Device
See how to configure the Properties, Preferences, Plugins and more in the Device tab of your Mobile Client
Properties
In the Properties you add configuration specific for the mobile client. Some properties are general for all device types, some specific for each platform.
App ID
Your mobile client must have a unique ID, so that it can be distributed and installed without conflicts with existing mobile clients.. Should follow the reverse domain name notation,
com.company.app.Download all apps from server after login
If your mobile client will be used mostly in offline mode, it can be a good idea to download all the applications open login. So that they are ready to use the first time they are launched, even without Internet connection. You need to add functionality to your mobile client to initialize all the data the users need if you plan to use this approach.
Export all apps into ZIP file
To take the above approach further, you can export all applications into a .zip file. This option is useful when your mobile client primarily operates offline. By adding tilegroups to the mobile client that contain tiles with attached actions, you can direct the attached event to a Neptune application.
Ordinarily, these applications are fetched online and rendered on the device, which is a significant benefit of the Neptune DXP - SAP Edition. Whenever an application change is transported to the production system, it is immediately updated on the mobile device.
However, by exporting all Neptune applications into the .zip file, the applications will not be updated automatically when changes are made in the SAP system. The advantage of exporting the applications is that they will be available without requiring an internet connection.
Device Preferences
When constructing mobile clients, the target platform is Cordova. The Preferences section provides control over the Cordova build settings.
- Device Orientation
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Possible to lock device orientation.
- Full screen Mode
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Run applications in fullscreen on the device.
- Content Loading Splash Screen
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Your mobile client will use a static splash screen image when the mobile client loads. The Content loading splash screen is used inside the mobile client whenever a heavy load is done. Like unlocking the device. You can use the splash screen in your own coding.
neptune.Splash.show();Read more at Splash Screen
iOS
- Target a Specific Device
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Select Device if you have specific device requirement, Universal is the default setup.
- Prerender Icon
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Prevents iOS from applying its default gloss effect to the app’s home screen icon.
- Detect Data Type
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Controls whether text patterns such as phone numbers and dates are automatically converted into links handled by various iOS services.
- Exit on Suspend
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Exit on suspend
Android
- Install Location
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Install location
- Target SDK Version
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Target the SDK Version
- Minimum SDK Version
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An integer designating the minimum API Level required for the application to run. The Android system will prevent the user from installing the application if the system’s API Level is lower than the value specified in this attribute. You should always declare this attribute. Click here for available Android SDK versions.
- Maximum SDK Version
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An integer designating the maximum API Level on which the application is designed to run.
- Window Soft Input Mode
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Android has the so-called Input Method Framework to support different input methods, e.g. keyboard, soft keyboard, handwriting etc. If the soft-keyboard is used it is displayed at the bottom of the screen once the user selects a textview to edit it.
- Send device UDID to SAP (log & auth check)
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Each mobile client will get a new UUID each time the mobile client is installed on a device. The UDID on the other hand is device specific and will never change. Apple does not allow the app developer to collect the UDID, but on Android you can.
Media
To ensure optimal functionality, your mobile client should contain a variety of graphics. It is important to include a variety of icons and splash screens for each platform for which you are building. Icons will be added to the device’s home screen and will be used to launch your mobile client. A mobile client splash screen is a static image that will be displayed while the mobile client loads. It is important not to confuse the mobile client’s static splash screen with the content loading splash screen used inside the mobile client.
You create dedicated media packs that can be used in multiple mobile clients. A media pack includes all the icons and splash screens you need for a mobile client targeting Android, iOS & Windows. Read more about how to create a Media Pack
Plugins
When you build a mobile client, Neptune adds all the plugins you need as a minimum, you only need to add plugins if you have special needs.
- Add Plugin
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Add new plugin to the list. You’ll find all the plugins you need on the Cordova Plugin Page
- Library
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Neptune has collected a set of most used plugins, choose the ones you need from the list
Push Notification
Push notifications let your application notify a user of new messages or events even when the user is not actively using an application. When a device that is configured to receive push notifications receives a push notification, your application’s icon and a message appear in the status bar.
Config.xml
When you build your mobile client, Neptune creates a config.xml document with all the configuration and preferences you added. The config.xml document is used as a basis when building with Cordova and the Neptune Mobile Build Service.
| You can add additional lines to the config.xml document, for instance extra plugins, or you can choose to replace the entire config.xml document. |
MDM
| These settings are only available from Neptune DXP - SAP Edition version 24.12.0. |
The Mobile Device Management (MDM) feature allows you to manage your mobile clients more effectively. It provides the capability of remote configuration of an app without the need of re-building and distributing a new app version. The setting can be enabled under "Device" - "MDM" for the mobile client in the Cockpit.
When this setting is enabled, it is possible to push changes made to the mobile client configuration in the Cockpit to MDM enrolled devices. After saving your changes in the Cockpit, Click on “Create” under MDM App Config. This will generate a snapshot of the current settings as an xml representation which can be copied and pasted into the App Configuration in the MDM tool (i.e. Intune).
Deployment Options
When generating the App Config you will get some options for deployment.
Default setting by leaving all checkboxes unchecked: App configuration will be applied on device after next restart of the app. The user will get an option to load the new configuration, or do it later (after restarting the app). After the app configuration has been loaded, the user will be notified that the update has taken place.
Immediate update: The user will be prompted to load the new app configuration as soon as it is pushed to the device.
Force immediate update: The user will be prompted to load the new app configuration as soon as it is pushed to the device with no option to do it later.
Silent update: The app configuration will be updated in the background upon app restart without user interaction. The user will not be notified about the update. This option is intended for small config changes where it is not considered necessary to notify all users about the change. This option may also be suitable for an initial app config for a newly deployed app version.
Clear user and app cache: This option will clear the user and app cache on the device. It is useful when you want to ensure that the app starts with a clean state after the configuration change. For certain scenarios, this would be a requirement, for example, when you change the authentication method, server URL, SAP client, or other critical settings that may affect the app’s behavior.
After clicking on "Generate" you get this screen where you can click the highlighted button to copy the entire app config to clipboard.
In Microsoft Intune admin center:
Create an Apple MDM Push Certificate (One time setup).
More info on device enrollment with Intune can be found here:
Create a Line-of-business app for iOS/iPadOS
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Log on to the Microsoft Intune admin center and go to "Apps" - "iOS/iPadOS".
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Specify "Line-of-business app" as the App type.
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Upload the .ipa file of your mobile client.
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Specify assignments for users/groups/devices for the app.
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Create App Configuration.
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Enter name, select platform and specify targeted app.
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Specify the format: “Enter XML data” and copy and paste the App config from the Neptune Cockpit.
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Specify assignments for users/groups/devices for the app configuration.
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Check the device install status in the Intune admin center.
Please note that there can be some delays in what is showing in Intune admin center. When testing this, please also be aware that it may occasionally take quite some time before the new app version or the updated app config is pushed to and made available on the assigned devices. To speed up the process, sync can be initiated from MDM (i.e. Intune admin center) or on the device (i.e. Company Portal app).
What type of changes can be pushed with app config?
The MDM app config allows you to push changes to the following settings:
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Authentication method (The required plugin for OAuth is included when MDM is enabled, so this can be enabled without rebuilding the app.)
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Reauthentication
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Server URL
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SAP Client
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Mobile Client Header settings
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Main Menu Display settings
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Active Apps Display settings
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End User Customization settings
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Settings in the Cockpit that are marked with "Live Update" must also be pushed by app config when the MDM feature is enabled. The exceptions are Tilegroups and Policies, which are always updated dynamically from the Cockpit.
The following settings are baked into the app installation file and cannot be pushed with app config. For changing these settings, a new app version must be built and distributed:
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App ID (Device)
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Configuration ID (Cockpit)
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App Name
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App Version
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App Icon
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App Splash Screen
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Plugins
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Launchpad application
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Custom start application
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Custom authentication
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UI5 version
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Enhancements