Mobile apps for crews away from a desk
Job cards, proof of delivery, meter readings and stock counts captured on a phone with no signal, then synced when it returns.
- Offline
- Capture continues with no signal, and the sync queue is visible to the user
- First usable increment
- Two to five weeks after the specification
- Distribution
- Browser app first; store apps under your own developer accounts
- Location
- Recorded at the task events agreed at specification
- Coverage
- Remote work anywhere; on site across Saudi Arabia when the job needs it
A field app replaces the paper job card, not the office system. It captures one task on a phone, offline, with the photograph, the time and the signature attached, then syncs when there is signal. The design test is simple: a crew member wearing gloves has to finish the task faster than on paper.
- 01 Enquiry
- 02 Systems audit
- 03 Specification
- 04 Build
- 05 Pilot
- 06 Deploy
- 07 Handover
- 08 Support
Mobile apps for crews away from a desk sits at step 4 of the build cycle. You receive a working increment you can use.
Paper wins on site, for good reasons
A paper job card needs no charger and no login, and it works in a basement plant room.
Crews are not being stubborn when they prefer it. The cost of paper arrives later and lands on somebody else: the coordinator who retypes forty cards on a Thursday, the card lost in a van, the customer who disputes a delivery nobody can prove.
So the app has to beat paper at the moment of work, not in the office. That means large targets, the fewest possible fields, defaults taken from the job, and a camera button where the thumb already is. If it is slower than paper, it gets filled in at the end of the shift from memory, and you have paid for a slower notebook.
Browser app or store app
We start most projects as a browser app installed to the home screen, and move to a store app when a specific need appears.
| Need | Browser app | Store app (iOS and Android) |
|---|---|---|
| Works with no signal | Yes, within the phone's storage limits | Yes |
| Camera and barcode scanning | Yes | Yes |
| Reliable upload in the background | Limited | Yes |
| Getting it onto phones | Share a link | Store review, under your developer account |
| Managed company devices | Works | Works, and can be pushed by device management |
| Changes after launch | Live on next open | Most changes need a store update |
What you hold at handover
The app
Running in the browser, plus store builds under your own developer accounts where the work needs them.
The device setup guide
How a phone is set up, signed in and handed to the next crew member, written for your administrator.
The sync design note
What happens when two people edit the same job offline, and which version wins. Decided before the build, not discovered after it.
The data model document
Every record, field and state the app writes, so the office system and any future platform read it the same way.
The test record
Including a no-signal test on your worst site, with the queue shown filling up and emptying.
The runbook
What to do when a phone has not synced for a day, when a photograph is stuck in the queue, and when a crew member changes phone.
One task, from the phone to a person
The app captures the work. Each decision that follows is handed to a named person, and the record shows who made it.
- 01
The task arrives filled
Site, asset and checklist come from the job, so the crew confirms rather than types.
- 02
Capture at the point
Time on and off, parts used, counts and a photograph taken in the app. Location is recorded at the events agreed in the specification, such as arriving on site, and the crew is told which ones.
- 03
The customer signs
The receiver's name and signature go on the phone at handover. The acceptance is the customer's own, recorded with the time.
- 04
The queue syncs
With no signal, everything waits on the device in a queue the crew can see. When the signal returns, it uploads.
- 05
A person acts on it
A supervisor approves each timesheet before it goes near payroll. A reading outside the range you set goes to the named person who decides what it means.
A materials supplier's delivery notes
A building materials supplier in Dammam delivers to construction sites in Jubail and Khobar, and short-delivery disputes are settled by argument.
The paper delivery note is signed in a hurry, and the office copy comes back days later, if at all. The specification covers one record, the delivery, and one rule: a line can only be marked short or damaged with a reason and a photograph.
Increment one is a browser app that shows the driver the day's drops and captures the signature. Increment two adds the per-line count and the photograph rule. Increment three puts the completed delivery record in front of the invoicing clerk before the invoice is raised.
The pilot runs two weeks with two drivers, including the route with no signal. The supplier holds the app, the delivery records in an exportable form, the data model document and a runbook covering what to do when a phone has not synced for a day.
Four jobs these apps usually do
The task arrives with the job already filled
The crew records time on and off, parts used, a closing photograph and the customer's sign-off. Site, asset and checklist come from the job, so nobody types an address in a car park.
- Time on and off from the device clock
- Parts picked from your list rather than typed
- Closing photograph and customer sign-off on the same record
The receiver signs for what actually arrived
A photograph of the offloaded goods, a count per line, the receiver's name and signature and the time. A short or damaged line needs a reason and a photograph before it saves.
- Count per line against the delivery note
- Reason and photograph on every short or damaged line
- The record reaches invoicing before the invoice is raised
Meters, gauges and temperatures against a tagged asset
Each reading is entered against a tagged asset with a photograph of the dial. A reading outside the range you set raises a flag for a person to look at.
- A QR tag on the asset, so the reading lands on the right one
- A photograph of the dial beside the number
- Out-of-range readings flagged to a named person
Counted against expected, location by location
A barcode or QR scan per location, the counted quantity against the expected one, and the differences listed for a supervisor before anything posts.
- Scan per location, count per item
- Differences listed side by side with the expected quantity
- A supervisor releases the count before it posts
Questions from operations managers
Does it run on both iPhone and Android?
Yes. A browser app runs on both from one build. Store apps are published for both, under developer accounts in your company's name so that you control them.
Our crews use personal phones. What does that change?
The sign-in design, mainly. A personal phone can remember who is holding it. A shared tablet on a site has to ask, so each task starts with a quick personal sign-in and the device keeps no one's data between shifts. Location is recorded at the events you agree in the specification, and the crew is told which ones. Tell us which kind of device at specification, because changing it later means rebuilding the sign-in.
What happens if two people edit the same job offline?
The sync design note decides it before the build. Usually the later field edit wins for notes, and both versions are kept for anything signed, with the conflict shown to a supervisor.
When do we need a store app?
When uploads have to finish in the background, when devices are pushed by device management, or when the task is rare. A phone can clear a browser app's stored data if the app goes unused for long enough. For a crew using it daily that is a non-issue. For a monthly task it can bite, and that is a reason to move to a store app.
How long does store approval take?
Apple and Google set that, and it varies. Starting as a browser app means your crews are not waiting on a review queue to begin the pilot.
What drives the cost?
The number of task types, whether offline editing of shared records is needed, the number of systems the app writes into, and whether store apps are required at launch.
Often the same project
Audit and inspection apps
Checklists and findings captured on site, with the report assembled from them.
Read moreDigitalInternal tools and portals
The office side the field records land in, built around the same data model.
Read moreDigitalNetwork management
The site network and wifi the queue syncs over once a crew is back in range.
Read morePart of one system
Every division keeps records to the same standard, so the second one you need works the way the first one did.
Bring the paper card your crews use
Bring a completed job card or delivery note, creases and all. The systems audit starts from what the crew fills in today and the site where the signal is worst.