Using Tideswell on your phone

Tideswell on your phone means the Tideswell iPhone app, or the website in your phone's browser, which is built to work at that size. Both sign in to the same workspace and show the same work as your desk.

For example, Priya at Fairgreen Golf Co. answers a chat message from the warehouse, ticks off a task from its reminder, and books in a Portside Mills delivery by scanning the cartons, all on her phone.

What is the iPhone app for?

The app is for the conversation, your tasks, and the jobs people do standing up rather than at a desk. A phone is good for reading a message, replying, picking up a task, calling a customer back, checking a number and counting boxes.

It is a poor place to build an Object, set permissions or write a purchase order. So the phone carries the conversation and the work, and the web keeps configuration and back-office setup.

Why use the app rather than the website?

The app's task reminders carry buttons. A reminder arrives as one of your tasks comes due, and Snooze 1h or Mark complete on the notification deals with it without opening anything.

It also has screens built for a phone in your hand: a barcode scanner for receiving, a button that dials the customer on an outreach item, and the camera in the chat composer.

How do you get the app?

The iPhone app is in private beta alongside the rest of Tideswell, so it is not on the App Store yet. Get in touch and we will get you onto it.

The website works in a phone browser in the meantime. Tap Open menu at the top left for the full menu, use the bottom pill for Chat, Tasks and Store, and tap the sparkle at the top right for the Agent.

What is in the app?

Four tabs sit on a floating pill at the bottom of the screen: Home, Chat, Tasks and Store. A New task button sits at the top right of every tab.

• Home greets you by name, offers digest buttons such as Yesterday's numbers and Stuck orders that ask the Agent a ready-made question, and shows a My tasks preview.
• Chat is your channels, with photos, mentions, threads and per-channel notifications. See What is chat?.
• Tasks opens My tasks, with filters and a search box, plus your Inbox and Projects. See What are tasks?.
• Store has Analytics and Inventory, for looking a number up while you are away from your desk. See What is Store analytics? and What is Inventory?.

The sparkle button beside the pill opens the Agent from any tab, and keeps your place when you close it and reopen it. See What is the Agent?.

The My tasks preview on Home shows chips such as 2 overdue, 3 today and 4 later, then your two most urgent tasks. All takes you to the full list.

What is in the ⇕ menu?

The ⇕ button at the right of the pill opens a menu headed with your workspace's name. It lists Inbox, My Tasks, Outreach, Receiving, Special orders, Chat and Store, then each of your departments, then Projects and Settings.

• Outreach is the shared list of customers to call back, text or email. You can take one, log a try, call the customer and mark it done. See How to log and work through outreach.
• Receiving lists the purchase orders still waiting on goods. You count a delivery in by scanning barcodes, and it goes into Shopify stock once you confirm. See How to receive a delivery on your phone.
• Special orders finds a customer's special order by name or item, shows what is owed, and moves it to another stage. See What are special orders?.
• Settings holds your profile, the workspace switch, your notification settings, sign out and delete account.

Special orders shows when your workspace has the Special orders module switched on. The Store tab shows when it has the Store module on.

When should you use the web instead?

Use the web for setting things up and for desk work. That covers admin Settings (members, permissions, departments, modules, stages and integrations), Documents, the customer list, approvals, writing and editing purchase orders, suppliers, wholesale and Objects.

Use the web, too, to create or price a special order, to send a direct message, per How to send a direct message, and to make a call, per How to start a call and take notes. To reach somebody who is on their phone, tag them in a channel, as How to tag people, tasks, documents and products describes.

Does the phone follow the same permissions?

Yes. Every action in the app goes through the same permission checks as the web, so what you can do at your desk is what you can do on your phone.

Receiving needs Edit purchase orders and the buying calendar. Moving a special order's stage needs Edit special orders, and asking the Agent needs Use the agent. All three are rows in Settings › Permissions, per How to set who can do what.

Where do you go next?

Start with How to sign in and switch workspaces on your phone, which gets you signed in, into the right workspace and set up for notifications.

Then read How to use chat and tasks on your phone for chat, tasks, outreach, special orders and the Agent on the phone. If you receive stock, finish with How to receive a delivery on your phone.

Turn on notifications first, because they are the main reason to carry Tideswell on a phone. See How to turn on notifications.