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SAP Learning Journey

Creating Tiles for Native Apps

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Create tiles to access native apps from SAP Mobile Start

Creating Tiles for Native Applications

The (mobile) end users can launch their native applications from SAP Mobile Start. A native app tile looks like the following image:

To achieve this, we must create a new app within the Site Manager that points to a native application. The following two special parameters are required:

URL to Launch App
It is often referred to as custom URL or URL scheme and it has a specific format that is defined by the developers of the native app. An example used in the exercise that follows is for the SAP Concur native app, for which the URL scheme looks like this: concurmobile://. Calling this URL opens the native app in the corresponding operating system (iOS or Android). It is also possible to pass parameters to open specific screens or features within the native app – this is called deep-linking. For example, this URL scheme of SAP SuccessFactors to directly navigate into the org chart: bizx://?urlType=deeplink&deeplinkType=orgChart
Note
For custom native apps, you need to make sure that this URL scheme is implemented during development so that they can be launched via a native app tile in SAP Mobile Start.
URL to Install App
This is the link (for example, to the store) from where the user can download the application if it is not already installed on the device.

As these URLs (especially the link to the respective store) may be different between operating systems, it is required to create separate native app tiles in Site Manager for iOS and Android. Only the correct tile shows up on the relevant device.

Note

This type of tile only shows up within the SAP Mobile Start app and won’t be visible on the desktop launchpad via a browser.

Create a Native Tile

Access the Site Manager → Content Manager.
Create a new application with the + New button.
Enter the following data:
- Enter a Title and Description. Leave System as No System and select Native iOS or Native Android as App UI Technology.
- Enter the input fields for URL to Launch App and URL to Install App as explained previously.
- Move on to the Navigation section. Enter the mandatory values for Semantic Object and Action.
  Note
  These values are not relevant for the native app but must be entered since the fields are mandatory. Enter app for Semantic Object and launch for Action, as an example.
- Move on to the Visualization section to optionally style the tile with a Subtitle, Information, and Icon.
  Note
  It is possible to select a default icon from the value help or to provide a URL pointing to an image. Use the correct icon so that the end users can recognize the app easily.
Save the app.
To assign the app to the role and group that was created earlier, click on your role / group, select Edit, and in the Assignments pane on the right, add your app with the + icon.
Refresh the content in SAP Mobile Start by performing a "pull to refresh" on the start or application screen. The native app shows up as part of the content.

In this practice exercise, you create a native tile.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Summary

You have now created an own role and group within Site Manager. Next you will create mobile specific apps to assign them to your role and group.

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