work offline!

The best part is that students can also listen to video or audio with their phone screen off, just like you would for music or podcasts.

Which is really a big reason to use the app on-the-go.

Progression will sync with other devices and students can pick up exactly where they left on videos (similarly to YouTube).

Again, the app should be considered as a complement of the desktop version, it’s a good environment for some types of content but isn’t necessarily ideal for retention or upsell for example.

What can students do in the Teachable App?

There isn’t much students cannot do in the app that they could on Desktop!

The student can :

  • Navigate categories, modules and pick up where they left off on another device
  • Watch course videos, listen to audios, download attachments
  • Take lecture quizzes and view their scores
  • Complete lectures and sync their progress with other devices

They can also edit their settings and profile through the app.

Some of the limitations from desktop are also carried over, but may be even less convenient on mobile devices.

For example students can’t search for content or mark modules as “favorite” to easily find them later.

They also can’t adjust the speed or quality of the video.

Teachable App FAQ

Can students access Coaching products?

Yes they can!

These will appear in your school and students we’’ll be able to access all of the features of Teachable coaching products.

I do think however, specifically for this kind of product, that you should encourage your clients to use the desktop version in order to make sure you have their full attention.

Can I send students push notifications through the Teachable App?

Unfortunately you can’t.

This may come in a later update but there’s no way to currently communicate with students through the app exclusively.

This is also probably due to the fact that Teachable does not have a robust emailing system.

Can I post new content to my courses?

No.

As a school owner, you cannot post or manage content through the app, which is another downside of centralized applications.

Once again, the desktop version should be prioritized.

What languages are available for the Teachable App?

The system language will depend on the country your student has set up for their device, which should therefore suit their needs.

Then, within the school of course, you will decide which language you choose to write your content in!

Joey Mazars

Online Course Platform Expert

Hi, there! I've literally spent thousands of hours helping clients build their online courses on these platforms through my marketing services.

I've become obsessed with helping them find the right fit for their needs and decided to guide other creators through their decision process with these detailed reviews.

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