App message on opening

Feature Requests
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1

Issue

As an app developer, I sometimes want to display a message temporarily to the users, without having to modify the app’s code. Some use cases:

  1. A bug has been found.
    → In this case, I would like to be able to add a message “A critical error has been found. Please do not use this app until we find a solution” or “A bug in the calculation of [result] has been found. Please disregard this result.”.
  2. I am testing changes to a worker’s configuration: the worker is active and connected to the apps for me to test it. Therefore users may run the app and get errors because the worker isn’t set up properly yet.
    → message : “This app is currently under maintenance. It will be available soon. For urgent requests, contact [my email]”
  3. Similarly, I am making performance tests.
    → message : “This app is currently unavailable”.
  4. A new app version exists.
    → message : “This app is outdated. Please use [app 2] instead”.
  5. The app has a new feature.
    → message : “A new feature has been added: [feature description]”.

Proposed design

An additional tab “Display message” in app > Edit App with the following:

  • a New message button to create a message, that switches to Remove message to remove the message when it isn’t useful anymore.
  • a text box for the title.
  • a second text box (ideally supporting Markdown), for the message.
  • a dropdown of icons, including :warning: , :new_button: , :star: , :beetle: , :no_entry:, :loudspeaker: , :hourglass_not_done:.
  • a checkbox to choose if the user must click on OK or not.

The result would be, for the user, that when they open the app, a message box appears

:warning: WARNING
A new version of this app exists
Check out [app 2]!
OK

Current workarounds

The workaround is to create a message box in the parametrization, however that is highly unpractical in the cases mentioned above.

2

Hi @RemiPelletier ,

Interesting request! I like the idea of being able to set a status, and this then becomes more visible to user. We currently have a fixed status popup when you enter the “Test app” workspace. This idea makes it more flexible.

@StijnJ , @tvantil

1 Like
3

Hi @RemiPelletier

I’m exploring ways to enhance the overall flow and reliability of our apps. One aspect I’m exploring is the concept of app statuses, such as “in development” or “maintenance,” and transitioning to a “ready to use” status.

I’m curious about your thoughts on how these statuses might align with your needs, especially concerning the types of messages you’d find useful.

Would you be open to a 30-minute Teams call? I’d love to hear more about your experiences and preferences regarding these messages and the contexts in which you find them most relevant.

Thanks for considering this, and I look forward to our discussion!

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4

Dedeepya of KCB also indicated that this would be helpful. They have a case where they notice that a certain part of the app was not yet reviewed. The app has already been added to a couple of projects. They therefore want to put all apps on pause until the review is done. How they want to do that now is to archive everything, but this is a laborious task, and not ideal.

An alternative approach would be to notify all users when they enter the app what the status of the app is, what they should look out for, etc.

1 Like