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Custom Branded App - Getting Started & Setup

This guide walks you through setting up your custom app in the Admin Console, including naming your app, choosing colours, uploading brand images, selecting features, adding navigation links, and publishing your app.

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Written by Costa Bontioti
Updated today

📝 Overview

This guide walks you through the first steps of setting up your custom branded app using the Admin Console. You’ll learn how to:

  • Log into the Admin Console

  • Brand your app (name, logo, colours)

  • Choose which features appear in the app

  • Understand the main areas of the Admin Console

  • Test the app from both an admin and member perspective

  • Work through a simple go-live checklist

💡 This article is for business owners and staff only and is not intended for customers.

đŸ«ž Before you start

Make sure:

  • Your TeamUp account is set up and you’ve arranged a custom branded app with the TeamUp team.

  • You have the Admin Console URL and a login that has owner/admin permissions.

  • You know who in your business will:

    • Own the app setup (branding, features, content structure)

    • Own ongoing updates (content, announcements, groups)

  • You have access to your branding assets:

    • Logo files (preferably transparent PNG/SVG)

    • Brand colours (hex codes)

    • Club name and app name you want to use

Logging into the Admin Console

Use this video as a quick tour of the overall layout: where to find users, content sections, communication tools and settings.

You’ll do most of your setup in the Admin Console.

  1. Follow the link provided by the TeamUp team (or from your onboarding email).

  2. Click Continue with TeamUp.

  3. Log in using your TeamUp owner/admin credentials.

  4. If prompted, approve any permissions for the integration.

Once you’re in, you’ll see:

  • A navigation menu (usually on the side) for sections like Users, On-Demand, Meals, Challenges, Custom Pages, Club Updates, etc.

  • A top bar with search or account options, depending on your build.

đŸ§‘â€đŸ’» Branding your App

Branding is usually done in a Design or Appearance section of the Admin Console.

  1. Open the Design / Branding section.

  2. Set your App name (this is what members see in the app) and your Club name (internal—visible only in the Admin Console).

  3. Set your brand colours using HEX, RGB, HSL, the colour picker, or by choosing a swatch directly.

  4. Upload a rectangular logo (recommended 500 × 337 px). A built-in cropper is available if you need to adjust the image.

  5. Set your primary and secondary brand colours using hex codes.

  6. Preview the changes if the console shows a live preview.

  7. Save your changes.

💡Tips:

  • Use high-resolution, square versions of your logo where possible.

  • Choose colours with good contrast for readability (especially text on buttons and backgrounds).

  • Keep naming consistent with your website, socials and TeamUp branding.

đŸ“Č Choosing your app features (Feature Selection)

Next, decide which features should be visible in the app and where they appear.

Typical options include:

  • Bookings / Schedule

  • On-Demand

  • Workouts

  • Meals

  • Progress

  • Challenges

  • Store / Memberships

  • Club Updates

  • Chat / Messages

  • Custom Pages

  • Gym Entry (if enabled)

Use this video alongside this section to see how the design and feature selection screens look when you make changes.

Decide what appears in navigation

  1. Go to the Feature Selection section in the Admin Console.

  2. For each feature, choose whether it appears:

    • In the bottom navigation,

    • In the side navigation menu, or

  3. Think about what members use most often (typically Bookings, Workouts, On-Demand, Meals, Progress, Challenges).

  4. Save your selections.

Recommended initial setup

For launch, a common layout is:

  • Bottom navigation: Bookings, Club Updates, Messages, Memberships

  • Side menu: add any optional features (e.g., On-Demand, Workouts, Meals, Progress, Challenges, Store, Custom Pages).

  • Guideline: put the features you expect members to use most frequently in the bottom nav; place nice-to-haves in the side menu.

You can adjust this later once you see what your members actually use.

đŸ„‡ Setting up your team & basic access

Even though the detailed access rules live in your Managing Access & Visibility guide, you should do a minimal setup now so your team can help test.

  1. Ask staff to log into the app with their customer profile (not a separate admin/trainer login).

    • Using the same email as their TeamUp staff profile will automatically assign Trainer access in the app.

  2. For Admin Console access, go to the TeamUp website and give the staff account full admin permissions.

    • In the Admin Console, change their profile from Trainer → Admin to unlock console access.

Later, you’ll use:

  • Groups to control who sees what content,

  • Membership-synced groups to link TeamUp memberships to content access.

(Those details are covered in Managing Access & Visibility.)

đŸ“± Creating a minimal content & communication “starter pack”

Before you go live, it’s helpful to create a small starter set of content:

Starter content checklist

  • On-Demand

    • Create 1–2 categories (e.g. “Getting Started”, “Short Workouts”).

    • Add a couple of videos or sample content so the section isn’t empty.

  • Workouts

    • Create at least one Workout Template sub-folder with a few sessions (even if it’s just a sample programme).

  • Meals

    • Create one simple meal plan (e.g. “Example 7-day plan”) if you’re offering nutrition.

  • Custom Pages

    • Add an “About us” or “Welcome” page, and a basic “Help / Contact” page.

  • Club Updates

    • Create a “Welcome to the App” post explaining what members can do and how to get help.

This gives your testers a realistic feel for the app from day one.

đŸ€“ Testing the app experience

As an admin/staff member

  1. Install your custom branded app.

  2. Log in using your customer profile (required today; business profiles can’t log into the app yet).

  3. Open the side menu → Admin. Confirm you can access the expected admin tools (e.g., Schedule).

As a member (test account)

To properly test memberships and paywalls, use a test member account:

  1. In TeamUp, create a test member and give them a test or zero-value membership so they can access member-gated content without paying.

  2. Log into the app using the test account.

  3. Check that they can see:

    • The navigation and features you enabled

    • Any sample content you’ve published

  4. Confirm paywalled areas behave correctly:

    • Non-members hit a paywall

    • Members can access content

✅ Go-live checklist

Use this list before you invite real members in:

Branding & navigation

  • App name, club name, logo and colours are set correctly.

  • Bottom navigation features are finalised.

  • Side navigation contains any secondary features (Club Updates, Chat, Store, etc.).

Team & access

  • Owners/admins understand how to log into the Admin Console.

  • Trainers who need app admin tools can access Admin → Schedule and other relevant screens.

  • There’s a clear internal owner for ongoing content updates (On-Demand, Workouts, Meals).

Content & communication

  • At least one On-Demand category with content exists.

  • At least one Workout Template programme exists.

  • Any initial Meal Plan you want to launch with is configured.

  • A basic set of Custom Pages have been created (e.g. About, Help).

  • A Welcome Club Update is published.

Testing

  • An admin/staff member has tested the app on a real device.

  • A test member account with an active membership has confirmed that member-gated content is accessible.

  • You’ve checked paywalls, basic flows (bookings, viewing content) and notifications at least once.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Click the arrow to view frequently asked questions

Why can't I log into the Admin Console?

Click here to see the answer

  • Confirm you’re using the correct Admin Console URL (not the member-facing site).

  • Make sure you’re logging in via Continue with TeamUp using an owner/admin account.

  • If you still can’t access it, contact TeamUp support so they can confirm your permissions.

Why doesn't the App update once I change my logo/colours?

Click here to see the answer

  • Save your changes in the Design/Branding section.

  • Fully close and reopen the app on your device.

  • If you still don’t see changes and your app is newly launched, it may take a short while for caches/app store builds to update. Contact support if it looks stuck.

App icon changes take longer. We update icons manually; contact support to request an icon change. (We’ll notify you automatically when icon-change emails are live.)

Members say they don’t see certain features (e.g. On-Demand, Meals, Challenges). Why is that?

Click here to see the answer

  • Check Feature Selection in the Admin Console to make sure those features are enabled in navigation.

  • Confirm the test member actually has an active membership and/or is in the right group if you’re using group-based access rules (see Managing Access & Visibility).

  • Check that you’ve actually published at least some content in that section (e.g. an On-Demand category).

Related Articles
Custom Branded App - Managing Access & Visibility
Custom Branded App - Managing Content
Custom Branded App - Engagement & Communication
Custom Branded App - Coaching & Tracking
Custom Branded App - Store & Referrals
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