July 7, 2026 · 5 min read

How to manage purchase orders and inventory on iPads & mobile devices

Running a busy retail warehouse or brick-and-mortar storefront means you cannot be chained to a desktop computer. Receiving shipments and doing stocktakes must happen where the stock is—on the warehouse floor, using an iPad, tablet, or phone.

However, many merchants transitioning off Stocky have run into a major roadblock: Stocky no longer supports mobile devices cleanly, often failing to load or requiring multiple confusing taps just to focus on input fields. Here is why this happens, and how to keep your mobile inventory workflows running smoothly.

Why embedded Shopify apps break on iPads

Shopify apps that run inside your Shopify Admin or Shopify POS are "embedded" inside an iframe. When you access these on an iPad or mobile browser, several browser security rules (like Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention) block cookie storage inside iframes. This leads to loop errors where the app constantly asks you to log in.

Additionally, the iOS WebKit engine has a known bug inside iframe views: it requires two taps on any text field—the first to focus the iframe wrapper itself, and the second to place the cursor in the input field. For warehouse workers trying to scan items quickly, this completely breaks the workflow.

How Reorda solves the mobile inventory gap

When building Reorda as a Stocky alternative, mobile usability was a primary requirement. We implemented specific, native workarounds to bypass these platform-level bugs:

• Single-Tap Focus: We use native gesture event listeners (`touchend`) to automatically trigger programmatic focus on input fields, so your team doesn't have to double-tap on iPads.
• Responsive Layouts: The interface automatically scales from desktop widescreen views to compact smartphone and tablet screens, preserving button sizes and spacing for fingers.
• Persistent Sessions: Reorda's auth layer handles token handshakes without relying on third-party cookies, preventing auth loops on mobile Safari.

A mobile-first inventory workflow

With Reorda, you can carry your iPad directly to the receiving dock, open an ordered purchase order, and start receiving stock on the spot. You can even pair a wireless Bluetooth barcode scanner to your iPad to scan items as they are unpacked, updating your Shopify inventory in real-time.

For more tips on setting up your warehouse, check our guide on how to use barcode scanners with Shopify purchase orders.