Guides
Do Patients Need an App for Their Home Exercise Program?
Direct answer
Not always. Physitrack documents browser access to PhysiApp, and SimpleSet describes viewing exercises in its Client Portal before installing the app. But "no app" does not mean "no login" or "the same features." For a clinic comparing home exercise program (HEP) software, the useful question is what patients can open through each route.
Compare the route, not the app-store listing
Imagine a software demo at your clinic. This is a hypothetical example, not a patient story.
The salesperson shows the exercise library on a laptop. You ask how a patient opens a program without installing anything. They show a link.
That answers the installation question. It leaves several others open. Does the link ask for a code? Does it open the usual patient portal, meaning the website where patients view their program? Or does it open a separate video-viewing page?
You also change an exercise description during the demo. Before moving on, you want to see that exact wording through the patient's link.
The distinction matters because one vendor can offer more than one browser route. Those routes need not display the same content.
Three documented routes, two different products
This comparison uses vendor support articles checked on September 22, 2026. It describes documented behavior, not a full product test or a ranking.
| Patient route | What the documentation says |
|---|---|
| Regular PhysiApp in a browser | Patients can use a computer or mobile browser. Manual access uses a program code and birth year. An installed app is not required for this route. |
| PhysiApp EasyLink | A practitioner enables this separate option. Patients follow the email link or scan the code on their printout without installing an app or logging in. Important content and interaction limits apply. |
| SimpleSet Client Portal | Patients follow an emailed link, then enter their birth year or the four-digit portal key supplied by their clinician. The guide describes viewing exercises before installing the app. |
Sources: PhysiApp access instructions, PhysiApp browser requirements, EasyLink documentation, and SimpleSet's Client Portal guide.
SimpleSet's guide says registration overrides the provider's initial account information. The initially assigned four-digit password no longer works afterward.
Its Android instructions describe Chrome's "Add to Home Screen" option. That is another reason to ask what a vendor means by "install the app."
No app and no login are different promises
Regular PhysiApp already has a browser option. EasyLink is not the only way to use PhysiApp without an installed app.
The difference is what EasyLink removes and what it leaves out.
According to Physitrack's EasyLink guide, patients do not log in. However, EasyLink does not support custom uploaded content. Edits to exercise titles or descriptions are not reflected in EasyLink.
The patient access guide also says patients cannot give feedback or send practitioner messages through EasyLink.
Those are product limits, not a verdict that one route is better. They mean a demo should show the exact route under consideration. Opening the usual browser portal does not establish what an EasyLink recipient will see.
This comparison does not assess which route is appropriate for an individual patient's care.
Check reminders and program switching separately
A browser option does not establish that every app feature works the same way.
For example, PhysiApp's reminder instructions describe web reminders arriving by email. That is a specific delivery method, not a promise of identical reminders across devices.
Program switching is another separate question. PhysiApp's multiple-program guide distinguishes programs sharing one code from programs with different codes.
Programs sharing a code should appear after login, subject to their start dates. For different codes, the guide says patients must log out of one program and into the other.
Do not turn that into a universal rule for HEP software. Ask each vendor to demonstrate its own behavior.
A worksheet for your next software demo
Here is our suggested comparison method. Use the vendor's demonstration program, not a real patient's record.
| Ask the vendor to show you | Record what you actually see |
|---|---|
| Open the patient link in a browser with no app installed | The address, the page that opens, and the information requested before viewing |
| Show the ordinary portal and any separate no-login option | Which route each invitation or printed code opens |
| Change a sample exercise title or description | Whether the same words appear through each route being compared |
| Show the reminder settings for that route | Where the reminder is delivered, rather than an assumed app notification |
| Open two demonstration programs, if your comparison needs that | Whether switching requires another code, another login, or neither |
Keep the result specific. "Browser access shown with a program code" is more useful than "works on phones."
If a feature was not demonstrated, record "not verified." That is different from saying the product does not support it.
What this comparison does not establish
These sources explain access steps and selected product limits. They do not establish better exercise completion, recovery, or fewer support calls.
We have not tested every account setting, device, or regional version. The SimpleSet guide did not display an update date when checked. Recheck vendor instructions before relying on them for a new rollout.
Nor does browser access prove offline access, equivalent language support, or identical behavior across products.
The buying question is narrower: can the vendor show the exact patient route your clinic wants to evaluate, including its limits?
You can explore HepBuddy's product overview separately. This article is not a head-to-head ranking of HepBuddy against these products. More clinic-focused articles are in our Guides.