TechNow Ep 62 | Madrid Mobile

[Chuck Tomasi]

Today's mobile users expect a consumer-like experience to get information and work quickly. ServiceNow Mobile Studio makes creating mobile applications that take advantage of your device's camera, location, and other native services. What's more, developers are not required to learn the iOS or Android SDK. Join Stacey Bailey, Chuck Tomasi, and Kreg Steppe of ServiceNow for an introduction and demonstration how to build an application using Mobile Studio.

Quick tip: Code search

Originally aired: March 19, 2019 8:00 AM PT

Featured Experts

Kreg Steppe is a Training and Certification Program Manager within ServiceNow developing and supporting cloud training infrastructure. He specializes in developing integration solutions, automating repeatable processes and Cloud Management in ITOM. Kreg's prior experience includes operating his own ISP, developing web applications in PHP, network integration, managing network support, Application Development on cloud based networks, DNS and email server maintenance. He is a Linux enthusiast and enjoys Photography.

Chuck Tomasi is a Sr. TPMM for ServiceNow. He is a computer science major with over 35 years of IT experience. As a former ServiceNow customer, Chuck won the first Innovation of the Year Award at Knowledge 10. Since joining ServiceNow in 2010 as a Technical Consultant, he has done many large scale ITSM implementations and custom applications, acted as an adjunct instructor for Education Services, created and lead the Technical Best Practices program, makes appearances on Live Coding Happy Hour, created dozens of fit for purpose custom applications, and co-hosts the ServiceNow series "TechNow".

Stacey Bailey is a Training and Certification Program Manager for ServiceNow with over 20 years of IT experience in various roles. Since 2009 she has been working with the ServiceNow platform customer, partner, and employee. She has earned numerous awards in her career including: ITSM MVP 2017, InfoWorld Top 100 Award, DCI Portal Excellence Award, Financial Times Award for Excellence in E-Learning. Stacey proudly refers to herself a s a "gadget girl". In her spare time she likes trying new gadgets, learning new forms of art, playing in the makerspace, collecting new / unique skills, listening to audio-books, trying new life experiences, and hosting parties to build communities.

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Questions and Answers

1. Will Madrid mobile (in future releases), replace mobile classic? 2. In mobile classic, we have a button to call Chat. Is that possible in the new Madrid mobile? I ask since the doc titled “Madrid Mobile Configuration and Navigation” seams to point to no, and we would need to us a mix of classic and the Madrid mobile. -- Howard Richter
1. Yes but timeline is TBD 2. Yes you can have an applet that calls chat via a webview. This exists in OOTB Field Service App -- Chuck Tomasi

Can I have the transcript of the video, as I do not have the provision to hear the lesson on ear/head phones. -- Santosh VV
At this time, we do not offer transcripts of the webinar. Sorry. -- Chuck Tomasi

will the agent work for self hosted instances? -- Vrushali Barve
Should not be a problem. -- Kreg Steppe

Just to verify: Does the "Data Item" filter take ACL (read) privileges into account? In example if the filter results in 100 records, will the Read ACL's minimize the total result? -- Peter De Bock
Yes. ACLs are honored the same as a list query in the standard browser UI. -- Chuck Tomasi

Does the new mobile studio work with Blackberry Enterprise Mobile solution -- Joe Baldino
Currently we offer Agent for Android and iOS -- Chuck Tomasi

can I force log off sessions remotely? -- Alpha Drabo
If you delete the user then they will be logged out -- Chuck Tomasi

Hi Stacey, That is very clear about Mobile App on Madrid Version.. Can you let me know what all field services? can this be applied on? -- Govind Das
Can you please provide additional details in the comments below? Thank you -- Chuck Tomasi

Can photos be encrypted when taken from the mobile app? -- Benjamin Cervantes
Data that is at rest and in transit is encrypted with AES 128 -- Chuck Tomasi

If we want to build mobile ui for end users, should they install the "agent" app? Or does the mobile studio work for classic app as well? -- Renee Walters
Mobile Studio is targeted at Agent. It does not work with the classic app. -- Chuck Tomasi

Do we also receive Mobile Notifications, as we are now receiving it thru the Classic Mobile app? -- Fernando Gois
Yes -- Chuck Tomasi

Is google maps available to be used within ServiceNow at no additional cost? -- Kathy Talamantez
No. It's using the mobile client app. -- Chuck Tomasi

Do we have to create two seperate mobile applications for apple and android? -- Yogesh Sharma
No. The same apps and applets will work on both. No learning anything about the SDK. -- Chuck Tomasi

Can we add any dashboard or any reports.. -- Rahamath Nalband
There are no native reporting/dashboard templates. However, it is very straightforward to create a Service Portal paged that is designed specifically for mobile use and access that via an applet or smart button. Native reporting is planned for Orlando -- Chuck Tomasi

Using a smart button If you choose message option is there a way to capture that and addi it to the record from which you connect? -- Trez Moreland
I'm afraid I'm not clear what you are referring to as the "message option". Can you clarify in the comments below? -- Chuck Tomasi

Why create a mobile app, rather than ensuring Mobile Responsive Portals? -- Dean Floyd
Better access to the native mobile device capabilities - camera, geolocation, local mobile apps (like maps, Uber, etc) You can still access your Service Portal pages in a responsive UI. -- Chuck Tomasi

will MObile capability available for Enterprise Change Management user ? -- Louis Joseph
The primary persona of the Agent app is the service agent (e.g. IT, CSM, HR). An end user app is coming in an upcoming release. -- Chuck Tomasi

I downloaded the Android app and tried to get in. It says The Instance you are trying to connect to does not support this mobile app. -- Scott Krivacek
ServiceNow Agent is for Madrid or Newer. -- Kreg Steppe

One of my favorite things, and most of my client's too, is the ability to easily star my favorites. Is this still possible with the new mobile app? -- Shea Laughlin
Yes. you can mark favorites. -- Kreg Steppe

What is the phone emulater program you were using to show how your changes looked on Service Agent? -- Ramon Hernandez
Reflector 3 -- Stacey Bailey

Licensing - Do you have to pay for each mobile app you create? -- Sheryl Thompson
Creating apps is based on what licensing you have through the instance. If you already own ITSM, you can make as many ITSM apps on the phone as you like. For additional information on pricing, reach out to your account team. -- Chuck Tomasi

if you create a POC application or mobile applet in Studio can you delete it? -- Marc Clasby
Yes. -- Chuck Tomasi

How can we manage custom Client scripts to work on mobile -- Arun Praveen Joseph Arumainaayagam
The new mobile app is not web based so client scripts don't play in to this. We do have UI policies to help manage some of the UI changes you need to make. -- Chuck Tomasi

are there any training courses planned for mobile development on ServiceNow? -- Nishikant Kotgire
Yes. We will have content at Knowledge and learning portal content available about the same time. -- Chuck Tomasi

can you do the search outside of studio? -- Charles Michel
There is a text search that will search the text fields of records, but code search is only available in Studio. -- Chuck Tomasi

Does the map pin require a developer license for the map application? -- Peter Hewson
No -- Chuck Tomasi

Hi Stacey we have a lot of attachments for approvals process did mobile approval show the attachments to approve the approval records -- Pavan G
What kind of attachments? Are they on the activity stream? If so then yes they can be seen on mobile. Furthermore, you can navigate to related lists -- Chuck Tomasi

Is the SN Agent a Progressive Web App or a Native app? -- Manik Nagra
Native app. If you have existing Service Portal pages, you can leverage them as they are responsive. -- Chuck Tomasi

Is this just for the IT servicenow agent or will this include the HRSD? -- Wendy Piston
IT, HR, CSM, custom apps. It covers much of what the Agent persona might need. -- Chuck Tomasi

Mobile SSO: Does it work well with SSO? Does it work in the same well, as far as the Desktop/Web application works? -- Fernando Gois
If your instance is set up for SSO, then Agent will honor the same mechanisms. -- Chuck Tomasi

How does setting read-only/mandatory attributes on fields in Madrid compare to how that is done today in mobile? -- Benjamin Kaguwo
If fields are read only, but you have configured an action to allow users to update those fields than it will fail. However, it is up to the admin to configure the actions properly to update the correct fields -- Chuck Tomasi

is there an out of the box mobile app that give a user a standard service service now without building application's? looking for a view to look at incidents or changes. -- Mary Anne Sulkey
We include an ITSM application that has many good starting points for incident, approvals, etc. -- Chuck Tomasi

Do you then need to create a Favorites app then? If you have favorites in your instance, where do they show up in the new app? -- Shea Laughlin
It doesn't show the favorites from your instance. You can however mark things as a favorite in the App (with a star) -- Kreg Steppe

Are all client side scripts supported in the mobile forms (onSubmit, AJAX calls, etc...)? -- Alex Bissmeyer
No. The mobile app does not use standard lists and forms. It is not a web based model like former releases and the desktop. -- Chuck Tomasi

Does the App Builder allow us to import APK libraries for mobile device peripherals (ie: phone sleds)? -- Benjamin Tam
Currently we do not support importing APK libraries. I invite you to open an enhancement request on HI if this is something you feel would be important. -- Chuck Tomasi

What SN releases are compatible with the agent? -- Rex Core
ServiceNow Agent requires Madrid. -- Stacey Bailey

Hi Chuck for each application we have to create each individual application -- Pavan G
I'm afraid I don't understand your question. Can you please add some detail of what you are interested in doing in the comments below? -- Chuck Tomasi

anything for end users? -- Alex Tsaturov
Coming soon. Current ETA is New York (2019 Q3) -- Chuck Tomasi

for entering the instance on the mobile studio will it accept my hosted sting if I don't have servicenow as part of my url? I have hosted instance. Classic does work with my hosted instance -- Dave Matzinger
If you can get to your on-premise instance from outside your enterprise, Agent will work. If you have no direct access from the Internet, then you will be in the same situation as classic. -- Chuck Tomasi

Thanks.. thats a bummer. End users want mobility bad! Classic really stinks. Its nice to get agent focused app, but I would think that end user would take priority 😃 dont know how many fulfillers enjoy doing work on mobile devices.. its a nice to have -- Alex Tsaturov
Thank your comments. We'll make sure the product managers get them. -- Chuck Tomasi

What do we have to do to enable our prod instance to support Service Agent? Is the Service agent backward compatible? -- Shubha Chakravarthy
You must be running Madrid to use ServiceNow Agent. -- Stacey Bailey

Any ideas on how to show/see users using the new agent or classic mobile apps -- Howard Richter
We provide some usage statistics for the new agent app so you can tell some basic usage. -- Chuck Tomasi

Is OKTA SSO supported using SAML2.0? In the previous mobile app it was not supported. -- Peter De Bock
Yes. SAML/SSO is supported on the Agent app if it's configured on the instance. -- Chuck Tomasi

I installed the Agent app on Android... but I do not see the 3 icons at the bottom... is that expected? -- Manik Nagra
The icons on the bottom are dependent on how you configure the details screen. If you didn't select activity stream, for example, it won't show that icon. -- Chuck Tomasi

Like Incident Management, is Change Management module enabled on mobile portal today? and part of Agent ? -- Louis Joseph
The ITSM Mobile app out of the box comes with several incident related apps. There is nothing related to problem and change that I see, but it wouldn't take much to build them. -- Chuck Tomasi

How to create new Issues within this Safety App? Is there a way to redirect the user to a blank Issue form? -- Mayur Khandelwal
Yes. There are a couple ways to do that. You can either create a simple input applet or redirect to a record producer on the Service Portal. -- Chuck Tomasi

Are you suporting SSO in mobile app? -- Martin Lessard
Yes -- Chuck Tomasi

How are M2M tables handled in the Related list section for a record? Can a specific List Layout be shown instead of the the default M2M table fields? -- Ramon Hernandez
Can you please provide additional details in the comments below? -- Chuck Tomasi

Does it integrate with Microsoft Intune MDM? -- Joseph A. Labella
We allow our app to be pulled from app store using Intune, dynmically configured using app config, and managed in the Intune console. We do not support app wrapping and we do not embed the Intune SDK yet, however the SDK is on the roadmap as part of our White Label release process. -- Chuck Tomasi

Code Search: When you search on "All Applications", does it also include the GLOBAL application files? I.e. all the ootb applications from ServiceNow? -- Fernando Gois
Yes. The UI page that I brought up was in global. -- Chuck Tomasi

does mobile use the location ability of the device & does it track users all the time? -- Virgil Prather
The Agent app can take advantage of the device's location services, camera, and other native capabilities. As far as tracking, it's not tracking all the time via the app. That being said, your carrier can track you based on which towers you are using, but that's not specific to the ServiceNow mobile app. -- Chuck Tomasi

I hope this is not a silly question. To use the maps, do you need to obtain an Enterprise level license or setup a contract to use Google Maps? -- Cyndi Major
Within the mobile app Stacey is demonstrating, there's no additional cost. -- Chuck Tomasi

can you add attachments field to the fields -- Pavan G
Attachment fields are not currently supported at this time, but is being reviewed for a future release. -- Chuck Tomasi

can you open an incident via the mobile app? -- John Knapp
Yes. You can either redirect to a record producer or built an applet to take the input. -- Chuck Tomasi

Can we configure folders and applets to a particular User group based on roles/ groups/ User criteria? -- Anurag Reddy
While applets have a role assigned to them, I don't see the same for folders. They're more or less "dividers" on the screen to help organize the applets. -- Chuck Tomasi

Does the off-line sync overwrite the updates made online ? -- Karthik Narayanaswamy
This depends on the business rules that are set up. For instance, if online the state changes to "closed complete" but when user 2 syncs the offline data and trys to change it to in progress, then that action will fail. Comments that are added use the mobile timestamp. -- Chuck Tomasi

Will the ServiceNow Classic app continue to receive support and bug fixes? -- Tony DiRienzo
Only critical bug fixes will be supported, no enhancements. -- Chuck Tomasi

What app do you use to share your iPhone screen? -- Brandon Robinson
Reflector 3 -- Stacey Bailey

How to build the mobild app for public users , not login SSO ? -- Chinh Vo
The mobile app requires a log on. It doesn't have to be SSO, can be local but requires logon is not for public use yet -- Chuck Tomasi

How the authentication works? Can it allow the users to login without entering the credentials by detecting the phone number? -- Suresh Narayanan
At this point, credentials must be supplied for each instance at least once. -- Chuck Tomasi

from what im hearing, ServiceNow Agent app is geared towards fulfillers... this means end users (requesters) will continue to use the Classic app or Service Portal, right? -- JR Camposanto
You are essentially correct. An end user/requester experience is coming in a (soon) future release. -- Chuck Tomasi

Thanks for the response. Is it required when the Service Portal or Fulfiller UI? -- Cyndi Major
I know you need an API key for Google maps to render in a browser, but I don't have any cost information. -- Chuck Tomasi

Will there be pre-con training for Madrid Mobile platform? -- Daniel Rusnak
No, there will not be any formal preconference training for ServiceNow Agent, but you can expect to find several breakout sessions and CreatorCon labs during the conference. -- Stacey Bailey

which serviceNOW app should i download from the apple store for software asset management -- Virgil Prather
There is no specific SAM application for mobile yet. The ITAM team is looking into providing OOTB experiences for their products in the future. However, the Agent app can be downloaded and a SAM expereience can be configured in Studio. -- Chuck Tomasi

any information about using electronic signature -- Alex Upmann
Yes, this is possible in the app. -- Chuck Tomasi

Pre-Con Training? -- Daniel Rusnak
There will not be any formal preconference training for ServiceNow Agent, but you can expect to find several breakout sessions and CreatorCon labs during the conference. -- Stacey Bailey

Can we build Apps for HR and other Modules .. -- Rahamath Nalband
Yes. Even custom applications are within scope of Mobile Studio -- Chuck Tomasi

Will you be able to share a side-by-side overview of the differences between London Mobile and Madrid Mobile, please.. useful for those who are unable to attend demos. -- Duane van Gessel
Sorry we were not able to get to this during the webinar. -- Chuck Tomasi

why is impersonation not allowed in SN Mobile? Is that introduced in Madrid? -- Sreedhar Vedantham
Good question. I'll look in to it with our product managers. I can see how it would be useful for testing. -- Chuck Tomasi

is this happening now? -- Amy Bronco
Yes! 🙂 -- Kreg Steppe

I vote codeless 😃 -- Alex Tsaturov
I agree. When there's an option, go codeless! -- Chuck Tomasi

what personal info does the agent send back to SN? -- Rex Core
Just credentials. -- Chuck Tomasi

what app is Stacy using to share the phone display for demo? -- JR Camposanto
I am using Reflector 3 -- Stacey Bailey

Will the new Agent app work with SSO. For example Okta. -- Stanley Martin
Yes -- Chuck Tomasi

If the phone is lost, how the information can be wiped or disallow from seeing the information. Thanks -- Suresh Narayanan
Through iCloud or you IT department you can wipe the phone and it will get everything. OR you can revoke access from the servicenow instance you are logged into in the app. -- Kreg Steppe

Can we add relative list in the screen, if so how? -- Shabaab Mazhar
You can add Related Lists in mobile applications. We just don't have time to go into everything during a 1-hour webinar. Docs has some good guidance at https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/madrid-mobile/page/administer/tablet-mobile-ui/concept/configure-related-list-screen.html#configure-related-list-screen that may help you get started. -- Stacey Bailey

When will the End user version of mobile app be available? Also will this be available outside of a full version upgrade? -- Debra Suckiel
Yes and yes. An end user version is coming in an future release (soon). The Agent app will be updated as needed on the Apple/Android stores outside of the ServiceNow release cycle like other mobile apps you use today. -- Chuck Tomasi

How does the agent handle multi factor auth -- Clyde Wimbrough
If the instance has SSO or multi-factor, you'll be guided to the same authentication from the mobile app. -- Chuck Tomasi

Are there any future plans to integrate facility management floor plans into the app? -- Tony DiRienzo
Not natively, however, if a Service Portal view can be configured to show the facility plan than that can be easily accessable in mobile through an applet URL or through a Smart Button -- Chuck Tomasi

can I get a call button next to my incident.caller_id field on the desktop servicenow interface? -- Dustin Spain
Not 100% sure, but I think you can make an url like tel:1-800-xxx -- Kreg Steppe

Will there be a demo of the offline capability? -- Charlie Messer
If the Demo gods had smiled on me, we would have gotten a demo of off-line capabilities. Unfortunately, we did not have time for that today. -- Stacey Bailey

Downloaded the Android app and tried to get in. Message The Instance you are trying to connect to does not support this mobile app. -- Scott Krivacek
Your instance must be running Madrid. If your company instance is not on Madrid yet, give it a try using a personal developer instance. -- Stacey Bailey

field services is nice capability for mobile devices, but how many customers really leverage field services and have GPS mapping enabled? -- Alex Tsaturov
Mobile is the primary requirement for a good field services experience. We have 100+ customers that plan to leverage ServiceNow's field service mobile app. GPS is critical in that as well -- Chuck Tomasi

what role is needed to create app? and can they be restricted, by scoped app? Like only someone with a sn_hr_admin role can create mobile apps for HR and not touch ITSM -- Howard Richter
At this time mobile development in Studio is restricted to admin. We are looking at making this an available option in Delegated Development -- Chuck Tomasi

Will you be able to o ay asset management via th app -- Tony Smith
ITAM is working on an OOTB experience for asset management but it is possbile to build some simple experiences for asset management with studio -- Chuck Tomasi

can we work on offline mode like assigning ticket to other group members, or any other UI actions?? -- Pruthvi Upadhyaya
Yes. When you work offline, the actions (e.g. Swipe) still work and store the changes until you are back online and then they sync back to the instance. -- Chuck Tomasi

How often is the mobile app updated? -- Dean Floyd
While there's no fixed schedule, it is updated regularly as features and functionality are required (like most Android/iOS apps). It could be a week or a month before you receive an update. -- Chuck Tomasi

I work for Home Depot. I'm at the corporate office at my desk. We have a big pipe. Can I just view this later? -- Michelle Guess
Yes, we will be posted this to YouTube and the SerivceNow community a few days after the webinar. -- Chuck Tomasi

So, you mean the ITSM-Change Management capabilities would be part of the end user app planned for future? -- Louis Joseph
I haven't heard any word if we will be building OOB applets for change management. I recommend checking with your account team. If they don't have anything, it wouldn't preclude you from creating your own. -- Chuck Tomasi

can you demo the ITSM functionality as well? -- Kim Sullivan
The ITSM functionality is going to be largely the same. We send a sample ITSM application when you upgrade to Madrid. I invite you to test it on a personal developer instance. -- Chuck Tomasi

Still have the "Select Application" screen shared 😞 Not sure if it only applies for me -- Peter De Bock
I heard one other person who said their screen got stuck, but it appears fine now. -- Chuck Tomasi

Is it possible to create custom mobile templates for Applets? -- Benjamin Kaguwo
Not at this time, but it is on the roadmap -- Chuck Tomasi

You are doing great, no worries 🙂 -- Dustin Spain
oh, man. that was painful. thanks! -- Stacey Bailey

thanks... so the end user will be using the same new mobile app in the future (possibly Classic will be discontinued)? -- JR Camposanto
End users will have their own app in the future. You COULD set them up with Agent for now (e.g. quick approvals with a swipe for example), but the experience on the new app is targeted more to the end users than agents/fulfillers. -- Chuck Tomasi

Thanks, that helps. Another followup Q? though.. If i want to create a change - mobile application (like the one being demo'ed right now), will the STUDIO pull in all Change specific attributes that we can see today on ESP Change MGmt module, to be able to build the application? Or is that something we need to code-in on Application as well, as we build it? -- Louis Joseph
I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough with ESP Change Management to answer this. I recommend reaching out to your account team for more detailed information. -- Chuck Tomasi

How does offline capability work ? What if 2 people start updating? -- Arun Praveen Joseph Arumainaayagam
There is no specific "Conflict resolution" for offline. If two people are updating then the last change that is updated will be reflected. That is unless there are specific business rules, which are recommended, to fail actions/syncs if records have been updated accordingly. However, for comments and other updates the mobile uses the mobile timestamp which is recorded while offline. So comments added first will be shown first in the record. -- Chuck Tomasi