Using WordPress On Your iPhone or Android With The WordPress App

Need to use WordPress on the go? Learn how to create, publish, read,  share content, and access your site wherever you are using the WordPress Mobile App on Android and iPhone.

There’s no shortage of mobile usage statistics telling us that more people around the world are accessing information and working from their mobile devices. In fact, a quick glance at our own analytics says that at least one out of every ten people visiting our site is viewing our blog from a mobile device.

It’s a no-brainer, then, that if you work day in and day out with WordPress, you’ll want to be able to do things like add or edit content, view orders in your WordPress eCommerce store, reply to comments and more from your mobile phone or tablet.

In this tutorial, we’ll look at how to use the WordPress mobile app and compare using the app to accessing your WordPress site directly through your mobile web browser.

• The WordPress Mobile App for iPhone and Android
  • Stats
  • Publish
  • Configuration
  • External
• Additional App Features
• Why Use The WordPress Mobile App?

The WordPress Mobile App for iPhone and Android

The WordPress Mobile App is developed and maintained by Automattic (the company that owns WordPress) and can be downloaded for mobile devices running on Android and iOS.

The app for WordPress installs just like every other app. Depending on your device, download the app from Google Play or Apple Store. For this tutorial, I’ll use my Android phone to share some screenshots with you.

Once you’ve installed the app, you can add multiple sites from your WordPress.com account or a self-hosted WordPress site. Just select which type of site you would like to add and go through the setup screens to enter your site and login details.

The WordPress app interface features a simple and easy menu that lets you manage your website or blog ‘on the go’. Depending on the type of site you are working on (WordPress.com or self-hosted site), different menu items will display.

The main screen on the app’s home page is divided into the following sections:

Stats

You will need to install the Jetpack plugin (also developed by Automattic) to access the stats through the app. As you can see from our user’s forum, not everyone is happy to install Jetpack on their sites, so you may or may not want to do this. In fact, if you are looking for ways to beef up your site’s security, improve optimization, boost SEO, perform backups, and even set up uptime monitoring, we recommend becoming a WPMU DEV member and installing our comprehensive suite of plugins instead (you’ll get most of the functionality offered by Jetpack without having to type in frowny-face emojis when you need plugin support.)

Having said this, the WordPress app displays a number of useful stats including daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly views for posts, pages, and authors, visitor stats, number of likes and comments, referrers, clicks, countries, search terms, and additional insights.

Publish

This section of the app lets you view blog posts, media, pages, and comments. Once you’ve selected an option, you can then perform additional operations like view, edit, or delete posts and pages (including adding tags, categories, and featured images), reply to comments, edit, download and share media, and so on. The app keeps your site updated with any changes you make.

Configuration

Depending on whether you have installed the Jetpack plugin or not and are viewing a site from WordPress.com or your own self-hosted installation of WordPress, this section lets you configure different settings. With a self-hosted site, for example, you can configure basic general, writing, and discussion settings.

External

This section lets you view your site or log into your WordPress dashboard via a mobile browser. You can then work on your site just as you would if you had accessed your dashboard from a desktop or laptop computer.

Additional App Features

In addition to performing administrative tasks on your WordPress site, the WordPress app also lets you follow other sites hosted on the WordPress.com blogging community, set up social sharing buttons, automated sharing, and cross-posting on social media, view comments and notifications about how your site is performing, edit your profile, and configure other app settings.

Why Use The WordPress Mobile App?

Do you need to use the WordPress mobile app to work on your WordPress site while ‘on the go?’

No. Most WordPress themes are mobile responsive, so you can just log into your WordPress site directly from your mobile device using any mobile web browser like Google Chrome, Safari, etc. without going through the WordPress App.

In fact it’s a really nice experience!

However, as mentioned earlier, the WordPress mobile app provides a link to your WordPress site’s admin dashboard area via the ‘External’ section, so you can access your site’s dashboard from the app if you like, or log into your admin area directly via your web browser.

Also it’s super easy to switch sites you are managing using the app and it certainly provides a more ‘native’ experience – plus one that’s a bunch quicker if you’re on a slow internet connection.

Ultimately, it’s up to you. If you have the Jetpack plugin installed and want a quick and effective way to view stats or post content to your blog while moving about, working remotely, traveling to and from different locations and being on the go, then install the WordPress app and benefit from some of the convenience of a simpler interface and the features that Jetpack makes available. Otherwise, just log into your dashboard directly from your mobile device.  WordPress gives you the best of both worlds.

Have you downloaded the WordPress mobile app yet? How do you find using the app with WordPress? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.

Tags:

• WordPress mobile app
• mobile