FileOnion on Mobile
FileOnion works in any modern mobile browser — there is no app to install, for you or for your clients. On narrow screens the interface rearranges itself for touch: the sidebar and footer give way to a bottom navigation bar, tables become cards, and uploads can come straight from the camera.
This guide covers the touch layout for firm users and for clients.
When the mobile layout kicks in
Below roughly 1024px wide. That includes phones and most tablets in portrait — a tablet gets the same bottom navigation a phone does.
Bottom navigation
The tab bar at the bottom of the screen replaces the desktop sidebar. What it contains depends on who you are.
Firm users
Four tabs around a center button:
Home · Requests · ⊕ · Templates · More
The center ⊕ opens a Create new… sheet — the same options as the desktop New menu:
- New request — collect documents from a client
- New client — add a contact to your workspace
- New message — send a one-off message to a client
- New template — save a reusable request shape
- Upload file — add a document to your library
- Create folder — organize files in your library
Tap it again (it becomes Close) to dismiss the sheet.
Clients
Four evenly spaced tabs, no create button:
Dashboard · Requests · Documents · Support
The More sheet
Everything that doesn't fit in four tabs lives behind More:
- Workspace — Clients, File Manager, Kanban Board
- Admin (Owners and Admins) — Organization, Workflows, Single Sign-On
- Account — Support, Sign out
- Legal — Terms of Service, Privacy Policy
The legal links live here on mobile because the desktop footer is hidden at this width.
Uploading from a phone
Both the client portal and the firm-side File Manager offer camera capture. The upload area reads Tap to upload or take a photo, with two buttons:
- Take photo — opens the rear camera so a client can photograph a passport, a pay stub, or a signed form directly into the request
- Choose file — picks from the device's files or photo library
Tell clients they can just photograph it
Most client-side friction on mobile is people trying to scan a document to a computer first. A phone photo of a clear, well-lit page uploads in one tap and is usually good enough.
While an upload or download is running, a status strip appears just above the bottom navigation showing progress, so you can navigate away without losing track of it.
The Kanban board on a phone
Dragging cards between columns is awkward on a small screen, so each card's menu includes Move to stage — tap it and pick the destination stage from a list. Columns scroll independently under sticky stage headers. See Kanban Board.
Creating a request on a phone
The request composer is laid out for one thumb:
- Two starter chips at the top — Draft with AI and Start from template — each opening a full-height sheet.
- The form is a stack of collapsible sections. Closed sections summarize what's in them, and if you try to submit with something missing, the section with the problem is badged and opens itself so you can see the error.
- The Recipient section is open by default on a new request.
- The AI Request Builder is a floating button that opens as a full-height sheet rather than a docked side panel.
- The action bar keeps Save & Send labeled and collapses Save to an icon, so both fit even on a 320px screen.
See Requests and AI Request Builder.
What clients see on mobile
Your client's experience needs no explanation from you: the magic link in their email or text opens the request in their phone's browser, signed in, with no account and nothing to install. They get the same document list, checklists, camera upload, and comments as on desktop, laid out for a phone. See The Client Portal.