Apps

Introduction

Apps is one of the key components of the Mendix Portal. In Apps, you can create, deploy, and manage apps, as well as collaborate with others. Apps provides a summary of your current apps, your company apps, and your pending invites.

Creating an App

There are two ways to create apps:

• Using Maia to plan and build your app.
• Using a starter app template.

The following sections describe the process for each option.

Creating an App with Maia

Follow these steps to have Maia plan and generate an app for you:

1. In Apps, click Create App in the upper right corner.

2. Select Plan & Build with Maia.

3. In the Project Context text box, enter as much detail as possible about your future app. These are some details that you could add to help Maia generate an app for you:

   • Describe your goals.
   • Describe your targeted users.
   • List out success criteria.
   • Add requirements.
   • Attach documents, sketches, images.

4. Click Generate Plan. The Project Scope window is displayed, and Maia starts populating it with the proposed project scope.
   The app plan becomes available on the Apps page as soon as you click Generate Plan at the beginning of the workflow. As such, you can go back to the plan at any time after you leave it, and you can already add team members to the app.

   Once the Project Scope window is populated, you can see the following information generated by Maia:

   • Goal – A description of what you want to achieve through the app.
     You can edit this description.

   • Success Criteria – A list of criteria by which to measure the success of the app. You can perform the following actions:

     • In-line edit criteria.
     • Remove criteria by hovering over them, then clicking the trash can icon.
     • Add new criteria by clicking +Add New Success Criteria.

   • Target Users – Cards corresponding to the app's target users, along with each user's goal. You can perform the following actions:

     • In-line edit user details.
     • Remove users or their goals by hovering over them, then clicking the trash can icon.
     • Add users by clicking +Add New User.
     • Add user goals by clicking +Add New User Goal.

   • Requirements – The features that the app must have. You can perform the following actions:

     • In-line edit requirements.
     • Remove features by hovering over them, then clicking the trash can icon.
     • Add new features by clicking +Add New Requirement.

   You can use the pane on the right to chat with Maia about your requirements for the new app.

5. Once you review the project scope and make any changes you deem necessary, click Approve Project Scope in the top right of the page. The status of the project scope changes from Draft to Approved.

6. Click Generate Solution in the top right of the page. The Solution Proposal window is displayed, and Maia starts populating it with the proposed project scope.
   While the solution proposal is being generated, as well as after it's displayed, the Project Scope is locked. If you want to make changes to it, you can click the lock icon to unlock it.
   Once the Solution Proposal window is populated, you can see the following information generated by Maia:

   • Cards corresponding to each epic which contributes to building the app.
     You can remove epics by hovering over them, then clicking the trash can icon.
     Click the card itself to:

     • See the entire list of stories for an epic in the right side panel.
     • Edit the description or details of the epic.

     You can perform the following actions on each story:

     • To see the full details of a story or to edit it, click the three-dot menu, then select Edit.
     • To remove a story, click the three-dot menu, then select Delete.

7. Once you are happy with Maia's suggested project plan, click Open in Studio Pro in the top right of the page. This opens Studio Pro, where you can continue working on the new app. For details, refer to Maia Make in the Studio Pro documentation.

Creating an App from a Starter App Template

Follow these steps to use a starter app:

1. In Apps, click Create App in the upper right corner.

2. Select Use a Starter App. A screen opens to guide you through the process.

3. Enter the following information for your app:

   • App name – Every app must have a name that abides by these requirements:

     • It cannot be longer than 200 characters, but Mendix recommends no more than 40 characters.
     • It can contain letters, numbers, underscores (_), dashes (-), or white spaces ().
     • It must not start with a white space.

   • App description (Optional) – Give your app a short description. This is optional.

   • App icon – Mendix has generated an icon for your app. You can change the color of the icon if you like. You can upload a custom icon in the App Settings page once you have created the app.

4. Click Next to go to step 2.

5. Select a starter app template on which the app will be based. The most used starter app templates are displayed.

   Some templates offer multiple versions for you to choose from, which are displayed as selectable options. By default, the stable version is pre-selected.

   If you want to choose a different starter app template than the ones displayed, click the discover community starter apps link at the top. This takes you to the Marketplace, where you can browse through all available starter app templates and select one that suits your needs.

6. After selecting a starter app template, click Create App. Based on the starter app template you selected, it can take some time to set up the app, its repository, and access to the collaboration tools. After it is completed, the app is created.

My Apps

The My Apps tab displays all the apps for which you are a Team member.

You can filter the overview to display only the apps that are marked for deletion. Read more about how we mark apps for deletion in the Deletion of Unused Projects section of Mendix Cloud.

Use the drop-down menu on the right side of the page to sort the apps by Pinned, Recent Activity or in alphabetical order of App Name.

You can filter by the assigned Project Categories by clicking the Filter ( ) button on the right side. The available categories are displayed in a side panel.
Categories are maintained by the Mendix Admins of your company, on the Project Categories page in Control Center.
If you have the App Settings permission, you can assign categories to an app on the app's Settings page, helping to improve classification and searchability.

App Tiles

You can pin an app tile by clicking Pin ( ). Pinned apps appear at the top of the list.

To stop watching an app and disable notifications for that app, click the icon so that you see the You are not watching this app tooltip. To return to watching that app, click the icon so that you see the You are watching this app tooltip.

By clicking More Options ( ) in the app tile, you can quickly perform the actions Edit in Mendix Studio Pro and Leave App.

To go to the licensed environments of your deployed app, click Environments at the bottom of the app tile.

Navigation Pane

You can open an app in Apps by clicking the app tile. After an app is open, you can navigate between sections using the navigation pane on the left side of the screen.

The navigation pane is divided into these main categories:

• General
• Project Management
• App Insights
• Repository
• Deployment
• Monitoring

Pending Invitations

If you are invited to collaborate on an app, your invitation is displayed at the top of the My Apps page. You can accept or decline the invitation.

Company Apps

The Company Apps tab displays all the apps created by members of your company.

There are also details on the app's Target Cloud, and the Total Members who can view or edit the app.

You can also sort the order of the apps here by Recent Activity, Created Date, Name.

Guide Categories

The documentation of Apps is divided into the following categories: