SharePoint 2013 and the Mobile SharePoint Explosion

When SharePoint was first launched, it did not have strong functionality backing up mobile access for its content and features. However, as this software platform gradually gained ground, organizations began to feel the need for tapping this product to operate efficiently on cellular devices. As a result, companies began to look for alternatives for enhancing as well as expanding mobile access to this platform. The outcome of these efforts is that SP 2013 comes with a range of new, enhanced mobile features to make SharePoint 2013 mobile development easier and quicker.

• The mobile browsing experience has become much better owing to the newly incorporated contemporary view which enables site rendering in HTML5 and operates with the latest mobile Safari, IE as well as Android browsers. Designed to ensure touch-screen interaction, it is optimized for activities such as accessing wikis, lists, web parts and document libraries. The classic view belonging to the older mobile browsers is still intact, delivering HTML based sites along with the option for displaying a complete desktop view of the website.
  
  
• Another new feature is the back-end cellular channels which render a SharePoint site for diverse cell phone devices automatically, enhancing the single default view for mobile devices as present in the 2010 edition which was difficult to customize. 
   
• With the 2013 version, SharePoint sites come with the capability of pushing notifications towards mobile devices, making users alert regarding the changes, such as modification or addition of content.
  
  
• With SharePoint 2013, we have a couple of new native mobile applications. One is the SharePoint Newsfeed application which enables users to get access to the documents and people they are following. This feature is available for Windows Phone and iOS as well as Windows 8. The second is the SkyDrive Pro app which empowers users to access the file sharing along with cloud storage service on iOS as well as Windows 8.

Some of the other mobile features new to 2013 edition of this software platform include the ability of incorporating geolocation tags within a list, the capability of viewing specific categories of business intelligence content as well as enhanced viewing of PowerPoint, Excel and Word documents with Office Web Apps.

Using Cellular Devices for SharePoint Online Sites

Your site can be accessed with a Windows phone once the web browser of the phone is opened and the URL or Uniform Resource Locator of the SharePoint site is typed. In case you are making use of a non-Windows phone, the URL can be entered within the browser or to get an optimized mobile view, /?Mobile=1 can be just appended to the URL.

Using Windows Phone 7 for accessing SharePoint Online site

A site can be opened on a Windows Phone 7 in almost the similar manner as it is opened from a PC, simply by entering the URL in the browser. Whatever is seen on the phone is not the cellular version but the site's actual view. The site can be operated in the same manner as it is done from the PC. Most of the tasks such as creation and editing of items within a list, changing the site theme, uploading documents, creation and edition of site pages, along with addition of images, hyperlinks or web parts can be conveniently carried out. 

 

Utilizing non-Windows phone for SharePoint Online site

When the mobile version of a site is opened, only some of the elements seen in a desktop version are visible, such as search feature, libraries, lists and so on. While you are making use of the cellular version of SharePoint, you can easily perform the tasks of viewing items in libraries and lists or operating Open Office documents from the website.

We provide SharePoint application development services. If you would like to talk to one of our certified sharepoint programmers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

7 Apps that Bring SharePoint to the iPad

The need for the right applications is immense when it comes to catering to the vast range of mobile users. People making use of iPad and iPhones need to access SharePoint content too and it is for this reason that it becomes essential to bring SharePoint to the iPad. The unconventional applications are often found working effectively for the purpose.

Now, quite a lot of options are available for making Microsoft SharePoint accessible on the device. The traditional iPad browser paves the way for a somewhat satisfactory experience. Several factors need to be considered in this regard. For instance, content editable attribute is supported by the desktop version of Safari while such facility is not made available by the Safari on the iPhone OS. This attribute is used by the application development platform and other collaboration products such as that of the Office Web Apps. This ensures a rich editing experience within a supported browser.

On the other hand, offline support and a richer experience is facilitated by certain apps that can be downloaded from the Apple App Store. Here is an overview of some of the popular as well as prominent apps that helps in bringing SharePoint to the said device.

1. SharePlus Office Mobile Client

SharePlus emerges to be one of the most prominent and universally used iOS Client for SharePoint that enables carrying the highly valuable information assets of this web application development platform on the Smartphones or tablets, irrespective of the prevailing scenario of connectivity. The app works well on several OS like Android, iOS, Mac and Blackberry.

2. Filamente

Filamente is often considered to be the most beneficial and user- friendly apps that offers a simple yet intuitive way of interaction with the development platform from the mobile devices. Setting up Filamente for the team site is quite easy and hassle- free. Other advantages of this application come in the form of a rich text editor plus link to Dropbox feature.

3. Moprise: SharePoint Documents for iPad

Morpise is an excellent collaboration client for iPad. This application, featured by Apple in iPad @ Work, enables users to access, share as well as collaborate any of their SharePoint document on the larger screen.

4. Harmon

The version 1.2.3 of this application of 2.5 MB comes with a rather intuitive user interface while also bringing forth an easy setup for the team site.

5. Briefcase Pro

Briefcase Pro is one such app that facilitates effective search from anywhere. The application has an intuitive user interface coupled with a fairly rich text editor.

6. Native iPad

Native iPad, as an application, is widely preferred primarily because purchase of additional software is not a necessity for the same. The application has no offline capability, which ensures that the security risks are much desired. Above all, it facilitates text input for list items.

7. SP- Dashboard

Coming up to be yet another useful app for bringing SharePoint to the iPad, SP- Dashboard for iPad allows users to browse SharePoint data in a much easier and efficient manner. It offers a good experience of navigating through the SharePoint sites and viewing the lists, libraries and documents. Additionally, one can also define the favorite lists, documents as well as libraries for fast access while renaming the favorites for a better overview.

With this application at your service, presentation of the SharePoint data with complete mobility becomes possible. As the retrieved data is automatically updated and stored on the device, there is no need of an internet connection for accessing the data.

All of the above- mentioned applications and products are intuitive with some of them being better than the others. The apps not only serve the purpose of bringing SharePoint to the iPad but also reduce the cost of ownership in the long run. Sharepoint 2013 mobile development teams can help you build mobile apps using SharePoint 2013 within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide SharePoint bespoke development services. If you would like to talk to one of our certified sharepoint programmers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.