Desktop vs Tablet vs Phone: Which Do I Have?
Stokkd automatically classifies your device as a desktop, tablet, or mobile phone, and that classification decides which interface you see and whether installing the app is required. This article explains how the classification works and what to expect from each device type.
Overview
Stokkd works differently depending on the device you're using, but you never have to choose which version to use — the app detects your device automatically every time you open it. There are three device categories:
- Desktop — laptops and desktop computers
- Mobile phone — smartphones like an iPhone or Android phone
- Tablet — iPads and Android tablets
Each category gets a different combination of interface and installation requirements. This article explains how Stokkd tells them apart and what you can expect from each.
How Stokkd Classifies Your Device
Detection happens automatically in the browser, based on your device's browser identity (user agent) and screen size — there's nothing for you to configure. The logic works like this:
- Is this a mobile-class device at all? Stokkd checks for known phone/tablet identifiers (iPhone, iPad, Android, and similar). If none are found, the device is treated as desktop.
- If it is mobile-class, is it a tablet or a phone? Devices that identify specifically as a tablet (like iPad), or any mobile-class device with a screen 768 pixels wide or larger, are classified as a tablet. Everything else mobile-class is a mobile phone.
This is why a small Android tablet can occasionally be detected as a phone, and why resizing a browser window on a touch laptop can sometimes change which interface you see — the screen-width check is a live signal, not a one-time setting.
Note: Portable barcode scanner devices (PDE devices, e.g. Honeywell, Zebra, Datalogic, Bluebird) are detected separately and are treated similarly to mobile phones.
Desktop
What you get: The full desktop interface, in a regular browser tab or window.
- Installation: Optional but recommended — see Introduction to Installing the App
- Features: Everything is available — stocktake creation, file uploads, downloads, reporting, and company administration
- Best for: Setting up stocktakes, managing areas, uploading stock files, finalising and posting, and generating reports
Mobile Phone
What you get: A dedicated mobile interface built for one-handed, on-the-floor counting.
- Installation: Required before you can log in — see Installing on Android or Installing on iOS / iPadOS
- Features: Touch-optimised scanning and counting, bottom navigation bar, virtual keyboard; some desktop-only features (like file downloads) aren't available
- Orientation: Portrait mode is enforced everywhere, including the login screen
- Best for: Scanning barcodes, entering counts, reviewing count errors — fast, portable, field work
Tablet
Tablets are a hybrid category — they share infrastructure with mobile phones but functionality with desktop.
- Routes: The same desktop routes as a desktop computer (not
/Mobile/*) - Installation: Required, just like a mobile phone — see Installing on Android or Installing on iOS / iPadOS
- Interface: The desktop UI, adapted for touch — sidebar collapses by default, buttons and controls respond to tap and swipe
- Features: Most desktop features are available; a few (like file downloads from the History page) are disabled due to browser/PWA limitations — use a desktop computer for those
- Orientation: Portrait mode is enforced everywhere, including the login screen
- Best for: On-the-floor counting and area management when you want a larger screen than a phone, or variance review with more detail visible than a phone screen allows
💡 Key insight: Tablets install and behave like mobile devices (PWA required, portrait-only), but once installed they show you the same pages and features as desktop — just adapted for touch.
Quick Comparison
| Desktop | Tablet | Mobile Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interface | Desktop pages | Desktop pages (touch-adapted) | /Mobile/* pages |
| Installation | Optional (recommended) | Required | Required |
| Orientation | Not enforced | Portrait enforced | Portrait enforced |
| File downloads | ✅ Available | ❌ Not available | ❌ Not available |
| Best for | Setup, uploads, reports, admin | Counting + review with a bigger screen | Fast, portable scanning and counting |
My Device Doesn't Match What I Expected
If you're seeing the wrong interface for your device — for example, a tablet showing the mobile phone layout, or vice versa — this is usually a screen-size or browser-identification edge case rather than a setting you can change yourself.
- For tablet-specific detection issues, see Tablet Troubleshooting
- For general mobile installation or interface issues, see Mobile Phone App Troubleshooting