Native App
For the latest tips, tricks, and best practices for the Native App, check out our recent Native App Designed for you blog!
Alpine IQ deploys native apps with push notification functionality to facilitate loyalty, e-commerce, and messaging without interuption from cell carriers. Effective spring 2021, Apple no longer disallows facilitating cannabis sales through the app store. Our apps are compatible with iOS and Android devices.
In order to get an app for your brand live, you will need to provide Alpine IQ with access to both the Apple store/ Google play store developer accounts. Normally, we could create these store accounts for you, but both accounts require your organization be the administrator. Please follow the steps below to get started:
D-U-N-S number
If you do not have a DUNS number already, please fill out the form on the link above and await their call to verify your organizations identity. They will generally issue you a number within 48-72 hours.
- APPLE will also call you shortly after enrollment (24 hours). You will need to answer the phone call at the number you placed in your application submission. They will then send an email and you will pay for your developer account ($99/y). Complete this process.
- In order for Apple to later approve your app within audit, you must be able to prove that you can legally sell cannabis in your markets. Apple will accept licensing numbers/ PDF documentation/ etc showcasing this legality. Please note that if you choose to create a developer account with an org named "My holding company LLC" and that holding name doesn't have the same name as your app, Apple will also require that you prove that your holding name is the real owner of your cannabis licenses.
- Once you are logged in and your account is active. Please navigate to add users to your team: https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/access/users , then Add [email protected] as a user and select “Admin” role and every checkmark on the options list should be set to on/checked.
- Setup a Google play developer account at: https://play.google.com/console/u/0/signup and pay the $25 registration fee
- Verify your identity once you login. It is the first prompt you will see:
- Next, navigate to the “Account Details” page in the left navigation bar. Then click on “Choose account type”.
- Select “Organizational account”. Then fill out the information requested by Google in the form presented.
- Now you will go to “Users and permissions” in the left navigation bar. On the right side of the page that loads, click the 3 vertical dots and then “Invite new users” in the dropdown menu:
- Invite “[email protected]” and check the “Admin (all permissions)” option under the “Account permissions” tab as shown below:
Before you start customing the branding of your app, we will need some app basics from you to get started.
- Go to Configure Alpine IQ >> Native App
- The first tab that must be completed so that we can submit your app to the app stores is the App store branding tab. Please fill out all of the requested information: Apple:
- Apple App Name -
- Usually the name of your dispensary as the app name
- 30 character limit
- Apple Subtitle
- Your app’s subtitle is intended to summarize your app in a concise phrase
- Character Limit: 30 characters
- Avoid: Generic descriptions such as “world’s best app.” Instead, highlight features or typical uses of your app that resonate with your audience. i.e. Denver Colorado Dispensary
- Apple App description -
- Let potential users know what makes your app unique and why they’ll love it.
- There is no character limit for apple app descriptions but we recommend making it short and concise.
- The first 80 characters are the most important, this is what users can read without having to tap to read more.
- We recommend using verbiage that fits your brand but we have created a template below that you can use for your description.
- Apple Key Words:
- 100 characters total with terms separated by commas and no spaces
- Maximize the number of words that fit in this character limit by avoiding the following:
- Plurals of words that you’ve already included in singular form
- Names of categories or the word “app”
- Special characters — such as # or @ — unless they’re part of your brand identity. Special characters don’t carry extra weight when users search for your app.
- Improper use of keywords is a common reason for App Store rejections. Do not use the following in your keywords:
- Unauthorized use of trademarked terms, celebrity names, and other protected words and phrases
- Terms that are not relevant to the app
- Competing app names
- Irrelevant, inappropriate, offensive, or objectionable terms
- Apple App Logo:
Logo Requirments | |
Size: | 1024x1024 px |
Max file size: | 1024KB |
Shape: | Square |
Color: | RGB |
Format: | PNG |
Layers: | Flattened with no transparency |
Google Play:
- Google play app name:
- Usually the name of your dispensary. Most use the same name on Apple and Google Play.
- Character limit: 50
- Google Play Description:
- Character limit: 4,000
- Most use the same description for both apple and google play
- We created a template below that you are welcome to use for your app
- Google Play Logo:
- Please see the table below for logo requirements
Logo Requirments | |
Size: | 512 x 512 px |
Max file size: | 1024KB |
Shape: | Square |
Color: | RGB |
Format: | PNG |
Layers: | Flattened with no transparency |
We created a template for your app's description. Feel free to use our template, just make sure you swap out The Green Standards name with your dispensaries name. We also recommend tailoring the copy to fit your brand.
Welcome to the Green Standard mobile app! Whether you’re at home, on the way to the store, or shopping with us in-store, our mobile app brings the best of Green Standard to your mobile device. Earn Points As a Green Standard rewards member. you will be able to earn and track points with every purchase. Not a Green Standard rewards member yet? Easily signup in our app! Redeem rewards and personalized discounts Use your points to redeem earned rewards. Redeem custom personalized discounts and promotions tailored to your preferences. Mobile Ordering Now you can shop and place your order through your phone for pickup or delivery Real-time updates Enable push notifications to be the first to know about product launches, restocks, app-exclusive deals, happy hours, and more Refer your friends With your own personal referral link, you will be able to earn more points for every friend you refer to The Green Standard. Stay connected Through our messaging center, you can keep track of all notifications and messages sent to you from the Green Standard. Download the Green Standard app today and discover our huge range of fantastic products and amazing deals. |
To change the color of your text in the Refer a Friend box:
- Go to Configure Alpine IQ > Native App Settings > Typography Tab
- Scroll to: Refer-a-friend box / link
- Select one of the color options or enter in your HEX code in the link color section
- Press save
- App store branding You may change your: app name, subtitle, description, keywords, app icon, team ID, Apple and Google Play preview images.
- Documents and policies You may change your: email for pin verifications, EULA url, terms url, privacy policy url, consent text that appears upon login/ signup.
- General branding You may change your: header avatar logo, cover photo, splash page loading image, initial loading screen image, icon colors, main background color.
- Toggle pages/ sections/ items You can: hide the discount open button, hide shop menu item, hide messages menu item, hide social page menu item, hide refer a friend links, hide points, hide favorite store address, hide the get directions button, hide the call store button, modify whether users can change their favorite store in the app.
- Typography You can: change the section title color, font weight, font size. Change h2 sub title color, font weight, font size. Change the Help/ FAQ collapsable titles color, border color, font weight, and font size. Change the caption text font weight and font size. Change the error text color, border color, font weight, font size. Change the refer-a-friend box/ link color. Change regular link color. Change button text color, font weight, and font size.
- Online shopping Change the default url that is webviewed into the app. You can also assign custom URL's that automatically are shown to users based on their favorite store on record. This points customers to menus specific to the store they are known to engage with. Please keep in mind that the shop abilities are not available on Android phones per Google Play's current policies.
- Buttons and switch styles You can change the color, border color, border radius for the main button, danger button, and ghost button types. You can change the refer-a-friend box/ link box padding, box border radius. You can change the switch input color style.
- Inputs and progress bars You can change the border color, border width, vertical padding, and horizontal padding of inputs.
Native Apps require an internet connection to be fully functional
- User contact info + ability to edit/ validate user contact info/ profile info + communication preferences
- User order history + 1-5 star feedback review
- User points/ available discounts/ links to open discounts when points or requirements are met (progress towards goal, etc)
- Ability to get directions/ call their favorite store
- Ability to order deals how you wish using our native app settings panel
- Refer a friend link
- Custom buttons for social networks and marketplace listings that utilize the current consumers favorite store (so that they navigate to the correct store on yelp, weedmaps, etc vs reviewing an HQ store that won't boost SEO for the location)
- Ability to convert points to gift cards/ gift gift cards to friends
- Ability to see all message history in a single feed (text, email, push, browser push, direct mail, etc.)
- Badges for unopened messages on the app icon
- 1 click push notification open to the messages tab
- UTM tracking for google analytics
- Custom discover tab whereby you can link any site you want
- Custom shop tab which works as a default, then custom "per store" specific links. The same thing works for discover tab
- Show customers their earned badges in profile card
- Modify all colors, banners, skins, fonts + request custom skin
- Customize main app menu
- Customize loading screen splash page with your own img
- Force users to complete a custom signup form with more detailed information you might require as a dispensary in certain markets before they can use the main pages of the app
- Simple popups for requesting push notification access + location access (to show the menu compliantly + collect email / pass if the account is legacy and only has a phone number.
- Instant updates without a deploy or audit for 95% of the apps features
- Ability to change certain toggles or items from displaying depending on the stores location (you might want to hide points for a store that doesn't allow points programs in a specific market based on regulation)
- The App will feature biometric login capability, including support for Touch ID and Face ID.
Just as easy as sending SMS messages but with the none of the restrictions (within reason)
To create your first campaign
- head to Campaigns > Create new campaign > Add push
- Add a Subject that gives your customer a snapshot of the message to come; "20% off flower all weekend! Swipe to see details!"
- Add a Message and include any of the emojis and personalization macros to make the message pop
- Click Save design to campaign and proceed as you normally would in publishing the campaign
Check our Guide to Native App Push Notifications
The Home tab is where customers can see their points balance, see and redeem available discounts, see your store's contact information, and contact the store if necessary.
The Messages tab is a rolling billboard or history of push notifications sent to your customer.
On the Shop tab, Alpine IQ will iFrame in your e-commerce platform to allow your customers to seamlessly place orders online.
The Social tab lists all your available review and social media pages. You can set these up in your Alpine IQ dashboard by heading to Settings > Reviews.
The Profile tab is where your customers can update their contact information. If your point-of-sale allows 2-way syncing, the customer's contact information will also be updated in the point-of-sale. To see if your system is setup for 2-way syncing, see our Point of Sale guides page.
The Help tab allows your customers to submit customer support tickets.
Check out our How to style messages guide for how to make your notifications pop!
Our app can evolve in different ways depending on your specific goals. Here are three common scenarios:
- You wish to create a custom app and enhance it with AIQ's data and user experience: If you choose this path, you can construct your custom app and link it to your account through our API's. This connection enables you to implement features like point system displays, deal presentations and redemptions, and refer-a-friend programs. For more information, you can refer to our API Reference Guide
- If you decide to discontinue your native app: If you're considering this step, all you need to do is delete your app through your app developer account. It's as simple as that!
- You're switching to a different marketing or loyalty system provider and want to retain your developer account: For this situation, you'll need to upload an app bundle provided by your new system (given they have native apps available) and set the bundle's release date to your transition date. After the transition date, you can remove your old app bundles since the codebase won't be usable anymore. Alternatively, AIQ can stop API services for the old bundles from the transition date.