Introducing the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet Client

Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client is targeted at users in small and medium sized businesses that want to access data from a tablet. Some of the advantages of offering tablet solutions are portability and flexibility, when the user is away from the desk, on the train etc.

The tablet is lighter than a laptop, and thereby provides portability. Most tablets have an on-screen keyboard, but the keyboard plays a less central role on the tablet, and this forces you to have to consider the touch experience.

Having a Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution that runs on a tablet brings it in the hands of many more users and your app is easy to distribute. Other advantages are that using a tablet, you can capture data closer to the source, for example, at the customer site, and thereby improve accuracy and reduce end-to-end time.

The following illustration shows the intended use of the various Microsoft Dynamics NAV clients.

As illustrated, the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client does not replace Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client or Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client. Rather, Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client offers a touch interface for a limited set of application scenarios compared to Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client and Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client. Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client and Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client support more complex business processes and heavier data entry than is possible on Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client is optimized for intensive use, and the user can have multiple windows open simultaneously, for example, to compare sales orders, or do more things at a time. This is not possible in either Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client, or Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client.

In the following documentation, you will see mentions of Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client and of Microsoft Dynamics NAV for tablets. Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client describes the developer tools for designing solutions, whereas Microsoft Dynamics NAV for tablets is the common name for all of the app store versions of Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

Considering the User Scenarios

When you design your solution for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client, you must ensure that scenarios are simple enough to be meaningful and usable on a tablet. The tablet design is meant for lighter tasks and is 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 solution will support, it will either make sense to create a new Role Center for tablet only, or share the same Role Center across Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client, Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client, and Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client. 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 tablet. In other cases, duplicating pages and designing one specific duplicate to be tablet-oriented is the right solution.

If you have existing page objects that you want to make available on Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client, we strongly recommend that you plan time to evaluate carefully which actions, sections, and fields are going to be needed for the user scenarios you want to enable on Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client. Fields and actions that are not needed should not be visible to users of your Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client.

Supported Credential Types

Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet client supports the same credential types as on Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows client and Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web client. For more information, see Users and Credential Types.

See Also

Concepts

Developing for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet Client
Getting Started Developing for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet Client
Differences and Limitations When Developing Pages for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Tablet Client