Mobile preview

The mobile preview is a mini iPhone frame on the canvas that shows you how a workflow will look on your staff's phones. It updates live as you build the template, so you can spot wording or layout problems before publishing.

What it is

The preview is a small iPhone-shaped thumbnail anchored to the right edge of the canvas, halfway down the screen. It mirrors the current state of the workflow you're building. Every time you add or edit a step, the preview redraws itself.

What you see inside the frame is the same view your staff will see in the live mobile app.

How to expand it to full size

1. Click the mini iPhone frame on the right of the canvas.
2. The frame animates outwards to fill the screen.
3. The rest of the canvas dims behind it.

In the expanded view, you can type into text fields, tick checkboxes, pick radio options, and try out the workflow as if you were a member of staff filling it in.

How to close the expanded view

You have two ways out:

• Click the X button in the top-right corner of the screen
• Press the Esc key

The frame shrinks back down to its mini size on the canvas.

Filling in mock answers

The expanded preview is fully interactive. Anything you type into an input or tick on a checkbox is a mock answer. Mock answers are kept while you flip between the mini and expanded views, so you can leave the preview open in your head as you tweak the canvas.

Mock answers are not saved anywhere. They're just for your own testing. They don't show up in workflow runs, and they don't follow the template when you publish it. They also reset if you close the canvas and reopen it later.

What the preview does not do

The preview is a visual check, not a full simulation. A few things behave differently:

• Poppi steps (briefings, decisions, actions) don't actually run in the preview. Those run on the server when the workflow fires for real, not at design time. In the preview, you'll see the step's card but it won't generate text or take action
• Any step that isn't wired up to the rest of the workflow with a line is skipped. If you've dropped a step onto the canvas but haven't connected it yet, it won't show up in the preview
• Group containers, the trigger, and shift-related controls are workflow plumbing rather than staff-facing steps. They don't appear in the preview either — only the things your team would actually see on their phone

Background scroll while expanded

Once the preview is expanded, the page behind it is locked in place. You can't scroll the canvas while the fullscreen view is up. Closing the preview unlocks it again.

Tips

• Use the preview every few minutes as you build. It's the quickest way to catch confusing wording, missing instructions, or a step that's in the wrong order.
• If the preview shows fewer steps than you've added, check that every step is connected with a line. Orphan steps (not joined to anything) are hidden from the preview.
• If a Poppi briefing or action doesn't look like it's doing anything, that's expected. Use the per-step test drawer on the canvas to dry-run Poppi steps with sample data instead.
• Try the preview both on your laptop and on a real phone after publishing. The preview is accurate, but seeing the workflow on the actual hardware in the field is always a useful final check.