Switching from one app to another is easy with a simple trigger; however, there is no option to not complete the app first in order to switch to another app. When switching back to the previous app, data is missing, references broken to records, etc. It would be really nice to toggle between apps using a trigger without completing the app first. The only known way at this time is storing information to a table which is not ideal. If there are other ways, would love to hear about it. Even better, if this is in development, please let me know! Thanks!
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I agree, I came to the Tulip Community to see if there was a work around to this but I guess not since there hasn’t been a reply (in 7 months). This is a crucial need to not force users to have to add another station.
Just wondering, has there been a solution to this yet? If not, where can I find info on how to work around this? It would be nice to be able to link my apps together and be able to toggle between each!
Hey @michael_qian,
Thanks for bumping this thread, not sure how this got missed by the team last year. I just put in a feature request to be able to do this natively.
Like @klickal said, a decent workaround to this problem is to use a handoff table where the key information is stored as you transition between apps. I have seen this used successfully a number of times. ID is probably the station name, and fields reflect any variables you want to share between apps.
This can be tricky, because it mandates much of the data in each app be tied to table fields (so it can be recalled when the app is moved back into), but it is a stable workaround.
The first thing I would ask is what is driving you to want to use separate apps for your use-case? The architecture around Tulip really doesn’t expect users to be regularly swapping between apps (which is why its not super seamless to do). I have seen customers do this for a few reasons:
- They have hundreds of variables in each app, and it is easier to manage when it is clearly split by function or task.
- They are trying to segment apps by task, so each position would have their own app. I would avoid this if possible.
- One app will be transitioned to by 2 or more unique apps. This is one that probably needs to be solved with the table workaround, or by duplicating the app so the relationship is 1:1.
Like I said, I put in a feature request for this guy, but it will require some more conversation with our product teams to understand if it aligns with the product direction.
None the less, I really appreciate all the feedback. Keep the ideas coming 
Pete
Hi Pete,
Thanks for the quick response! I’m working on creating a “master” application that will connect several complex workflows. Assuming users of different skill levels will be going through these workflows, some may need additional guidance (for example, on how to operate and maintain the instrument or the informatic tool they using to complete these tasks). There’s a lot of small but necessary details that would be easier kept separate but also be made available if needed. Ideally, if an user got stuck at a certain step I would like to provide them with the option to toggle to a more relevant/focused app to follow, without deviating from or closing the original task. Since I’m only starting, I don’t have hundreds of variables just yet but I can see it getting messy real quick if I kept everything under one app. Some of the simple protocols I’ve made so far already contain >10 steps so I thought it would be easier to keep everything organized within separate apps. If something were to change on our end or we decided we wanted to add a new task, it would be easier for us to modify that one segment rather than scroll through a larger app of >100 steps.
I’m still relatively new to Tulip so there is probably still a lot of features I’m not fully aware of yet (including the handoff table). I feel like this approach helps reduce the overall complexity will help me maintain the apps better long term. If you have any suggestions or ideas of better ways to do this, please let me know.
Thanks for your help!
Michael
Hey @michael_qian,
Check out this (Passing Data Between Apps - Quick Tip - YouTube) video about how I would approach multi app handoffs. In this example I am using the user table, but the same approach could be used with just a normal table.
I also run office hours weekly at 11am EST Thursdays where I could walk you through this technique. Sign up here (Tulip Office Hours (North America) | Tulip)
Pete
Thanks for the info @Pete_Hartnett!
Both these options are very helpful, I’ll definitely try to attend your office hours.
Michael