Row HQ for Android is now available on Google Play

What can a rower do from the app?

A rower can accept or decline practice, open the published crew, find an available shell, reserve it, catch up on notices, and pay dues or entry fees in dollars. The member portal holds the same information, so Android is another way into the club account rather than a separate service.

Think about the hour before an evening row. An athlete can check that practice is still running, see the latest lineup, and know which boat the coach assigned before reaching the boathouse. A member arranging an extra row can inspect availability instead of assuming a shell is free. When the club posts a notice, the information sits beside the session record rather than disappearing up a team chat.

• Respond to a scheduled practice with a definite yes or no.
• Review the crew list after the coach publishes seat assignments.
• Check fleet availability and reserve an open boat through Row HQ.
• Read news and operational notices posted for the club membership.
• Pay membership dues in dollars and deal with recorded entry fees.

A rower may also take a profile picture with the phone camera and place it on the Row HQ account. That makes the roster easier to recognize, especially when a learn-to-row intake or college program brings in unfamiliar names. The member chooses when to use the camera. The result updates the existing profile rather than producing a second mobile identity.

What does a coach get on their phone?

Coaches can inspect athlete availability before selection, assemble and publish a lineup, take attendance at practice, and view safety trends. Every action uses the main club record. The training sessions feature shows how responses and crew planning stay connected from the first availability check through roll call.

During fall head racing, a coach may be balancing entries, travel, and mixed availability across several boats. In spring, seat combinations can change quickly between practices. The phone view keeps the current response list close while those decisions are made. After publication, athletes see the official lineup. Attendance then records who actually arrived, which is more useful than assuming every earlier yes became a launch.

• Read athlete responses before putting names into a varsity, JV, or club crew.
• Build seat assignments and release the finished lineup to the selected athletes.
• Mark attendance near the dock while the group prepares to launch.
• Use recorded safety trends when reviewing how the program is operating.

Row HQ supplies the working view. It does not select athletes or decide a lineup. Those judgments remain with the coach. That is useful when a cancellation, an equipment issue, or a late absence forces a new plan. The coach can change and publish the club record from the phone, while everyone else sees the result through their own account.

What notifications does the app send?

Android push notifications can report five club actions: a canceled practice, a new news post, a published event, incoming club mail, or a recorded payment. The club creates each underlying item inside Row HQ. The alerts carry club operations to the phone and are not advertising or general marketing from Row HQ.

A cancellation alert can stop an athlete driving to a closed boathouse. A published event can put a race meeting or club date in view. News and club mail cover information that should come from the organization itself. Payment notification gives the member a prompt when the club records money against the account. Each alert points back to work already done by an authorized club user.

• The club cancels a practice that had been on the schedule.
• An authorized user publishes a news item to members.
• A club event becomes available in Row HQ.
• The member receives mail sent through the club.
• A payment appears on the member record.

The boundary is deliberate. A push message is tied to a session, post, event, mail item, or payment inside the club. It is not a stream of unrelated app promotion. Members can open the relevant record and see what changed. Coaches and officers remain responsible for the material their organization publishes, just as they are when people use Row HQ in a browser.

How do members sign in?

Members choose Google, Apple, or an email address and password at sign-in. Each option opens the existing Row HQ account used on the web. Installing the Android app does not require another registration, duplicate the athlete profile, or make someone search Google Play for an app branded to their individual club.

The club remains the starting point. Once an athlete or officer has a Row HQ account, the same credentials work across devices. A laptop may suit a long committee task. A phone may suit a quick practice response. Both show information from the same membership and role. Changing the screen does not move a person into a different roster or remove the history already attached to them.

Administrative access follows the role already assigned by the club. Membership, fleet, and payment views appear for committee and admin users who should have them. A standard athlete installation does not expose those controls. This lets a treasurer check a payment or an equipment officer inspect the fleet without forcing every member into a management screen.

Do members have to install it?

No installation is required. The browser version performs exactly the same club jobs on a phone or laptop. Android is available for members who prefer an installed app. It is not an offline product, so a connection is needed to load Row HQ and there is no background offline copy to rely on.

A mixed-device team can therefore follow one process. Android users may install the app. iPhone users, laptop users, and anyone who prefers fewer apps can open the web version. Practice responses and boat reservations still reach the same club platform. A coach does not need one list for app users and another for browser users, which would defeat the point of keeping operations together.

Because there is no offline mode, clubs should not build a safety procedure around the assumption that a phone will always load. Local launch checks, coach instructions, and established emergency processes still matter. Row HQ handles the administrative record when a connection is available. That limitation is the same practical reality for the browser and the Android app.

When is the iPhone app coming?

The iPhone app is with Apple for review after submission. There is no promised release date. An iPhone member can use Row HQ through the browser now and complete the same tasks. The App Store version will only be called available once Apple has approved and published it.

Review timing belongs to Apple, so predicting a day would create a deadline that Row HQ cannot control. Club officers can plan around what is certain today. Android members have a published app. iPhone members have full browser access. Both groups use the same club account, which means the committee does not have to postpone setup or maintain a temporary second process.

When an iPhone release does happen, existing members will not need their club to invite them again. Their Row HQ login and role already exist. Until then, adding the site to a normal browser routine covers practice, lineups, boats, notices, and payments. No club should tell athletes that Apple approval is guaranteed by a particular regatta or season.

How do I get my club on it?

Existing members can download Row HQ free on Google Play and enter their normal credentials. A club that has not joined should create its free Row HQ setup first, add the organization, and invite people whose accounts will work in Android and on the web.

Review the complete rowing club app before choosing the setup. The US pricing page explains how member bands are charged in dollars after the free entry level. Android does not change that structure. It gives authorized users a phone route into membership, equipment, practices, events, and payment records already held in Row HQ.

For a US program, the release is useful in both halves of the racing year. Fall lineups and spring practice changes can reach the phone without creating another roster. Dues remain attached to the correct athlete account in dollars. The club keeps one operating record, while Android members gain a quicker way to check it before heading to the shell house.