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Introducing the Dynamics 365 Business Central Mobile App

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The app displaying the Business Central tablet client and Business Central phone client is targeted at users in small and medium sized businesses that want to access data from a tablet or a phone. The main advantages of this offering are portability and flexibility, which allows end users to perform tasks when they are away from their desk. Having a Dynamics 365 Business Central solution that runs on a smaller device also brings it in the hands of many more users and your app is easy to distribute.

Important

The Business Central tablet client and Business Central phone client do not replace the Business Central Web client. Instead, they offer a touch interface for a limited set of application scenarios compared to the Business Central Web client.

The Business Central Web client supports more complex business processes and heavier data entry than it is possible on the Business Central tablet client and Business Central phone client. Business Central is also designed for intensive use, and the user can have multiple windows open at the same time, but this is neither possible in Business Central phone client or Business Central tablet client. For more information, see Differences and Limitations When Developing Pages for the Business Central Mobile App.

The design for the Business Central tablet client is optimized for the touch experience and reduced use of the on-screen keyboard. On the other hand, the design for the Business Central phone client is about touch optimization, given its smaller screen size. The Business Central phone client layout is designed to support one-hand and both hands use, which allows the important data and buttons to be available within thumbs reach.

Note

In this documentation, you will see mentions of Business Central tablet client, Business Central phone client, and Dynamics 365 Business Central Mobile App. Business Central tablet client and Business Central phone client describe the interface tailored to the category of mobile device, which is one of the tools available for developers for designing mobile solutions, whereas Dynamics 365 Business Central Mobile App is the common name for the app across all devices; the end result made with these tools.

Considering the user scenarios

When you design your solution for the Business Central tablet client and the Business Central phone client, you must make sure that scenarios are simple enough to be meaningful and usable. The tablet and phone designs are meant for lighter tasks and are useful, for example, for traveling salespeople or service technicians who need a portable, online, easy-to-use app that provides an overview, for example, of daily tasks and items in stock.

Depending on the scenarios that your tablet and phone solution will support, it will either make sense to create a new Role Center for tablet and phone only, or share the same Role Center across all of the client types. In some cases, it can make sense to have a user sign in with two different profiles, one for a desktop client and one for mobile devices. In other cases, duplicating pages and designing specific duplicates to be device-oriented is the best solution.

If you have existing page objects that you want to make available on Business Central tablet client or Business Central phone client, we strongly recommend that you plan time to evaluate carefully which actions, sections, and fields will be needed for the user scenarios you want to enable. Fields and actions that are not needed should not be visible to users of your app. The UI must be simplified significantly to work well on a small device. For more information, see Designing for Different Screen Sizes on Tablet and Phone.

Supported credential types

Business Central tablet client and Business Central phone client support the same credential types as Business Central Web client. For more information, see Authentication and Credential Types.

Getting Started Developing for the Dynamics 365 Business Central Mobile App
Differences and Limitations When Developing Pages for the Dynamics 365 Business Central Mobile App