Projects (Mobile)
Field view — what the technician sees and can do from the iPhone app. Projects is the home tab — it's the first thing the tech sees when they open the app each morning. The top card is always today's next job, big and unmissable. Below it, the rest of the day in time order. Completed work moves out to its own tab so the active list never gets crowded.
What This Screen Is
The Projects tab in the mobile app is the field technician's job board. It shows only the projects assigned to the logged-in tech, sorted by today's appointments first. The screen is designed for one-handed use, sunlight-readable contrast, and minimal taps. Everything the tech needs to do their job — photos, status updates, voice notes, directions, customer contact — is one or two taps away.
This is not the desktop CRM Projects view. The mobile app intentionally omits financial data, scheduling controls, and admin actions. It's optimized for the field: fast, focused, and offline-capable. Same underlying project records — completely different surface.
Your Day at a Glance
When the tech opens the app in the morning, the first thing they see is today's job schedule — their stops in time order, with a Get Directions button on every card. No hunting through a list, no copy-pasting addresses into Maps. The route is already planned; they just start driving.
How the Day View Works
- Opens automatically — the day view is the default when the app launches each morning. Today's jobs are front and center, sorted by appointment time.
- Get Directions — one tap. Tapping the button immediately opens Apple Maps (or Google Maps if preferred) with the job site address pre-loaded and live traffic routing active. No copy-pasting, no searching.
- Drive time estimates between consecutive stops are shown between cards — the tech can see at a glance whether their schedule is realistic before they start the day.
- Active stop highlighted — the next upcoming job gets a blue border so the tech always knows where they're headed next without reading the time stamps.
- Running late? Long-press the stop card to send an automated "running late" SMS to the customer — the message includes a revised arrival estimate based on current traffic.
- Completed stops show a green checkmark number badge and collapse to save screen space.
Project List View
When the tech opens the Projects tab, they see a filtered list of their assigned jobs. Today's appointments appear at the top, followed by upcoming jobs, then recently completed work. No scrolling through jobs that aren't theirs.
List Screen Details
- Search bar — matches address, customer name, or job type. Works offline (local search only).
- Filter pills — Today / This Week / All Jobs. Today is the default on every app open.
- Project cards show the street address as the primary identifier (techs navigate by address, not project name), customer name, job type tag, appointment time, and a status badge.
- No dollar amounts anywhere on the list. Contract value, invoice totals, and margins are hidden from the field view entirely.
- + FAB button (bottom-right) opens voice note and photo capture shortcuts. It does not create new projects — that is a desktop-only action.
- Future-week cards appear faded at reduced opacity to visually separate them from today's work.
Project Detail View
Tapping any project card opens the detail screen. This is the tech's primary workspace during a job. Sections are ordered by when the tech needs them: customer contact info first, then job status controls, then the media and tasks for the work itself.
Detail Screen Sections
- Customer info strip — name, address (tap opens Maps for navigation), Call button (tap-to-call), Message button (opens conversation thread).
- Status update bar — four pill buttons: On The Way, Arrived, Working, Complete. Tapping one updates job status instantly and fires customer notifications per business logic rules.
- Photos section — grid of all attached photos with count. Camera button opens in-app camera. Photos auto-tagged with GPS + timestamp. Upload begins immediately on WiFi/LTE; queues offline.
- Tasks section — list of AI-extracted and manually-added tasks with checkboxes. Microphone button transcribes speech and extracts action items. Completed tasks show with strikethrough.
- Notes section — internal notes not shown to the customer. Voice-to-text input. Dictated notes append chronologically with a timestamp.
- Appointments section (below notes) — scheduled visit times for this project. Read-only on mobile.
CRUD Operations
The mobile app is a field tool, not an admin console. Available operations are scoped to what a technician actually needs to do their job on-site.
| Operation | Available | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Create Project | No | Created from CRM or AI receptionist only |
| View Assigned Projects | Yes | Only projects assigned to the logged-in tech |
| View All Projects | No | Owner/manager only in CRM |
| View Project Details | Yes | Full field details; financial data not shown |
| Capture Photo | Yes | Camera opens in-app; GPS + timestamp auto-tagged |
| Upload Existing Photo | Yes | From camera roll; GPS pulled from EXIF or manual pin if missing |
| Delete Photo | No | Must delete from desktop CRM |
| Update Job Status | Yes | On The Way → Arrived → Working → Complete |
| Create Voice Note | Yes | Transcribed to note; can promote to task via AI extraction |
| Create Task | Yes | Manual entry or via voice transcription |
| Complete Task | Yes | Checkbox tap; syncs immediately or queues offline |
| Delete Task | No | Desktop CRM only |
| Check In (time clock) | Yes | GPS-triggered auto check-in, or manual tap |
| Check Out (time clock) | Yes | GPS-triggered auto when leaving geofence, or manual |
| Get Directions to Job Site | Yes | One-tap from day schedule or project card — opens Apple Maps / Google Maps with address pre-loaded and live traffic routing |
| Call Customer | Yes | Tap-to-call from project detail; logged in conversation thread |
| Message Customer | Yes | Opens the conversation thread for this project's customer |
| View Invoice | Yes | Read-only; no line-item editing or amount changes |
| Create Invoice | No | Desktop CRM only |
| Create Change Order | No | Desktop CRM only |
| View Job Costing | No | Owner/manager only; hidden from field view entirely |
| Assign Team Members | No | Desktop CRM only; dispatch-level decision |
| Delete Project | No | Desktop CRM only; destructive operations require deliberate desktop action |
Business Logic — Mobile-Specific Rules
Auto Check-In via GPS Geofence
- When the tech's device enters a 300ft radius of the job site address, the app automatically clocks them in and records the arrival timestamp.
- A push notification fires: "You've arrived at [Project Name] — checking you in."
- The tech can dismiss or override the auto check-in manually if the GPS trigger was premature (e.g., drove past the site without stopping).
- Departure from the geofence triggers automatic check-out. If the tech returns within 15 minutes, the departure is treated as a brief exit — supply run, moving the vehicle — and does not split the time entry.
Photo Auto-Association
- Every photo captured through the app is auto-linked to the currently open project at the moment the shutter fires.
- EXIF GPS coordinates are compared against the project's site address. If the photo was taken within 0.5 miles of the address, the association is confirmed silently.
- If GPS mismatches — tech shot from a vehicle, address resolved to the wrong block — the app prompts: "Which project is this photo for?" with a short list of their active jobs.
- Photos imported from the camera roll follow the same GPS check. If no matching project can be inferred, the tech selects the project manually during import.
Status Updates → Customer Notifications
- "On The Way" → SMS sent to customer: "Your technician is on the way. Estimated arrival: [time]." ETA is calculated from current GPS location to the job site.
- "Arrived" → logged silently with no customer notification. Timestamps the arrival for labor cost tracking and reporting.
- "Complete" → triggers the review request workflow after a configurable delay (default: 2 hours). Also notifies the dispatcher or manager that the job is wrapped.
Voice Note → AI Task Extraction
- The tech holds the microphone button and speaks naturally: "Need to pick up a gallon of sealant and three concrete anchors before the next visit."
- AI transcribes the audio and extracts distinct action items, then presents them as checkboxes.
- The tech confirms which items to save as tasks. Anything that doesn't resolve to a clear action is saved as a plain note with the full transcript appended.
Offline Mode
- The app works fully offline. Photos, notes, status updates, task completions, and voice notes all queue locally on the device.
- A visual indicator in the status bar shows when the app is operating offline.
- Background sync resumes the moment a connection is restored — no manual action needed from the tech.
- Conflict resolution: last-write-wins for status updates (most recent timestamp wins), append-only for photos and notes (nothing is overwritten; duplicates are deduplicated by content hash + timestamp).
What's NOT Available on Mobile (and Why)
The mobile app intentionally omits features that require deliberate review, financial authority, or admin-level context. This keeps the interface clean and prevents costly mistakes made on a job site.
| Feature | Where to Access | Why Not on Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Job Costing & Margins | Desktop CRM | Financial decisions belong to the owner or manager, not the field tech. Margin data is confidential and not relevant to the person doing the physical work. |
| Invoice Creation | Desktop CRM | Invoicing requires careful line-item review, an approval step, and often a second set of eyes before it reaches the customer. |
| Change Order Creation | Desktop CRM | Scope changes require formal customer approval, contract amendment, and coordination with dispatch — not a unilateral field decision. |
| Team Assignment | Desktop CRM | Scheduling and crew assignment affect multiple jobs simultaneously. A field tech reassigning a job from their phone could create conflicts across the entire schedule. |
| Delete Any Record | Desktop CRM | Destructive operations require deliberate action on a desktop with full visibility into downstream consequences. There is no undo for deleting a project with 40 attached photos and a signed contract. |
| View All Jobs (unassigned) | Desktop CRM | Privacy and focus. Techs see only their own work. Browsing unassigned or other techs' jobs is a management function that could create confusion or unauthorized task-grabbing in the field. |
| Customer Financial History | Desktop CRM | Billing history, payment status, and transaction records aren't relevant to field work. Removing them reduces cognitive load and prevents awkward on-site conversations about overdue invoices. |
Design philosophy: The mobile app is built for one person, on one job, in the field. Anything that requires a spreadsheet brain or a full keyboard belongs on desktop. If the tech needs more, they escalate to the owner or manager through a quick message — not by navigating a full admin console from their phone.
Related Pages
| Page | Description |
|---|---|
| Field Capture | Deep dive on the photo and audio capture pipeline — how media is processed, GPS-matched, transcribed, and routed to the right project. |
| GPS & Time Tracking | How geofences work, how check-in / check-out timestamps feed into labor cost, and how GPS breadcrumbs are stored per project. |
| Projects in Cloud CRM | The full admin view with financials, team assignment, bulk actions, and all project statuses. What the owner and manager see. |
| Projects in Customer Portal | The customer-facing project view — progress photos, scheduled appointments, and status updates, with no internal notes or costs visible. |