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Now in Beta: No Extension Required for Desktop Sessions
Now in Beta: No Extension Required for Desktop Sessions

Introducing a nothing-to-install experience for your laptop & desktop participants – now in beta for Chrome and Edge

Tabanitha McDaniel avatar
Written by Tabanitha McDaniel
Updated over a week ago

Contents

  1. What is the Extension-free Beta for Desktop?

    1. Windows: how to join an Extension-free session

    2. Mac: how to join an Extension-free session

  2. Which Round types are supported?

  3. Which browsers are supported?

  4. How to turn it off?

  5. Troubleshooting

  6. How can Lookback make it better?

What is the Extension-free Beta for Desktop?

We know that installing a browser extension can be a serious hurdle for your participants, so Lookback has been hard at work on a way for them to join moderated and unmoderated sessions in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers just by following a link – nothing for them to download or install.

Windows: How to join an Extension-free session

Mac: how to join an Extension-free session

Which Round types are supported?

In-person moderated sessions are not yet supported; you'll need the Participate Chrome Extension to conduct in-person sessions on desktop.

For a face-to-face remote conversation with optional screensharing, our web-based Interview Round is still your best bet.

Which browsers are supported?

Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are supported for now; we expect to support more browsers in the future.

How can I try it?

How to enable Extension-free Beta for Desktop in the Round editor.

All new rounds will have the beta on by default. No need to do anything!

For already existing rounds, please do the following:

  1. Tick the "Extension-free Beta" option under Device requirements in the Round editor

  2. Save the Round

  3. Share the participant link as you normally would

That’s it! After opening the participant link in Chrome or Edge, your participants will go through an easy onboarding to quickly join a moderated or unmoderated session.

We recommend using a Preview session to understand the participant experience.

How to turn it off?

You can enable or disable the setting at any time, without having to regenerate or re-send the participant link. Any links you’ve already shared with your participants will automatically open the desired experience as soon as you save the Round.

Troubleshooting

Contents

  1. Screen sharing

  2. Microphone or camera not working

  3. "Find the other window" or the "Start session" button is disabled

  4. Windows: "Click the Restore Down button to continue"

  5. "The setup window is hidden"

  6. Mac: "To Continue"

  7. Mac: "Exit fullscreen to continue"

1. Screen sharing

2. Microphone or camera not working

3. "Find the other window" or the "Start session" button is disabled

  • This tool needs two browser windows visible on the screen at the same time.

  • Find the other window showing emoji and follow its instructions to continue setup:

    Animated gif showing how to find the main session window.

4. Windows: "Click the Restore Down button to continue"

  • The main browser window is in maximised mode.

    • This tool uses two browser windows visible on the screen at the same time

    • Use the Restore Down button to exit maximised mode and continue setup:

      Gif showing how to exit maximised mode on Windows: 1) click the "restore down" button in the upper right toolbar of the browser window. Drag to resize the browser window until it is side-by-side with the narrow browser window on the right of the screen.

5. "The setup window is hidden"

  • This tool uses two browser windows visible on the screen at the same time

  • If the narrow setup window is minimised or collapsed, re-open it from the Windows Taskbar or Mac Dock to continue setup

6. Mac: "To continue"

  • The main browser window is in full screen mode

    • This tool uses two browser windows visible on the screen at the same time. To continue setup:

      1. Hover your mouse over the upper-left corner of your browser and click the green circle to exit full screen

      2. Close the "To continue" tab

      3. Continue setup

        Gif showing how to exit full screen mode on a Mac. 1) Hover over top left corner of browser window until green circle appears; 2) Click the green circle to exit full screen; 3) close the "To continue" tab; 4) on the "Welcome to your research session" screen, click the "Open setup window" button to continue setup.

7. Mac: "Exit fullscreen to continue"

  • The narrow setup browser window is in full screen mode

    • This tool uses two browser windows visible on the screen at the same time. To continue setup

      1. Hover your mouse over the upper-left corner of your browser and click the green circle to exit full screen

      2. Continue setup

How can Lookback make it better?

We're eager to hear about your participants’ experience to help us iterate to the best possible experience for you and your participants. Start a conversation with us using the chat bubble on the right to share your feedback 🤓

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