How Mobile Issues works

GitHub is the source of truth. We’re the nicer way in.

Think of it as a stack of two pancakes. GitHub is the bottom one: it holds your issues, boards, and epics, and it decides who can change them. Mobile Issues sits on top and makes all of that easier to use on a phone or tablet.

Experience layer

Mobile Issues

Makes GitHub easier to use. Your issues and boards stay on GitHub.

Swipe cards between columns
Triage queue
Saved filters
Offline drafts
iPad full board

GitHub APIREST and GraphQL, signed with your own GitHub token. Reads come up, writes go down.

Data layer, source of truth

GitHub

Owns your issues, boards, and project data, along with the rules and the history.

IssuesTitles, bodies, comments, reactions, timeline
Sub-issues and epicsParent and child links, progress rollups
ProjectsBoards, tables, status, iterations, custom fields
Labels and milestonesYour colors, your names, your due dates
Actions and webhooksEvery trigger fires on every change
PermissionsRepo roles, org approval, SSO, 2FA

Take the top pancake away and the bottom one is still a whole breakfast. Your issues don’t depend on us.

Follow one tap all the way down.

Every action in Mobile Issues turns into an ordinary GitHub API call. GitHub then does everything it would have done if you’d clicked the button on github.com.

In Mobile Issues
Swipe a card to Done
Over the GitHub API
updateProjectV2ItemFieldValue
GraphQL mutation, signed with your token
On GitHub, exactly as usual
- The item’s Status field changes in your GitHub project.
- Project workflows run, so a “close issue when Done” rule still closes it.
- A projects_v2_item webhook goes out to anything that listens.
- The change is recorded as you, in the project’s activity.

In Mobile Issues
Close an issue from triage
Over the GitHub API
PATCH /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{number}
REST request, signed with your token
On GitHub, exactly as usual
- The issue closes on github.com, with a closed event on its timeline.
- Workflows with on: issues: types: [closed] start in Actions.
- Subscribers get the usual GitHub notification.
- Parent issues update their sub-issue progress.

In Mobile Issues
Comment with an @mention
Over the GitHub API
POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{number}/comments
REST request, signed with your token
On GitHub, exactly as usual
- The comment appears on the issue, written by you.
- The person you mentioned is notified by GitHub, not by us.
- An issue_comment webhook fires for bots and integrations.
- Locked conversations and blocked users are enforced by GitHub, same as the web.

What stays with GitHub. All of it.

Mobile Issues changes how GitHub feels to use. It doesn’t change who owns anything.

Your work: Issues, comments, boards, and project fields live on GitHub, and GitHub’s copy is the one that counts. Mobile Issues keeps what it needs to run the app, like your sign-in and settings.
Your permissions: The app can only do what your GitHub account can do. Read-only on a repo in GitHub means read-only in Mobile Issues. Organizations still approve the app first.
Your automations: Actions, webhooks, project workflows, and linked pull requests all run the way they do today, because every change is a normal GitHub API call.
Your history: Every edit is made as you and shows up in the issue timeline, the project’s activity, and your organization’s audit log.
Your team’s choice: Nobody else has to install anything. Teammates on github.com see your changes right away, and you see theirs.
Your exit: Your issues and boards never moved, so there’s nothing to export or migrate. Stop using the app, revoke it in GitHub’s settings, and your work is exactly where it was.

GitHub does

Stores every issue, comment, and field
Checks who is allowed to change what
Runs Actions, webhooks, and project workflows
Sends notifications and keeps the audit log

Mobile Issues does

Puts a board on a phone so a swipe moves a card
Sets labels, assignee, and project from one sheet
Keeps your drafts safe on a weak connection
Shows the whole board on iPad, with shortcuts

Same GitHub. Easier to hold.

Download for iPhone and iPad Get it on Google Play