OverviewOffline Mobile is an app that enables people to capture structured information when they are on-the-go, even without internet access at the time. A classic use case is where someone is working remotely or in a 'reception blackspot' and needs to capture, for example, details of an incident or investigation. With Offline Mobile your users can:
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How it works
Create a new Form (or use an existing Form) that should be available to people on-the-go. Add the Form to the tenant's Offline Profiles (Administration > Settings > Offline Profiles) and send your Users the link provided.
[Image of Admin Screen - Offline Profiles]
The link provided by Offline Profiles will take your users to the Offline Mobile App for your Tenant. Access to the App requires a User Account, and once authenticated, Users will see the Forms that are available to them (as determined by the Security Rules for their role). Users are also prompted to add Offline Mobile to their device home screen (recommended for performance & accessibility).
Users 'enable' the Forms they need and download them to their device; Forms can also be enabled by force via the Offline Profiles page. Once downloaded the Forms can be accessed from the App's 'home' screen.
On the home screen tapping a Form opens it for data capture, to created a draft Record. Closing a draft record (Form) moves it to the 'Uploads' screen. Draft records can be reopened at any time for further editing (unless they have been deleted or already uploaded by the User).
Forms on the uploads screen can be opened for review or edit; or they can be deleted. Forms that are 'complete' can also be synchronised to your tenant (if an internet connection is available).
Administration
Offline Profiles
An offline profile is a collection of Forms that share common settings, specifically:
- whether the profile is enabled or disabled
- whether users can turn a Form Off or not
Security Considerations
Offline Mobile respects the Security Rules for your tenant. If a User Role does not have permission to access the Form on your tenant they will be able to access the Form on their Device (it won't be listed as an available Form).
Offline Mobile does NOT allow users to download any Records. Once a record has been uploaded it will no longer be accessible using Offline Mobile.
In the context of the Offline Mobile app, logging in enables the logged in user to check for and download Forms for Offline use and to upload completed records. Since the application is intended for Offline use, logging in is not required to create, view and edit draft records.
The app supports both Single Sign On (SSO) as well as native authentication (i.e. UserName & Password). To use Offline Mobile without a network connected the user must have already logged into the App and downloaded the forms required for offline use, this requires an internet connection.
Form Design Considerations
What is supported:
- Mandatory Fields
- Image upload
- Show Hide Rules
- Lookups and Relationships (Pickers)
Best Practices
- keep form names short
- forms should be uniquely identifiable from the start of their name
- test forms