How to setup & install Field Service (Xamarin) mobile app

The next step after setting up the environment is to install and configure Dynamics 365 Field service app on the devices. The Dynamics 365 Field Service app is compatible with and has native apps for iOS, Android and Windows devices. The app can be downloaded from respective app stores but there is more to it, then just installing the app; which is the topic of this post. To begin with, let’s have a look at how device app works:

There are three components to make device app work:

1. Woodford: This is a mobile app configurator that basically enables us to define app experience; or in other words what constitutes the app: navigations, forms, views, dashboards etc. All of this is configurable through this configurator tool that gets installed in Dynamics 365 Field Service as a solution
2. Mobile project: All the configurations for the app are saved as ‘mobile project’. The mobile project is also used to configure user access
3. Dynamics 365 Field Service native app: this is downloaded from the respective App Store and installed on the device

With the components of the app covered, lets set them up in the same sequence:

Installation of Woodford

Download the Woodford solution from here and then go to PowerApps Make Portal, click on Solution on the left and click Import.

A window will open to lead the process of importing a solution. Select the solution in the first step, click Next, and then click Import and Next to go through the installation wizard (do not change any default settings). The system will install the solution (may take anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes).

After summary is displayed (like above), click Close to complete this first step of installations.

Configuration of a mobile project

Download a sample mobile project from here https://aka.ms/fsmobile-project and then go to Advanced Settings.

Click on the link below to go to the legacy Settings screen (this will open in a new tab/window).

Scroll the menu to the right and click on Woodford.

Click on Mobile Woodford HTLM5 – this will open a configurator screen in a new tab/window.

A registration screen will appear first, enter the detail and click Register.

Click on Import to import the project (downloaded earlier in this step).

Set the priority to 10 and select security roles which should enable access to the app (in this example, we selected all of them) and click Save.

Double click the imported project and then click on Publish.

Go back to the home page and click on Derive.

Enter the name, set higher priority than previously entered, select security roles and click Save. Next, double click on the new project and click Publish.

What we did in the last step was to create a derivative of the sample project, gave it a new name and then published it. This mechanism gives the flexibility of having user experience specific to the needs of users. For example in a recent implementation, we created mobile projects for the sales team, auditors, and maintenance staff – all derived from the same sample project.

Installation of the app on device

Go to App Store and install Dynamics 365 Field Service. Here is a screenshot from my iPhone.

Note: Be wary of the name. There are other apps with similar names. A pro tip is to look for the above icon to make sure you are downloading the correct app.

That’s it – congratulation on setting up both Dynamics 365 Field Service evironment and setting up mobility experience. Feel free to share if you face any challenge or if you have any other feedback.