Use Onplana Schedule on a phone or tablet

Onplana Schedule runs on iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets as well as on Windows and Mac. It opens the same files (.mpp, Project XML, Primavera .xer, ProjectLibre, Excel, CSV and more) and schedules them with the same engine, so a date or a critical task on the phone is the same as on the computer. This article covers what is different on a small screen. For everything the app does, see Open Microsoft Project files with Onplana Schedule.

Help (the question mark on Home, and Help in the More menu of a plan) opens this article. Settings and about, from the gear, has a Documentation line that opens it too.

Phone or tablet

The app picks its layout from the screen. A screen whose short side is under 600 points (a phone) gets the phone layout described below, and keeps it when you turn the phone sideways. A larger screen (a tablet, or a foldable unfolded) gets the editor, described in On a tablet.

Open a file

1. On Home, tap Open a file and pick the plan in the system’s file picker.

2. Or send a file to the app from another app: open it from Files, or share it from Mail, Teams or a chat, and choose Onplana Schedule.

Recent plans are listed on Home, so you can open one again with a tap. Home also starts a new schedule, empty or from a built-in template, and, where the app offers it, Describe a project asks the AI to write a plan from a few sentences.

A file sent from another app on iPhone and iPad

A file that reaches the app from another app is a copy, so the app does not change the original. When you save it, the app asks where to keep your copy. A file you pick with Open a file is saved back where it is.

Read the List

A plan opens on the List: one row per task, with its dates and the critical path marked, under a line with the task count and the finish date. Tap the arrow on a summary row to show or hide the tasks under it, or use Expand all and Collapse all.

Search has its own row: type part of a task’s name to narrow the List. Below it, the filter chips narrow it further:

• Critical tasks only shows the tasks on the critical path.
• Today, Next 7 days, Next 2 weeks and Custom show the tasks that run in that window.

The views switch between List, Timeline and Network.

The Timeline

The Timeline draws the plan as bars, with the links between them and a line for today. Pinch to zoom in and out around your fingers, or use the zoom buttons. Hide task names gives the bars the whole width.

To change dates, turn the phone sideways. Then hold a bar and drag it to move the task, or hold its end and drag to make it longer or shorter.

The task sheet

Tap a task to open its sheet. There you can change its name, duration, dates and progress, and use Mark started today and Mark done today. The sheet also adds a subtask, inserts a task below, moves a task up or down, indents or outdents it, and deletes it (a summary task asks first).

Predecessors lists the tasks this one waits for. Add a predecessor picks the task, the link type and a lag in working days (negative for a lead).

On a plan opened from Onplana, the sheet offers Open this task in Onplana.

Change several tasks

Hold a task in the List, or choose Select tasks in the More menu, to tick several rows. The bar above the List then changes them together, indents or outdents them, or deletes them. Swipe a single row to indent or outdent it.

Compare two versions

More > Compare with another version opens a second save of the same plan. The Changes view then lists what changed, task by task.

Check schedule quality

Quality runs the DCMA 14-point assessment on the plan. A check that finds tasks offers to show them, which narrows the List to those tasks.

Check the schedule’s health

Health opens the same Schedule health check as on the computer, with the same findings. As with Quality, a finding can narrow the List to its tasks.

Share and save

Share sends the plan to Mail, Teams, Messages or Files as one of:

• the chart as a PDF or picture, which anyone can read with no app;
• the task table as CSV, for Excel, Google Sheets or Power BI;
• the plan as Project XML, which opens in Microsoft Project and in Onplana Schedule.

Save writes the plan back to its file. If the app closes before you save, it keeps your changes and offers to recover them the next time you open the plan, as on the computer.

On a tablet

A tablet shows the editor of the Windows and Mac app: the menu bar, the task grid beside the Gantt chart, and the other views and dialogs. It is made for touch:

• Hold a row to open its task menu, or tap the button at the end of the row.
• Rows and pickers are large enough for a finger.
• With a keyboard attached, the app’s shortcuts work and the menus show the keys your keyboard has.

Everything in Open Microsoft Project files with Onplana Schedule applies on a tablet.