ios beta
Olympiads on iPhone and iPad
Olympiads for iOS runs on iOS and iPadOS 18 or later. It is in closed testing through TestFlight and reaches the App Store after review; there is no public listing yet.
What it does
Everything the desktop app does, on the device in your pocket: sign in once, add exams, sit them under supervision with the front camera, and keep results and certificates. It is designed for an iPad in landscape first — that is the exam-day device — and adapts to an iPhone.
Two things the app does not do on purpose. It never asks for the microphone: nothing in an exam records sound. And it does not take payment for an exam; an unpaid exam shows Payment pending until the payment has been recorded elsewhere.
Permissions
The app asks for each of these the first time it needs it, never in the middle of an exam. All of them can be changed later in Settings → Olympiads.
| When | What iOS shows | |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | at the readiness check before your first exam | Olympiads records your camera while you take an exam, so your result can be verified. Recording starts when the exam starts and stops when you submit it. |
| Screen recording | when the screen source starts, the first time | iOS's own prompt. The app records its own screen only, not the whole device. |
| Notifications | once, optionally | Exam reminders, results and announcements. Declining changes nothing about the exam. |
If you decline the camera, the readiness check offers Use my phone instead — another phone can fill that camera position.
During the exam
Before you start, the console says what is about to happen: Your cameras and screen record for the whole exam. Once it begins it cannot be paused. Leaving the app is recorded.
- Leaving the app is recorded, not blocked. Going to the home screen or another app is logged, with how long you were away. A phone call or a notification banner does not count as leaving and does not end the exam. If a call takes the camera, the camera comes back on its own when the call ends.
- Apple's Assessment Mode is built into the app. Where Apple makes it available to the app, it closes other apps and turns off screenshots, copy and paste and notifications for the length of the exam; the app lists exactly what will change before it starts: Other apps are closed and cannot be opened · Screenshots and screen recording are turned off · Copy, paste, autocorrect and spell check are turned off · Notifications are hidden. Whether it is on for your exam depends on Apple's approval, which is still outstanding; when it is off, the app says so and the exam runs on recording alone.
- A source that stops shows a banner in the room — Front camera is no longer being recorded. — with Turn it back on. The other sources keep going.
- Only one device at a time. If the exam is opened elsewhere: This exam is open on another device. Only one device can sit an exam at a time. Continue here and the other one stops.
- Five minutes left. Your answers are saved. Every answer is sent as you give it; essays are saved to the device on every keystroke and to the server on Save.
Handing in reads Handing in your exam… Closing your recordings first. Do not leave the app. Then: Your answers and your recording reached us. Results are published once every paper in the session has been marked; you get a notification and an email.
Your phone as a second camera
If you sit the exam on a computer or an iPad, a phone can join as an extra camera. On the device sitting the exam, the readiness check offers Use my phone instead for a camera it cannot fill, or Pair your phone. That screen shows a square code and an 8-character code under it (or type this on your phone). The typed code expires after a few minutes and works once; the app tells you when it has expired and offers a new one.
On the phone:
- Scan the square code with the phone's camera. If Olympiads is installed it opens straight into the camera; if not, the link opens a web page that does the same job.
- Or open Olympiads, choose Join as a camera (under Exam day in the menu) and type the code.
- Prop the phone where it can see your desk and your hands. It says Connected. This phone is now recording. on the exam device.
Keep the phone plugged in. A camera that dies halfway through is the same as one that never started, and you will not find out until after the exam.
Trouble?
- "This camera is in use by another app." Close the other app (FaceTime, a video call) and press Try again.
- "No camera is available on this device." Use another phone for that position: Use my phone instead.
- "Screen recording never started. iOS asks permission the first time — allow it, then try again." Allow it in the prompt. If you dismissed it, restart the source with Try again.
- "This exam is run by
. Connect your account there and come back — your cameras stay set up." Some exams run on a partner's site. Link the account on your olympiad's website first, then return to the app. - "Payment pending — This exam opens once your payment has been recorded." Pay on your olympiad's website; the exam opens on its own once the payment is recorded.