Mobile and tablet experience — overview

MailDesk adapts its interface to the device you are using. On a phone or tablet, the same inbox you use on the desktop reshapes itself into a touch-friendly layout — a branded mobile header, a bottom navigation bar, full-screen reading, swipe and long-press gestures, and an optional dark theme. Nothing about your mailboxes, folders, or mail changes; only the way the screen is laid out and the way you interact with it.

MailDesk adapts its interface to the device you are using. On a phone or tablet, the same inbox you use on the desktop reshapes itself into a touch-friendly layout — a branded mobile header, a bottom navigation bar, full-screen reading, swipe and long-press gestures, and an optional dark theme. Nothing about your mailboxes, folders, or mail changes; only the way the screen is laid out and the way you interact with it.

Available in: Pro. The adaptive mobile layer is part of MailDesk Pro. MailDesk Basic always uses the desktop layout, on every screen size.

What it does

When MailDesk Pro detects that you are on a touch device or a narrow screen, it presents a layout designed for one-handed, touch-first use:

• A branded mobile header at the top with the MailDesk logo, a folders button, search, and compose.
• A bottom navigation bar for jumping to the Odoo apps menu, your folders, the AI assistant, your activities, and (when installed) Calendar and Contacts.
• Full-screen reading: opening an email slides it in over the list so the message uses the whole screen.
• Touch gestures: swipe a message to archive or delete it, and press and hold to start selecting several messages at once.
• An optional dark theme you can turn on for comfortable reading in low light.

The detailed behaviour of each of these — the gestures, the layout at each screen size, and the on-screen controls — is described on the Gestures and layout page.

Why it matters

• One product, every device. You do not learn a second tool or install a second app. The same mailboxes, folders, tags, and search work the same way; only the presentation adapts.
• Comfortable on a phone. Reading and triaging mail on a small screen is awkward with a layout built for a mouse. The mobile layout gives you large touch targets, full-screen reading, and gestures that match how phones work elsewhere.
• Zero setup. Because detection is automatic, there is no rollout for an administrator to manage and no instructions to give your team — it simply works when they open MailDesk on a phone or tablet.

Requirements

• MailDesk Pro must be installed and active. (MailDesk Basic does not include the adaptive layout.)
• A modern, up-to-date browser. The mobile layout uses standard touch and pointer events that every current mobile browser supports.
• MailDesk works on Odoo 17, 18, or 19 — the adaptive layout behaves the same on each.

Permissions required

• The mobile experience needs no special permissions. Any user who can open MailDesk sees the layout that matches their device. You only ever see the mailboxes and folders you already have access to; the mobile layout does not change who can see what.

How MailDesk decides to use the mobile layout

MailDesk Pro picks the mobile layout automatically. It looks at two signals, in order:

1. The kind of device. If the browser reports a touch screen without a precise pointer (a phone or tablet), MailDesk uses the mobile layout.
2. The screen width. On a very narrow window (about 480 pixels wide or less) MailDesk also uses the mobile layout, even on a desktop, so a small browser window stays usable.

Otherwise MailDesk uses the standard desktop layout.

The choice is live: if you rotate a tablet or resize a window across that threshold, the layout switches without a page reload.

What changes on a phone

On a phone, the desktop's side-by-side panels become a single, focused column:

What changes on a tablet

On a tablet the layout is between the desktop and the phone. As the screen narrows, panels progressively simplify — wide tablets keep more on screen, while a tablet held in portrait collapses toward the single-column phone layout. The exact widths are listed on the Gestures and layout page.

Dark theme

On phones and tablets you can switch MailDesk Pro to a dark theme for easier reading in low light. The control offers three choices — Auto, Light, and Dark — and lives in the folders drawer. Auto follows your Odoo theme (the Odoo backend is light today, so Auto shows light); choose Dark explicitly for low-light reading.

Expected result

Open MailDesk Pro on a phone and you see the branded MailDesk header, your inbox as a single full-width list, and a navigation bar across the bottom. Tap a message and it opens full-screen with a back arrow to return. Everything you do on the desktop — read, reply, file, tag, search — is available; it is simply arranged for touch.

Troubleshooting

Related

• Gestures and layout — the gestures, controls, and screen-size behaviour in detail
• AI assistant — the Pro AI features reachable from the mobile AI button
• Realtime & synchronization architecture — how new mail arrives
• Licensing & tiers