branch.
Back to Branch

Your first app starts here.

A one-time setup. Then your apps are yours to run, share and improve.

Branch is coming to iPhone. Follow this guide when the App Store release is available.

A little preparation

  • Branch on your iPhone. Start from the Apps tab. To explore first, tap “Take a look around first”. That local demo resets when reopened.
  • A Google account with available Drive space. Your app can use your account’s included free storage. Check your available space.
  • A compatible AI assistant. Branch offers ChatGPT and Claude handoffs. Your chosen assistant needs support for the Branch skill and a working Google Drive connection that can create and update files. Assistant features, installation support and plans vary by account.

Branch adds no hosting fee or per-app subscription. Your assistant plan, extra Google storage and any paid services your app uses are separate.

Follow the four setup steps

The checklist appears in Apps. You can bring it back from Account → Show setup steps. Close each step with the × after you finish it.

  1. Connect Google Drive

    Tap Connect Google Drive, sign in with the account that will own your app folder, and review the requested permissions. Branch needs Drive access to find apps, load releases and save shared changes.

    Use that same account for the assistant’s publishing connection so your new folder belongs to you.

  2. Choose your AI provider

    Select ChatGPT or Claude in the setup card. This chooses where Create new and Edit send you. You can change the provider later in Account.

  3. Install the Branch skill

    Tap Install Branch skill in ChatGPT or Install Branch skill in Claude. Branch prepares branch.zip and opens the iPhone share menu.

    Choose your assistant. If it isn’t listed, save the ZIP to Files and attach it to a new assistant chat. Tap Copy prompt in Branch, then paste the installation prompt with the ZIP:

    Install the $branch authoring skill from the attached branch.zip. The ZIP contains the complete branch/ folder, including SKILL.md, references, scripts and the portable runtime. Keep the full folder together. If installation needs a step in my settings, guide me through it. Do not create or publish an app yet.

    Complete the installation your assistant requests. If it has Skills settings, you may need to upload the ZIP there. Keep the complete folder together.

    Connect Drive in your assistant too. Ask it to help enable a Google Drive connection that can publish to a folder you own. Connecting Google inside Branch does not also connect your assistant.

  4. Install your first app

    Tap Create your first app in the checklist, or open Create new. Describe your idea and tap Open to continue in your chosen assistant.

    For an idea like Snow Radar, you could start with:

    Build me a snow-trip planner for Branch with a resort map, snowfall forecasts and a place to save trips. Use the $branch authoring skill. Help me connect Google Drive if needed, then publish it into a new folder that I own and give me the folder link.

    Review the result with your assistant. Once it confirms publication, return to Apps in Branch and tap the + (Open folder) button. Choose the published folder, or tap Paste a folder link instead, paste its Google Drive folder link and tap Open app. Your app is saved in Apps for next time.

    If it requests external connections, review each service and purpose before allowing access. For example, Snow Radar uses approved weather and map services to load its forecast and map.

Keep making it yours

Update your app

Tap Edit beside the app in Apps, or Settings → Edit app inside it. Branch sends its Drive folder link to your assistant.

Describe the change and ask the assistant to use the Branch skill to update the same app, preserve its shared data and publish a new release. Return to Apps and reopen it after publication. Only the folder owner can publish code.

Deliver it to your people

Open the app’s Settings → Manage access to invite people, or use Google Drive sharing on its folder and shared files. As owner, you choose who has access.

Send them the folder link. They connect Google in Branch and use + (Open folder) to open it. Friends need access to the app and its shared data files; folder access determines who can read those records.

You keep the code, releases and shared data in your own Drive. Branch adds no hosting bill when you publish another version.

Run scheduled functions on your phone

Ask your assistant to add a function with a schedule, for example: “Recalculate our shared totals every hour.” Have it use the Branch skill and publish the update to the same app.

Open the app’s Settings and turn on Automatic functions for this device. Open the History tab in Branch to view schedules and run history.

Your signed-in phone checks due functions when Branch opens and runs them while Branch stays in the foreground. The individual app can be closed within Branch. When Branch is closed or moves into the background, automatic execution pauses; due work is checked when you return.

Connected apps and shared saves need internet access. This is phone-run automation, with no Branch function server.

If something gets stuck

If the assistant cannot install the skill or publish to Drive, finish that setup in the assistant before creating an app. If a folder is missing, check the Google account and sharing permissions. See Support or contact ferdinand@artegrity.io.

Connected apps and shared saves need an internet connection. If a save’s outcome is uncertain, review the latest saved data before deciding to retry.