Deprecations
This page lists all Resco features that are currently being deprecated.
Introduction
The Resco platform supports a wide variety of devices, operating systems, or browsers. To support newer standards and technologies, sometimes we must give up support for older things. This allows us to improve performance, security, and streamline hardware and software requirements of Resco solutions – ultimately providing more powerful, efficient, and consistent experience to you, our customers and partners.
The deprecation of a feature starts on the announcement date for the deprecation. The feature will continue to function until the end of the deprecation period (often one year or four quarterly releases). Once the deprecation period has elapsed, the feature will be disabled.
Active deprecations
This section lists all features that are currently being deprecated.
Deprecating legacy WebView in Microsoft Store app
| Final retirement date | January 2025 (Release 18.0) |
| Categories | Offline HTML, Windows |
| Affected apps/modules | Resco Mobile CRM and derived apps (Inspections, Routes, branded apps) |
| Affected platforms | Microsoft Windows (UWP) |
The Microsoft Store version of Resco mobile apps hosts all iframes in two different WebView controls:
- The legacy WebView which is based on the outdated Microsoft Edge v18 engine
- The alternative Edge WebView2 which is based on the latest Chromium-based engine similar to Microsoft Edge browser.
WebView2 is integrated in the Windows operating system as separate application and updated automatically. As legacy WebView doesn't meet upcoming web standards, we decided to fully replace it with Edge WebView2 and deprecate it 2025.
Rollout plan
- Version 17.1 (May 2024) - New projects use Edge WebView2 as default option. Woodford displays a warning when publishing an app project with legacy WebView enabled in project configuration.
- Version 17.2 (September 2024) - App displays a one-time warning if the legacy WebView is used.
- Version 18.0 (January 2025) - Remove support for legacy Edge WebView completely.
Recommended action
If you are using Resco mobile apps from Microsoft Store customized with offline HTML, check your project configuration (UI tab > Windows section > Use Edge WebView2). If you are using legacy WebView, switch to the modern WebView2. Test your HTML content with the new WebView2 ahead of the deprecation deadline to verify that everything continues to work as intended and avoid warning in Woodford or the app.
Inspections: End of support for the original (legacy) answer storage JSON format
| Final retirement date | December 2023 (Release 16.3) |
| Categories | Breaking Change, Inspections |
| Affected apps/modules | Questionnaire Designer, Resco mobile apps |
| Affected platforms | all |
Records were the original answer storage for Inspections: answers are stored in resco_questionnaire, resco_question and resco_questiongroup entities. To reduce sync times, we’ve later added the JSON storage option. In the 15.1 release (June 2022), a new, configurable version of the JSON format was added to address the imperfections of the original JSON format.
Rollout plan
- Version 15.1 (June 2022) - New configurable JSON introduced. Existing JSON renamed to "legacy".
- Version 16.3 (December 2023) (or later) - It is no longer possible to create new questionnaires that stores answers in the "legacy" JSON format.
Recommended action
If you don't have any integration with third-party tools that parse JSON data, we recommend switching to the new JSON right away to start benefiting from a reduced database footprint and shorter sync times.
If you do have an integration with third-party tools that work with questionnaire answers in JSON format, make sure that the tools can still work with the new format. Use the transition period to adapt your processes.
In either case, you have the option to convert your existing questionnaire data to the new JSON format. Contact Resco support.
Inspections: Retiring self-contained and non-versioned templates
| Final retirement date | September 2023 (Release 16.1) |
| Categories | Breaking Change, Inspections |
| Affected apps/modules | Questionnaire Designer, Resco mobile apps |
| Affected platforms | all |
Resco Inspections supports two lifecycles of questionnaires: the basic, simple scenario ("non-versioned") and a more powerful "versioned" lifecycle that supports multiple revisions of a template.
Another benefit of having stable revisions is that when answering questionnaires, you don't need to store all questionnaire data in the answer - you can simply link a revision and save only the answers. (Originally, the answers were self-contained - including all questions, but also styles, static images, rules, etc.)
Over time, the combination of versioned questionnaires and saving answers only proved to be a superior concept, greatly reducing storage requirements and sync times. For this reason, we are deprecating self-contained (template-independent) answer storage and non-versioned templates.
Rollout plan
- Version 15.1 (June 2022) - It is no longer possible to create new templates with the dependency option "Images".
- Version 16.1 (September 2023) (or later) - It is no longer possible to create a non-versioned and self-contained template.
Recommended action
- If you are using versioned templates and full dependency, no action is necessary.
- If you are not using full dependency, enable versioning and set dependency to "full".
Completed deprecations
The following features are no longer available.
End of support for the Resco Routes mobile app
| Final retirement date | October 2023 |
| Categories | Android |
| Affected apps/modules | Resco Routes (app) |
| Affected platforms | Android, iOS, Windows |
The Resco Routes app is discontinued.
Rollout plan
You can continue using the Resco Routes app, however, it will no longer receive any updates. Also, you can no longer download Resco Routes app from the various app stores.
Recommended action
Use Resco Mobile CRM instead. Resco Routes app is functionally equivalent to Resco Mobile CRM; it just used a different demo data.
Azure AD Graph retirement
| Final retirement date | March 2023 |
| Categories | Dynamics, Breaking Change |
| Affected apps/modules | All |
| Affected platforms | Dynamics |
Microsoft is retiring Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Graph in favor of Microsoft Graph. This impacts the permissions required to run Resco mobile apps. Users might be required to relog or re-grant consent. Tenant administrators can proactively grant consent on behalf of mobile users.
Rollout plan
- End of February 2023: Resco will add the new permissions.
- March 31, 2023: Azure AD Graph licensing assignment APIs are retired.
Recommended action
At the end of February 2023, the new permissions become available. Users might be required to grant consent. Alternatively, tenant administrators can use Microsoft Azure Portal to grant consent on behalf of the users.
- Azure Portal: Go to Azure Active Directory/Enterprise applications/Resco MobileCRM (AppID=a116bf70-75fe-41c2-9f9f-7f3d0faff4bb)/Permissions
- Read more about tenant-wide admin consent in Microsoft documentation
- Alternatively, use the following URL:
https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenant-id}/adminconsent?client_id=a116bf70-75fe-41c2-9f9f-7f3d0faff4bb(replace{tenant-id}with ID or name of the tenant)
At the end of March 2023, the permissions granted using the deprecated API stop working. Users might be required to grant consent. Alternatively, tenant administrators can use Microsoft Azure Portal to grant consent on behalf of the users.
The following permissions are changing:
| Obsolete permissions (Azure Active Directory Graph) |
New permissions (Microsoft Graph) |
|---|---|
| Directory.AccessAsUser.All User.Read User.ReadBasic.All |
User.Read |
| Obsolete permissions (Office 365 Exchange Online) |
New permissions (Microsoft Graph) |
|---|---|
| Calendars.ReadWrite Contacts.ReadWrite EWS.AccessAsUser.All Mail.ReadWrite Mail.Send Tasks.ReadWrite Tasks.ReadWrite.Shared |
EWS.AccessAsUser.All |
| Obsolete permissions | New permissions (Microsoft Graph) |
|---|---|
| - | offline_access (*) |
(*) According to Microsoft documentation, this is required for receiving refresh tokens.
Resco support email deprecated for first level support
| Final retirement date | September 2022 (Release 15.2) |
| Categories | Support |
| Affected apps/modules | Woodford, Resco mobile apps |
| Affected platforms | all |
Resco Support department is here to help partners and customers solve problems with Woodford, other Resco tools, and mobile apps, but it should not serve as the primary point of contact for the end users. The first level support must be provided by a party closer to the end user, for example, an IT team of the customer or partner. If the first-level support is unable to solve a problem, they then use the support portal and contact us.
For this reason, when publishing app projects, the old Resco support email address will be removed from the project configuration. Also, Resco mobile apps will no longer allow this email address when sending logs.
Rollout plan
- Version 15.1 (June 2022) - When publishing app projects, you will receive validation errors if the deprecated email address is used as Support Email.
- Version 15.2 (September 2022) - Resco support email address (if still configured as the Support Email address) will not be populated into the To field when sending logs. Users will be forced to enter the first-level support email address manually.
Recommended action
Edit your app projects in Woodford, go to the Branding section, and update the Support Email to the address of your first-level support provider.
Restricted ability to invoke native methods from JS Bridge in Mobile CRM
| Final retirement date | March 2021 (version 14.0) |
| Categories | Breaking Change, Security, JS Bridge |
| Affected apps/modules | Resco Mobile CRM and derived apps (Inspections, Routes, branded apps) Any custom code using JS Bridge |
| Affected platforms | Android, iOS, Windows Desktop, Windows Store |
As part of a continuous effort to make Resco platform more secure, we are implementing restrictions on using some of JSBridge APIs that allow executing potentially unsafe code from Mobile CRM. Once this restriction will be enforced, it will only be possible to invoke a limited set of pre-approved native methods.
This change may impact your JavaScript custom code if it relies on one of the following API objects and functions:
- MobileCRM.Bridge methods: invokeMethodAsync, invokeStaticMethodAsync, invokeMethodPromise, invokeStaticMethodPromise, exposeObjectAsync.
- MobileCRM.ExposedObject methods: invokeMethodAsync, invokeMethodPromise, exposeObjectAsync.
Rollout plan
- Version 13.0 (January 2020) - No breaking change. If you use APIs to invoke restricted methods, the JSBridge log file will contain warning "Unsupported method invoke: [method_name]".
- Version 13.2 (September 2020) - Breaking change. Invocations of restricted methods will lead to a runtime exception. The exception can be suppressed by using Woodford and enabling the option Allow legacy low-security JS Bridge APIs in the project configuration.
- Version 14.0 (March 2021) – Final feature retirement. Invocations of restricted methods will always lead to a runtime exception. The option Allow legacy low-security JS Bridge APIs will no longer be respected by the app and removed from Woodford.
Recommended action
If you use custom JavaScript code using JS Bridge, as soon as possible scan devices running your production code for the presence of Unsupported method invoke warning in JSBridge log files. Review your findings and assess if the functionality can be alternatively achieved using:
- Recent additions to standard JS Bridge APIs.
- Recent additions to Resco platform capabilities, especially Configuration and Rule Engine.
If you don’t see any alternative to achieve functionality, please don’t hesitate to contact our support for advice.
Internet Explorer becomes legacy browser option in Mobile CRM for Windows Desktop
| Final retirement date | March 2021 (Release 14.0) |
| Categories | Windows Desktop, Offline HTML |
| Affected apps/modules | Resco Mobile CRM and derived apps (Inspections, Routes, branded apps) IFrames, Offline HTML, Custom code using JS Bridge |
| Affected platforms | Windows Desktop |
Since Internet Explorer is already declared legacy by Microsoft, Resco will follow suit and switch to a more modern Chromium-based browser as default HTML rendering engine in the Desktop edition of Mobile CRM. IE will become a legacy option. It will not go away, but it will eventually cease to be supported by JS Bridge and HTML-based controls used in the Mobile CRM app.
Rollout plan
- Version 13.2 (September 2020) – Chromium will become the default HTML rendering engine. Starting with this version, the configuration option Use Chromium Browser in Woodford will have a new default value set to True. This means that all projects published with Woodford version 13.2 or later will be automatically switched to use Chromium unless the administrator explicitly sets this option to False.
- Version 14.0 (March 2021) – This will be the last version for which Resco will fully support IE as an HTML rendering engine. After this version, Resco will no longer ensure that components provided as part of the platform are compatible with Internet Explorer. This includes (but is not limited to) JS Bridge library, Charts, Rich Text Editor, Process Control, Route Planner, Scheduler, and Timeline Control. It will still be possible to use IE in Resco as a legacy option, but we will not be providing support for running any HTML based content using this rendering engine.
Recommended action
- Make sure that any HTML based content (online or offline) used in your customizations is compatible with the Chromium browser before it goes out of support.
- If you must use IE with version 13.2 or later, make sure to manually set the option Use Chromium Browser to False when publishing app projects.
Mobile CRM for Windows Desktop no longer supports 32-bit Windows
| Final retirement date | September 2020 (Release 13.2) |
| Categories | Breaking Change, Windows Desktop |
| Affected apps/modules | Resco Mobile CRM and derived apps (Inspections, Routes, branded apps) |
| Affected platforms | Windows Desktop |
Latest versions of some of the dependencies essential for Resco Mobile CRM for Desktop are no longer available in 32-bit versions, we are forced to deprecate support for 32-bit versions of Windows with Resco Mobile CRM.
Rollout plan
- Version 13.0.3 (March 2020) – was the latest version of MobileCRM for Desktop which can be installed on Windows 32-bit. All subsequent versions can only be installed on 64-bit versions of Windows.
Recommended action
If you want to stay up-to-date with feature improvements and security updates of Resco platform, you have the following options:
- switch to the Windows 10 app which will still support 32-bit devices in foreseeable future
- or upgrade Windows on your devices to a 64-bit version
Minimum supported version of Android for Mobile CRM raised to 5.0
| Final retirement date | September 2020 (Release 13.2) |
| Categories | Android |
| Affected apps/modules | Resco Mobile CRM and derived apps (Inspections, Routes, branded apps) |
| Affected platforms | Android |
Latest versions of some of the dependencies essential for Resco Mobile CRM for Android no longer support Android 4.4, so we are forced to deprecate support for version 4.4. and raise the minimum Android version to 5.0.
Rollout plan
- Version 13.1.3 (July 2020) – the latest version of MobileCRM which can be installed on Android 4.4.
- Version 13.2 (September 2020) – this version can only be installed on Android 5.0 or later.
Recommended action
Upgrade Android on your devices to version 5.0. If the OS upgrade is not supported on your devices, replace them with Android 5.0 compatible ones.
Call Import feature retired from Mobile CRM for Android
| Final retirement date | September 2020 (Release 13.2) |
| Categories | Android, Call Log |
| Affected apps/modules | Resco Mobile CRM and derived apps (Inspections, Routes, branded apps) |
| Affected platforms | Android |
In December 2018 (version 11.3), Google didn’t approve READ_CALL_LOG permission for Mobile CRM application because it only allows it for apps where it is considered a core functionality, which according to Google is not the case for Mobile CRM. Older versions of Mobile CRM can still use this functionality when configured in Woodford. Starting with Mobile CRM version 13.2, we retire this feature and it won’t be available in Woodford anymore.
Rollout plan
- Version 11.2 (September 2018) – the latest version of Mobile CRM which can use Call Import feature on Android.
- Version 13.2 (September 2020) – in this version, the possibility to configure Call Import on the Home screen will be removed.
Recommended action
To safely remove Call Import from the Home screen, just open the Home configuration in Woodford and save it.
If you need to retain Call Import because you still use a legacy version of Mobile CRM, you must not save the Home configuration with Woodford 13.2 or later. If you need to change the Home menu and still retain the Call Import, please contact our support.
Use Legacy iOS WebView option in Mobile CRM retired due to Apple Store Policy
| Final retirement date | December 2020 (Release 13.3) |
| Categories | iOS, Offline HTML, JS Bridge |
| Affected apps/modules | Resco Mobile CRM and derived apps (Inspections, Routes, branded apps) IFrames, Offline HTML, Custom code using JS Bridge |
| Affected platforms | iOS |
As part of the retirement of the legacy WebView, Apple will no longer accept apps using legacy UIWebView as of December 2020. Because of this, MobileCRM 13.2 (September 2020) will be the last version which will offer the possibility to switch to legacy web view for iOS using Woodford’s option Use Legacy iOS WebView.
If you are still relying on legacy web view for OfflineHTML or custom JavaScript code, we strongly advise you to migrate to the new WKWebView which is known to have many incompatibilities with legacy WebView, mostly due to tightened security model.
Rollout plan
- Version 13.2 (September 2020) – the latest version of Mobile CRM which still supports legacy UIWebView.
- Version 13.3 (December 2020) – starting with this version, Mobile CRM will always use new WKWebView, regardless of the value of setting Use Legacy iOS WebView in your App Project.
- Version 14.3 (December 2021) – with this version, the setting Use Legacy iOS WebView will be removed from Woodford, and thus it will not be possible to enable this setting even for older versions of Mobile CRM.
Recommended action
If you rely on serving online web pages, Offline HTML or use custom JavaScript code in Mobile CRM on iOS, we strongly recommend to disable the option Use Legacy iOS WebView in your project configuration and thoroughly test the impact. Be sure to inspect the JSBridge log files for any errors or warnings. When testing in a sandbox environment, please make sure to test your JavaScript code against real data volumes as used in production to avoid any surprises.
If you encounter any problems, do not hesitate to contact our support for advice.
You can continue to use legacy WebView if you stay with MobileCRM version 13.2 until December 2021, when the option will be removed from Woodford. By that time you should complete any adjustments needed for compatibility of your custom HTML and JavaScript with WKWebView.