I personally am an Android user so it has been like a pebble in my shoe that the iPhone users have had their app for almost a year with no love for the poor Android users. Well, friends, our day has finally arrived. You can now join the beta program and get access to the ServiceNow app for Android.

I have been using it for a day now and am very excited to have it. I am slowly building up the library of instances that I use on a regular basis. It's kind of a lot, so there has been a non-zero administrative hit just in the sheer logging in to all of them.

One of the reasons that I am excited is that a group of us have been working on a GTD app to manage our own (shaky) personal productivity. Although using the website from the Android phone isn't impossible, it just isn't in the same class as using a native app. Being able to open the list on my phone, and much more importantly quickly capture incoming items with a click of the button makes a world of difference.

At this point I don't have a lot of flight time on the app but almost everything has been great. I've seen one filter issue but I have successfully sent Connect messages, managed my to-do list and checked in my location. I am excited to be able to work with this app and really have been waiting impatiently for 9 months to get it.

Be aware, this requires Geneva Patch 6 or newer in order to connect to the instance. When I first tried to connect it to my developer instance, it wouldn't do it because I was on Geneva Patch 4 so I had to upgrade. With luck, a good bit of the field out there should qualify. If not, you'll have to wait for your instances to catch up I'm afraid.

Also be aware, this is a beta. Although the general release is not far off, you do have to accept that it is a beta and join the beta program before you can install it. It should be pretty good to go but you may find bugs or situations that don't work. If you do, feel free to send anything you find to me at dave.slusher@servicenow.com and I will route them on to the appropriate team. (I don't work with the mobile team, I'm just a fan.)

If you meet the above instance criteria and you have Android 4.4 or greater (and at this point if you don't, what is going on?) join the beta program, install the app and take it for a ride!