Published Release Notes

Improved mobile app user experience

Pega Platform™ can now produce a better mobile experience through performance gains and flexible access settings. Apps now support quick-loading native worklists, smooth scrolling and swiping, and query-based search, which improve productivity for mobile users. In addition, you can make your app available to users without authentication, and enhance usability for products that do not require strict security controls.

For more information, see Securing mobile apps.

More efficient mobile development

The work environment for mobile app developers in Pega Platform™ is now more intuitive. Because every new out-of-the-box application now comes with a preconfigured mobile channel, you can start building mobile apps straight away. Create a mobile channel from scratch, and then customize it to include specific requirements for your new app.

The following updates enhance the process of building mobile apps:

• Your application stores all mobile channels as rules. You can reuse these channels across all versions of your mobile apps for more convenient updates.
• You can now configure contextual search from the mobile channel.
• You can now create native mobile list pages for the app navigation directly from the mobile channel.
• You can now add pages from web portals to a mobile app navigation pane, with full support for native mobile features, such as floating action buttons.
• Mobile channels now support configuration through predefined templates, widgets, and actions.
• You can now instantly preview your mobile channel configuration to see how the app displays on mobile devices.
• Configuration of offline support for mobile apps is now available from a single, low-code page.
• The preview section now offers a low-code pane, from which you can instantly start building a mobile app.
• The mobile channel now supports adding custom iOS and Android modules.
• Admin Studio now supports a mobile page, from which you can provide your own Mobile Build Server credentials and decide whether users need to provide authentication to download your mobile app.

Improved offline support for mobile apps

The updated offline mode in Pega Platform™ now reduces implementation time, enhances the development process, and helps you create a more comprehensive mobile experience for users without a reliable web connection.

The improved offline support includes the following enhancements:

• Offline-enabled apps now use native mobile UI components, such as headers and bottom bars.
• Offline mode now supports decision trees for improved case processing. 
• Users can now process multiple cases simultaneously in separate offline tabs, which leads to higher productivity.
• Offline-enabled apps now work more efficiently because of improved caching and background synchronization.

For more information, see Working with offline apps.

Mobile features deprecated in 8.4

Following the introduction of new functionalities for mobile apps, some features are reaching end of life. To avoid additional effort during updates to future releases, do not use deprecated features.

In the 8.4 release, the following features are no longer recommended:

• Mobile Client 7 is now deprecated and planned for removal in 8.5. Use Pega Infinity Mobile Client to meet the mobile needs of your business.
• The Reuse existing web portal functionality is deprecated and planned for removal in 8.5. For improved app performance and more efficient development, use the mobile app builder in the mobile channel. Also, you must convert existing projects to use separate channels for mobile and web portals before upgrading to 8.5.

In addition, the Pega Mobile Express app has been removed from app stores and replaced with the Pega Mobile Preview app.

Low-code styling in mobile apps

The mobile channel now supports enhanced low-code styling and branding of mobile apps. For example, you can customize app icons in three different ways: by uploading an image, by selecting from a list of font icons, or by using the default text-based icons. This enhancement helps you to conveniently customize the look of mobile apps to match the branding guidelines of your company and provide a consistent experience for users across different channels.

For more information, see Applying a custom theme to mobile apps.

Offline support for Cosmos-based mobile apps

Mobile apps that are based on the Cosmos design system now support offline mode. Previously, offline-enabled apps had to rely on the classic look. Now, you can use the low-code Cosmos solutions to design apps that operate reliably regardless of the connection status. 

For more information, see Designing apps for offline mode.

Removal of Pega Mobile Client 7

You can now use a single Pega Mobile Client™ that improves app performance, app development, and meets all your mobile needs. With the introduction of new functionalities for mobile apps, Pega Mobile Client 7 is removed in Pega Platform™ 8.5.

Upgrade impact

After an upgrade to Pega 8.5, you can no longer build mobile apps based on Pega Mobile Client 7, and existing apps based on Pega Mobile Client 7 no longer connect to Pega Platform. App developers can now configure mobile apps with Pega Mobile Client.

What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?

Existing clients that upgrade to Pega 8.5 are automatically switched to Pega Mobile Client.

Web portal reuse removed from the mobile channel

The reuse of web portals for creating mobile apps with a single web view is no longer supported. You can conveniently update your existing channels that reuse web portals to take advantage of the multiple-views experience and native mobile capabilities, such as native mobile list views or floating action buttons.

Upgrade impact

The Reuse web portal option is removed from Pega Platform 8.5 and later.

What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?

App developers need to use the migration tool available on the mobile channel to move their apps to the recommended new navigation designer. When users open existing mobile channel with the Reuse web portal option configured, they are prompted to run through the wizard to upgrade the mobile channel to the latest Pega Mobile Client based configuration. When this is done, app developers should rebuild the app.

Enhanced search in the mobile channel

The search configuration now includes up to three additional secondary fields, such as the case ID, category, cost, date, owner, and active channel. The enhancement increases the usability of search on mobile apps and provides more contextual information in the search results.

For more information, see Adding a search gadget.

Improved mobile channel user experience

Mobile channel authoring now includes two significant enhancements to the user experience. The new instant run-time preview makes security configuration more convenient. In addition, the offline tab is now present by default, to help you build offline-enabled mobile apps and complete assignments in areas with limited connectivity.