Designing for your target platforms
SurveyCTO is a "mobile-first" platform, built initially for Android devices, then later extended to support web and iOS. Each target platform is different, and so not every SurveyCTO feature works equally well everywhere. When designing your forms, therefore, you'll want to factor in any limitations that might affect your chosen target platforms.
Following is a quick summary of features with less than complete support. (If a feature isn't listed here, it's supported everywhere!)
| Feature | Web | Android | iOS |
| geopoint fields | limited support 1 | limited support 2 | |
| geoshape fields | |||
| geotrace fields | |||
| barcode fields | |||
| image fields | limited support 3 | ||
| deviceid fields | |||
| subscriberid fields | |||
| simserial fields | |||
| phonenumber fields | |||
| audio audit fields | |||
| speed violations audit fields | |||
| sensor_statistic fields | |||
| sensor_stream fields | |||
| Scan mode in enumerator fields | |||
| Ability to act as the default phone app | |||
| phone-call-log() function | |||
| phone-call-duration() function | |||
| collect-is-phone-app() function | |||
| Form shortcuts on device home screen | |||
| Integration with external apps | |||
| Local WiFi sync | |||
| Display density setting | |||
| Copying device settings | |||
| Uploading default device configurations | |||
| Debug mode | |||
| Reload submission with updated form definition | |||
| Sending crash reports | |||
| Supports requiring a device lock screen | |||
| Workspace passcode (formerly app passcode) | |||
| Public workspace storage | |||
| Quick setup |
1 geopoint on web: no support for background appearance or offline map tiles
2 geopoint on iOS: no support for offline map tiles
3 image on web: no support for annotate, draw, or signature appearances
Test wherever you will deploy
Though it's most convenient to do most of your form testing on the web, you'll definitely want to test your final forms on all target devices, before deploying them for data-collection.
Keep devices updated
For users filling out your forms on a mobile device, you will also want to make sure the Collect app is updated to the latest version, otherwise some features may be unavailable. Your server console has a setting called enforce minimum app version, which will ensure that your forms always work properly and consistently on every device. See the topic on managing device security for more information.
