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Tabs on mobile

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When you're building a Microsoft Teams app that includes a tab, you must test how your tab functions on both the Android and iOS Microsoft Teams clients. This article outlines some of the key scenarios you must consider to ensure optimal user experience.

Apps distributed through the Microsoft Teams Store have a separate approval process for mobile clients. The default behavior of such apps is as follows:

App capability Behavior if app is approved Behavior if app is not approved
Personal tabs App appears in the bottom bar of the mobile clients. Tabs open in the Teams client. App doesn't appear in the bottom bar of the mobile clients.
Channel and group tabs The tab opens in the Teams client using contentUrl. If websiteUrl is available in the app manifest file, the tab opens in a browser outside Teams.
If websiteUrl isn’t available in the app manifest file, the tab isn’t accessible on Teams mobile. However, the tab is still accessible on Desktop and web.

Note

  • Apps submitted to the AppSource for publishing on Teams are evaluated automatically for mobile responsiveness. For any queries, reach out to teamsubm@microsoft.com.
  • For all apps that are not distributed through the AppSource, the tabs open in an in-app webview within the Teams clients by default and there is no separate approval process required.
  • The default behavior of apps is only applicable if distributed through the Teams Store. By default, all tabs open in the Teams client.
  • To initiate an evaluation of your app for mobile-friendliness, reach out to teamsubm@microsoft.com with your app details.
  • If a mobile app has multiple tabs, whenever the user switches a tab, the tab doesn't reload.

Authentication

For authentication to work on mobile clients, you must upgrade you Teams JavaScript library to at least version 1.4.1.

Low bandwidth and intermittent connections

Mobile clients function with low bandwidth and intermittent connections. Your app must handle any timeouts appropriately by providing a contextual message to the user. You must also use progress indicators to provide feedback to your users for any long-running processes.

Testing on mobile clients

You must validate that your tab functions properly on mobile devices of various sizes and qualities. For Android devices, you can use DevTools to debug your tab while it's running. It's recommended that you test on both high and low-performance devices, including a tablet.

Publish to Teams Store

Apps listed on the Teams Store must be approved for mobile use to function properly in the Teams mobile client. Tab availability and behavior depends on whether your app is approved.

Apps on Teams Store approved for mobile

The following table describes tab availability and behavior when the app is listed on the Teams Store and approved for mobile use:

Capability Mobile availability? Mobile behavior
Channel
and group tab		 Yes Tab opens in the Teams mobile client using your app's contentUrl configuration.
Personal app Yes Each tab in the personal app tab opens in the Teams mobile client using its respective contentUrl configuration.

Apps on Teams Store not approved for mobile

The following table describes tab availability and behavior when the app is listed on the Teams Store but not approved for mobile use:

Capability Mobile availability? Mobile behavior
Channel and group tab Yes Tab opens in the device's default browser instead of the Teams mobile client using your app's websiteUrl configuration, which must also be included in your source code's setSettings() function.
Personal app No Not applicable

Note

  • The bot messages are shown in the chat section if a mobile app has both the bot and tab capabilities.
  • When you select Chat of the bot app and select More (...), you can't see the tab capability of that app in the list. However, if you select More (...) from the lower right of the Chat section, you can view the tab app with a link to the bot app capability of that app.

Apps not on Teams Store

If you're uploading your custom app or publishing to an organization's app catalog, tab behavior is the same as Teams Store apps approved by Microsoft for mobile.

Next step

Get context for your tab

See also