¶ Building Responsive Fiori Elements Apps for Tablets and Phones
Subject: SAP-Fiori-Elements
Field: SAP
With the growing need for mobile business applications, ensuring that SAP Fiori Elements apps work seamlessly on tablets and smartphones is essential. SAP Fiori Elements, built on the SAPUI5 framework, provides out-of-the-box responsiveness that adapts user interfaces dynamically to different screen sizes and orientations.
This article guides SAP developers and architects on best practices and techniques for building responsive Fiori Elements applications optimized for tablets and phones, enhancing usability and productivity for mobile users.
Mobile devices have smaller screens and varying input methods compared to desktops. Responsive apps:
- Adjust layouts to fit available screen space.
- Prioritize important information.
- Provide touch-friendly controls.
- Enable users to work efficiently on the go.
For enterprise apps in SAP environments, responsiveness is no longer optional—it is a fundamental requirement.
Fiori Elements leverages SAPUI5 controls like Smart Tables, Responsive Tables, and Object Pages that automatically adjust to screen sizes:
- Tables switch from grid to list or compact views.
- Object Pages collapse sections for easier navigation.
- Buttons and inputs are sized for touch.
¶ 2. Flexible Layouts and Grid Systems
SAP Fiori Elements uses a flexible grid layout based on CSS and SAPUI5’s layout controls:
- Content reflows on screen resize.
- Columns stack vertically on narrow screens.
- Smart Filter Bars collapse filters to conserve space.
- Use Smart Tables with responsive behavior enabled.
- Configure visible columns carefully; limit to key fields for phones.
- Use adaptive column visibility via annotations or manifest settings.
- Enable quick filters and collapsible filter bars to reduce clutter.
- Divide content into manageable, collapsible sections.
- Prioritize header information for quick overview.
- Use annotations (
@UI.facet) to define section importance and visibility.
- Ensure actions are accessible via buttons with sufficient touch target size.
- Use SAP Fiori tools’ Preview and Simulator features to test apps on different device sizes.
- Utilize browser developer tools to emulate mobile screens.
- Perform on-device testing with real tablets and phones for touch accuracy and performance.
- Leverage Dynamic Page Header to optimize space usage.
- Use Semantic Page Layouts for consistent mobile navigation.
- Implement lazy loading of data to improve performance on slower mobile networks.
- Avoid complex dialogs; use simple overlays or inline edits.
- Apply UI Adaptation at Runtime to let users personalize views for their device.
- Overloading the screen with too many columns or fields.
- Ignoring touch target sizes, making controls hard to tap.
- Not testing on actual devices, relying only on desktop previews.
- Using fixed widths or pixel-based sizing that breaks layouts on small screens.
Building responsive SAP Fiori Elements apps for tablets and phones is straightforward when leveraging SAPUI5’s responsive controls and Fiori Elements’ metadata-driven approach. By carefully designing layouts, prioritizing information, and thorough testing, developers can deliver mobile-ready enterprise apps that provide an excellent user experience anywhere, anytime.
Embracing responsiveness in Fiori Elements apps not only enhances usability but also drives user adoption and productivity across SAP landscapes.