A mobile app starts with a task someone needs to finish on their phone. Decide how that person must reach the task before promising a home-screen icon, offline work or an app-store launch.
This Part 1 guide helps you choose a delivery path for an Overskill project. Compare three routes against one essential task, identify the evidence still missing, and leave with either a small pilot or a clear reason to stop. The mobile app builder remains the place to describe the app you want to build.
Download the phone delivery evidence board. It includes four worked decisions and a blank board. The businesses and requirements are fictional. None of the examples records a completed phone installation or an app test.
Write one task and one non-negotiable condition
“We need an app” does not tell you how to deliver it. “A visitor scans our sign and finds stall C7 without installing anything” does. Keep the essential condition separate from preferences such as a familiar icon or a polished store listing.
Record who will use the app, the task they must finish, and what would make a route unacceptable. Name the actual phone, operating-system version and browser when testing; leave them Not recorded until you have that information. “Works on mobile” is too broad to be a result.
Treat a changed requirement as a new decision. If a partner later makes a store listing mandatory, preserve the original browser-pilot decision and explain why it no longer covers the new launch.
Compare routes without giving them a score
Scroll horizontally to compare all columns.
| Route | What you are choosing | What still needs evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Browser link | Open the published URL, including from a QR link | The actual first visit and essential task on each target phone and browser |
| Browser installation | Add the site through a supported browser and launch it from the device | The available installation path, what the icon opens, and whether the task still works after closing and reopening |
| App-store distribution | Make a branded listing available through the required store | Current platform availability, a real listing and the task in the delivered app |
These are delivery choices, not levels of quality. A link can be the right answer for a visitor who needs one quick result.
Installation also does not establish offline behavior. MDN separates installability from an offline experience and documents differences between browsers and platforms. For device steps, use Overskill’s installation help alongside the current browser instructions; Apple’s iPhone guide describes its Safari path. Record what your target device actually offers rather than assuming that every icon has the same behavior.
Current store limit: on October 11, 2026, Overskill’s App Store publishing FAQ says branded App Store and Google Play publishing are not available on any plan. Recheck that availability before relying on a store route. A plan upgrade or a home-screen installation does not resolve a mandatory store-listing requirement.
Work through four different decisions
Scroll horizontally to compare all columns.
| Fictional task and required condition | First decision | App evidence |
|---|---|---|
| M1: A craft-fair visitor finds stall C7 from a QR sign, with no installation before first use. Online access is acceptable. | Test the browser-link route first. Making installation mandatory would contradict the requirement. | Not tested |
| M2: A returning studio member opens the weekly timetable from a home-screen icon. Online access is acceptable. | Test browser installation on the named target devices. A browser link alone does not satisfy the required launch method. | Not tested |
| M3: An event organizer records a supply count without a connection, closes the app, then reconnects without losing or duplicating the change. | Keep delivery unresolved until an offline prototype proves that whole sequence. Selecting an installation route cannot settle it. | Not tested |
| M4: A partner requires a branded store listing before launch. | Stop or defer this Overskill delivery plan under the current documented limit. Independently verify another approach if the requirement cannot change. | Not tested; platform availability checked separately |
M1 and M2 select the next test, not a completed solution. The blank board leaves task readiness unresolved while a mandatory check is untested. M4 is a real no-fit decision under the stated requirement; the board does not send that reader into a build to discover an already-documented blocker.
Make the result mean something
Use Pass, Fail or Not tested for each actual task check. A pass needs a dated observation on the named device and app version. A failed mandatory check blocks that tested route until repaired and retested. An untested mandatory check remains unresolved. Optional conveniences cannot cancel either result.
For M2, seeing an icon is only the installation checkpoint. Close the app, launch from that icon and find the correct week’s timetable. If sign-in is required, include it in the task instead of assuming that a session carries over.
For M3, define the expected saved record first. Then test creating or editing while disconnected, closing and reopening, reconnecting, and the chosen retry or conflict behavior. A cached page is not evidence that an offline edit survived. Record each result separately and keep failed evidence when you retest. The interruption guide helps plan recovery checks; this board does not implement synchronization.
Turn a suitable pilot into an Overskill brief
If a mobile-web pilot can address the task, open the app brief builder. Enter the audience and one outcome. In the records field, include the chosen entry route, target-device checks, online or offline requirement, and what you are deliberately leaving out. Choose access rules that match the data. Public stall information should not make private member records public.
Review the generated brief by editing its input fields, then choose Start build. Copy brief is available when you want to retain the text. The link imports no board, installs nothing and does not add offline synchronization or store distribution. Normal account access and credit requirements apply when building.
If the required route is unavailable, stop or defer. If the key behavior is unknown, keep a proof task with an owner and a review date. Once the selected pilot actually passes, continue with the app launch checklist.