What Devices

We don't make specific recommendations on device models however the following provides some guidance on device selection. Selection depends on intended functional usage and working environment. We also suggest that its worth considering whether often expensive industrial models are worth the investment given that cheaper, often faster models, can be protected with covers and be replaced at a fraction of the cost. 

Things to Consider

Here are some things to consider:

1. In general faster and newer is nearly always better however there is a point of diminishing returns
2. Required battery life and recharge time depends on the availability of recharge points, whether a recharge interruption 'works' in a business process sense and whether the devices are shared between shifts or allocated to individuals
3. The required storage size requirements depends on anticipated device data. This can be influenced by:
   • FL and Equipment record numbers and associated classification values
   • Work Order numbers and associated technical objects
   • Material numbers
   • Geo-spatial data, especially map tiles
   • Documents - both from SAP and captured on the device
4. The form factor depends on anticipated functions. For example if you have lots of typing then a tablet would be preferable to a phone. However if your working environment demands single hand access then a phone form factor is clearly better. It could be that multiple form factors are needed within an organisation to support varied roles and operating environments
5. Industry or safety standards (i.e. food safety, mining, petro-chemical, etc)
6. Screen visibility, i.e. low and high light level which goes to the working environment
7. Screen performance, i.e. touch sensitivity and working with protective equipment, goes to your working environment
8. Separate keyboards, i.e. Bluetooth, should be considered if a lot of typing is required
9. The availability of additional Cordova Plugins to support any extraordinary integration requirements you may have - like RFID scanners, IoT sensors, etc
10. Device/OS support of other software you have requirements for - i.e. MS Office software, etc
11. Device/OS support for integration with enterprise MDM solution for device security and application deployment and management
12. GEO requirements - see section below for more on this

General Guidance on Device and Browsers

Here is some general guidance on device specifications. 

Notes:

1. If you elect to only use Apple Wi-Fi models, then you won't have access to GPS functionality. Effectively this means that the device cannot accurately determine your current location. You will have Wi-Fi assisted location services but the outcome of these can vary - for example, the Wi-Fi connection may be associated with a location that is nowhere near your actual location. 
2. Different laptops and tablets have varying degrees of GPS capability.
3. New Microsoft Edge (Chromium based) Browser is not supported when run in Internet Explorer compatibility mode.
4. In terms of the + notation for OS's, this is general guidance. We obviously can't provide assurances on future OS releases and customers should always test against targeted releases prior to deployment and OS upgrades.
5. Neptune 6.0.19+ is required for BlueWorx Desktop on Safari 

Unsupported Options

Technology options are generally inter-related and software and hardware vendors move their products and versions from supported to not-supported as they see fit. So while a given technology may have previously been supported, there is no guarantee that such support will continue by the vendors. In this section we provide updates to items that might have once been supported but are no longer.

Neptune Software 

Please check with Neptune Software for supported Neptune Software releases and each BlueWorx support pack release for specific Neptune and SAPUI5 versions.

SAPUI5 Versions

Please check with SAP for supported SAPUI5 releases and each BlueWorx support pack releases for specific Neptune and SAPUI5 versions.

Windows Internet Explorer 11 (IE11)

The use of Internet Explorer 11 is no longer supported. Relevant information includes:

• Microsoft announced to stop the support of Internet Explorer 11 for certain OS versions on June 15, 2022.

• SAPUI5 no longer supports IE11 starting with SAPUI5 1.88 (2104). Note that for long-term IE11 support (End of Maintenance 31.12.2027) following versions are recommended: SAP_UI 7.54 with SAPUI5 version 1.71 in combination with Frontend Server 6.0 (FES 6.0). See SAP Note 1672817 - Browser: Microsoft Legacy Edge and Internet Explorer Support Policy Note

Edge HTML

SAPUI5 no longer supports Edge Legacy (Edge HTML) starting March 9, 2021.

Windows UWP

We do not promote/ support the use of BlueWorx on Windows UWP apps. This is because Microsoft have effectively removed support for UWP apps, and we have received reports of issues with the use of UWP apps on some device types at the operating system level. These issues cannot be accurately identified, nor remediated, nor will Microsoft provide support. 

Prior to this change here's what we said on this topic on this page regarding UWP use:

Important: Note 5. BlueWorx will run on Windows 10 UWP however their lack of market penetration means that the devices tested and experience is far less than other options. In our experience, Windows UWP application error handling is far less stable than iOS and Android and in some cases causes app crashes. It's also far harder to technically deploy. Given the lack of customer demand for Windows UWP, as of 2020 we no longer actively supporting its use but will consider it based on customer need.

GEO Functionality

The performance of GEO functionality optionally available in BlueWorx is heavily dependent on the performance of the device and your GEO services. This is particularly noticeable where multiple 'heavy' layers are selected simultaneously on tablets, with their larger screen size than phones, with low specifications. Configuring the layers to not show too 'high' and good user practices of turning on only the layers required can help reduce this problem but fundamentally it's a device performance issue.

What Data Storage is Used?

Different storage is used by different underlying applications and browsers.