Navigation Overview
iPhone Navigation (Bottom Tabs)
On iPhone, five tabs appear at the bottom of the screen:
| Tab | Icon | Module |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Grid icon | Overview and quick actions |
| Business | Briefcase icon | Client and financial management |
| Planning | Map pin icon | Shoot logistics |
| Environment | Leaf icon | Conditions and light planning |
| Search | Magnifying glass | Everything at once — every kind of record in the app |
Tap any tab to switch between modules instantly.
Templates is not one of them on iPhone. You build a quote template once and then rarely open it again, so it sits under Settings → Document Templates and search takes the tab instead.
iPad & Mac Navigation (Sidebar)
On iPad and Mac, a sidebar on the left shows the same sections, with Templates among them — there is room for both. On iPad there is an icon at the bottom for Settings; on Mac, settings are accessed via the menu bar.
Acting on a Row
Every list works the same way, whichever device you are on:
- Swipe a row on iPhone and iPad for its actions
- Press and hold a row on iPhone and iPad, or right-click on a Mac, for the same actions as a menu
Whatever a row offers, both routes offer it. Which one you reach for is a matter of taste — press and hold is the easier one to find on a crowded list, and the only one that names each action rather than showing an icon.
Some decisions are deliberately not on the row at all. Cancelling and deleting a booking are made from the booking’s own screen, because both are worth opening it for.
Deleting always asks first. Swiping a row shows Delete, but nothing is deleted until you confirm — and the confirmation says what goes with the record and what is kept. A location’s bookings, for example, are kept and simply lose their location; a crew roster’s signed model releases go with it.
Opening and Closing
- A card or row that opens somewhere else has a › chevron, or View › / See All › in its header.
- Something that opens over the screen you’re on — a linked record on a booking, an invoice from Profit and Loss — has no chevron, and closes with Done.
- On a Mac, cards and rows highlight as the pointer passes over anything you can click.
Search
The Search tab searches everything at once — bookings, clients, contacts, leads, invoices, expenses, packages, locations, gear, permits, shot lists, call sheets, crew, trips and studio hires. It is reachable from any module, so you can look something up without first working out which section it lives in. On a Mac, View → Search Everything (⌥⌘F) takes you there from anywhere.
Before you type, Search lists Today and Tomorrow — shoots still to come and overdue invoices — and Recent, the last records you opened. Clear empties Recent.
Results are grouped by what they are, five to a group, with Show All for the rest. Tap one to open it inside Search; Back (on a Mac, Back to Results) returns you to your results just as you left them, and Show in Bookings (or Clients, Equipment and so on) takes you to the record in its own section.
Every list also has a search field of its own, for when you are already in the right place. Each searches the things you would look a record up by — including the records it is attached to.
| Looking for | Found by |
|---|---|
| Bookings | Title, client, location, shoot type |
| Clients and contacts | Name, company, email, phone |
| Leads | Name, email, phone, shoot type |
| Invoices | Number, who it is billed to, the booking |
| Expenses | Description, supplier, the booking |
| Locations | Name, address, type |
| Permits | Title, location, authority, reference |
| Shot lists, call sheets, crew, trips | Title, and the booking they are for |
| Studios and studio hires | Studio name, room, company, reference, the booking |
Searching an invoice for a client’s name finds it, and so does searching for the shoot it was raised against — you rarely remember an invoice by its number.
Notes are never searched. They run long, and matching a word buried in a paragraph returns records that look like nothing to do with what you asked for.
The Mac Menu Bar
On a Mac, every New command is in the menu bar, and the screen in front adds its own commands.
| Menu | Holds |
|---|---|
| File | Import Template…, Export Profit and Loss as PDF… (⇧⌘E), Export Call Sheet (PDF… and HTML…) |
| View | Map View (⇧⌘M) on Light & Sky, Scan Locations / Refresh Forecast (⌘R), Search Everything (⌥⌘F) |
| Business | New Booking (⌘B), New Client (⌘K), New Contact (⌘D), New Expense (⌘E), Import Costs…, New Invoice (⌘I), New Lead (⌘L), Move Lead To, New Package (⌘P) |
| Planning | New Call Sheet (⌃C), New Crew Roster (⌃O), Add Crew Member…, New Gear Item (⌃G), Log Service…, Pack Kit, New Location (⌃L), New Permit (⌃P), Permit, New Shot List (⌃S), Shot List Field Mode, New Studio Booking (⌃U), Studio Booking, New Trip (⌃T), Add Stay…, Add Travel Leg… |
| Invoice | Mark as Sent / Mark as Paid, Preview PDF, Void Invoice… for the invoice in front |
Commands that act on a record — Move Lead To, Log Service, Add Stay and the rest — are available while that record is open, and greyed out otherwise. On Insights, ⌘1 to ⌘5 choose a section.
Deep Linking Between Modules
Apex Lucis connects its modules intelligently. For example:
- Tapping “Scout Tides” inside a booking automatically opens the Tides view pre-loaded with the booking’s location
- Tapping a location from your saved library in the Environmental module opens the Light Planner for that specific location
- Accepting a lead and converting it to a booking pre-fills the new booking with the lead’s client and details