Happy Halloween, everyone! Right on point and as promised IBM released IBM Domino Mobile Apps (IDMA) for beta testers via Apple's Test Flight ecosystem. Once registered on the beta page, we received the invitation for the Test Flight app today.
Setup
Once installed you have to setup the connection to your Domino ecosystem. Choose our user ID name and the server to which you want to connect first. This should be a server on your local network. At least I experienced a problem connecting to a server that's outside my local network. I guess I should have used the "real" hostname of the machine, not the domain name where I can access the server.
You then will be asked to enter the name of your ID file if it's not stored in the server's directory (which shouldn't be the case in existing environments). This was my first hurdle to overcome: how to get the ID file onto the iPad? My ID is already cloud-stored but I could not define the path to it properly. The key is using iTunes (yeah, I know...) to sync a file through the file sharing feature. Connect your iPad to your Mac or PC (cable or wifi would do). Then open the device in iTunes and navigate to "file sharing". In the list of available apps find "Domino Apps". The list on the right should be empty. You can now drag and drop your ID file into this empty space. Then start the sync process.
After you copied your ID file you can continue with the setup. Just type the file name (without any path) into the field. Once IDMA recognized the ID it will prompt for the ID password.
Here is the official getting started guide: https://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ibm10738139
Welcome
After that you will be presented with the home screen which is similar to the normal workspace page in IBM Notes. This is called "Recent Applications" and entitled "Home".
In the upper left corner you find a hamburger menu. Here you can open an application. The dialog first will present local resources - yes, you can have your NSF locally replicated, too!
Choose a server from the list. Under "Other" you find all the servers of your Domino Named network - awesome! In a Notes client you have to have at least one tile to be offered with other servers so this is even better than on the desktop.
Let's try
In my case it was hard to find a legacy app that is not ported to XPages / other web access, but I finally got some. Whenever you opened an application it's added to the recent apps screen as a tile. The amount of tiles is static and at this time you can't remove an app from that page - it's a beta, right?
Here are some impressions from what it looks like using legacy apps and more sexier apps (like the wine tasting app from Theo Heselmans) on your iPad.
Restrictions
I tried several apps that work on the desktop. Sometimes IDMA gives a warning when opening an app that utilizes Java in some way. Java isn't supported on iOS of course so you may face limitations - but the app will open and you can at least access views and forms - and your data.
Conclusion
This will seemlessly integrate into your environment once it's available for all and will start a new era of using legacy apps on mobile devices.