Participants use Equip: Independence to see their own schedule, routines, goals, documents, notes, announcements and Equip Card, check in with their mood, message their groups and look up contacts. Team members use it to work from a participant's record in the field: fill forms, take assessments, write notes, upload documents, log goal progress, build routines, send announcements and manage their own schedule. Equip only shows a tool when your organization has it switched on and your role is allowed to use it, so two people in the same account can see different things.
Participants are labelled Clients, Students, Residents or Explorers in the app depending on your account type. This article says participant throughout.
Who can do this, and where
This article describes the new Equip: Independence app with the green background. Your organization must have the new app switched on before anyone can sign in. If it is not, the app tells you so at sign-in and you keep using the older Companion app.
Participants and team members get two different apps inside one download. Equip chooses which one you see from your role the moment you sign in. A participant never sees team screens.
Team members see only the modules their role can open. Inside a participant's record, Equip checks the role's participant-level access for that module, which is how most Supporter roles work even when they cannot open the same module from the More menu. Administrators see everything the account has turned on.
Some tools depend on a feature your organization has enabled with Equip: Groups and Directory for the tabs, plus Goal Tracking, Pathways, Employment Tracking, Forms, Assessments, Mood Navigator and Calendar Subscriptions for the modules they gate.
What participants can do
The participant app has five tabs: Home, Schedule, Messages, Contacts and Profile. Messages only appears when your organization has Groups enabled, and Contacts only when it has the Directory enabled.
Home. A greeting, today's weather with a What to wear prompt, unread announcements, the next event and routine, the mood check-in when Mood Navigator is on, a grid of modules, and the Equip Card button.
Schedule. Your own events by month, week or list, with a filter. Tap + to add a personal event with a title, date and times, all-day switch, description, location, reminder and repeat. You can edit or delete events you created. Tap the compass to Explore events your organization opened for self-registration and add yourself to one occurrence or the whole series. If an event requires approval to leave, the app sends a cancellation request to staff instead of removing you. When an event allows it, check in and check out from the event screen.
Routines. Create your own personal routines, add steps by hand or generate them with AI, edit and delete them. Run a routine step by step in the walkthrough or as a checklist, watch any guidance video or images attached to a step, add a photo when a routine asks for proof, and leave a comment on the session. You cannot share a routine with anyone else.
Goals. You only see a goal once a team member has marked it Collaborating on the web. On a goal, open each milestone and tap Log progress to answer the milestone questions and add notes. The goal keeps a history of every update. Needs Goal Tracking.
Pathways. When you are enrolled in a pathway, a tile appears on Home and you can open it to see your steps and progress. Pathways are read-only in the app.
Mood. Pick how you feel, then choose a coping strategy. A coping plan opens on its own screen with a Listen button that reads it aloud. Past check-ins are listed by day. Mood Navigator must be on for your organization and for you individually.
Notes. Read notes your team has shared with you, filter by New and Favorites, and star the ones you want to keep handy. Tap + to write a private note to yourself, which you can edit or delete later.
Documents. Open, download and favorite documents shared with you. Tap Upload to add your own documents to your record.
Assessments. Review your completed assessment responses and scores for any assessment where your organization turned on Show Responses to participants. You cannot start or fill in an assessment from the app.
Announcements. Read announcements sent to you. Opening one marks it read and clears the badge on Home.
Equip Card. Your name and photo, date of birth and age, diagnoses, guardianship, address, a Please read message you can edit in the card's settings, your emergency contacts with tap-to-call, and documents pinned to the card. You choose which of your documents are pinned. The card is saved on the device so it opens without a connection.
Contacts. Everyone active on your account with their name, role, title, email, phone and about text. Tap a person to call, text or email them, or save them to your phone's address book. A phone number is hidden when that person has asked to hide it (see below).
Messages. The groups you belong to. Send text and photos, react to messages, and delete your own messages. You cannot browse other groups, create a group, or add yourself to one; a team member manages membership.
Profile. Your contact, emergency, personal and enrollment details as your organization recorded them. Edit Profile changes your name, about text and photo. Other details are changed by your team on the web.
What team members can do
The team app has five tabs: Home, People, a middle tab you choose, More and Profile. The middle tab defaults to Messages and can be set under Settings to Schedule, Announcements, Forms, Assessments, Categories or Groups, from whichever of those you can access.
Home. Today's schedule, quick actions for Fill form, Take assessment, Send announcement and Create event (each shown only with the matching create permission), and a Favorites widget for the forms and assessments you have starred.
People. Search participants in your caseload and open their profile. The profile shows their supporters, their current mood when you have Mood access, their next event, active pathways, pinned documents and emergency contacts, then a grid of sections. Each section appears only when your role has participant-level access to that module.
Overview of profile fields, plus Edit to change the name, phone, preferred name, pronouns and custom fields. Date of birth, sex, race, ethnicity and ID numbers are read-only in the app.
Schedule. The participant's events. + opens the event form; add the participant as a guest so it lands on their schedule.
Employment. Their employment records, read-only. Needs Employment Tracking.
Goals. Their goals with Log progress, and a switch to share a goal with the participant (Collaborating). Goals themselves are created on the web.
Pathways. Their enrollments and step progress, read-only.
Routines. Create a routine for the participant, add steps by hand or generate them with AI, attach images, and Share it with more participants. Editing and deleting follow your Routine permission; a routine you cannot edit opens read-only.
Notes. Write, edit and delete notes on the participant's record.
Documents. Upload one or more files as a document, open and download existing ones, and pin documents to the participant's Equip Card.
Forms. Fill a custom form for the participant and review submitted responses. PDF forms open your organization's web fill page inside the app.
Assessments. Take an assessment for the participant and review their completed responses and scores.
Groups. See and change which groups the participant belongs to.
Schedule. Your own calendar. When you create an event you can add Guests, chosen from anyone in your scope or from a whole group, so the event lands on their schedule too. You can edit and delete events you created, and Explore events that are open for team-member registration.
Messages. Group chats. Administrators and full-scope supporters see every group in the account; designated supporters see their own groups and those of the participants they support; everyone else sees only chat-enabled groups they belong to. Group leaders and full-scope supporters can also delete other members' messages.
Manage Groups. Create, edit and delete groups, set members and leaders, and switch chat on or off. Needs the Group create permission.
Announcements. Send an announcement to chosen people or whole groups. It goes out immediately; scheduling an announcement for later, and attaching files, are web-only.
Forms and Assessments from the More menu list every published form and assessment, let you star favorites, and resume a draft the app saved while you were filling one in.
Manage Categories. Add, rename, recolor and delete your account's categories. Needs the Account edit permission.
Profile. Edit your name, about text and photo, and set your Office Hours by day and time range.
Settings for everyone
Open Settings from the avatar on Home or the gear on Profile.
App Lock with Face ID, fingerprint or the device passcode, if the device has one set up.
Event reminders and Routine reminders switches, plus a link to the phone's notification settings.
Subscribe to calendar to add your Equip events to Apple Calendar or Google Calendar. Only shown when your organization has Calendar Subscriptions enabled.
Language (English or Spanish), light or dark Appearance, a high-contrast color option, an alternate app icon and haptics.
Replay tutorial to rerun the Home screen tour, Check for updates, and Sign out.
Hiding a phone number
A team member's or participant's phone number can be hidden from participants in the Contacts tab. Team members always see phone numbers. The switch lives on the web, not in the app: an administrator opens the person's page and chooses Mobile, then Hide Phone Number. It only takes effect when the account's Settings, then Mobile page allows that group to hide numbers. Out of the box, team members' numbers are hidden from participants and participants' numbers are shown.
Not in the mobile app
Logging time, invoicing, reports and exports.
Creating goals, pathways, forms or assessments, or editing a participant's date of birth and demographics.
Participants filling in forms or assessments. A team member takes an assessment with them, or they use the web.
Scheduling an announcement for later, or attaching files to one.
Inviting new users.
Sharing a routine as a participant, or a participant joining a group on their own.
If you are still on the Companion app
The older Equip: Independence Companion app keeps working until January 1, 2027. It differs in a few places: the Hide phone number switch is inside its Settings screen rather than on the web, and it has no Pathways, Employment, Manage Groups or Manage Categories screens.
FAQ
Can a participant add their own events to the schedule?
Yes. On the Schedule tab, tap the plus button to create a personal event with a date, time, location, reminder and repeat. Participants cannot add other people to an event; only team members can add guests.
Can a team member create an event for a participant from the app?
Yes. Create the event from your Schedule or from the participant's Schedule section, then add the participant under Guests before saving. Guests can be individual people or a whole group, and each guest gets the event on their own schedule.
Why can't my participant see their goal in the app?
A participant only sees goals marked Collaborating. Open the goal on the web, switch on Collaborating, and it appears in their Goals list where they can log progress. Goal Tracking must also be enabled for the account.
Can participants take an assessment on their phone?
No. The app lists a participant's completed responses when the assessment's Show Responses setting is on, but a new assessment has to be taken by a team member in the app or on the web.
Why is the Messages or Contacts tab missing for a participant?
Messages needs the Groups feature and Contacts needs the Directory feature, both enabled by Equip for your account. Ask us to turn them on. A participant also needs to be a member of at least one chat-enabled group to have anything to read.
Why doesn't a participant see the mood check-in?
Mood Navigator has to be enabled for the account and for that participant individually. Both are set on the web; the app shows the check-in on Home only when both are on.
Can a participant share a routine with a friend?
No. Participants create routines for themselves only. Team members create routines on a participant's record and can share one with several participants at once.
Can I hide my phone number from the app?
Ask an administrator to open your page on the web, choose Mobile, and switch on Hide Phone Number. Your number is then hidden from participants in Contacts, but team members can still see it.
Related
Equip: Independence for Participants
Equip: Independence for Team Members
Participant access in the Equip mobile app
Team member access in the Equip mobile app
Mobile app setup and device permissions
Downloading the correct Equip mobile app
Equip: Independence sign-in troubleshooting
Moving from Equip: Independence Companion to the new Equip app
Independence Companion Video Walkthrough (Participant View)