Dear Users,

We’re excited to introduce Read-Only Fields in Podio — a long-requested enhancement that gives teams more control over how information is managed and protected within their apps.

With this new field-level setting, app builders can mark any Podio field as read-only, preventing end users from manually editing the field in the UI while keeping the value visible and accessible to anyone who can view the item. This helps teams preserve important data and reduce accidental changes.

Read-only fields are especially useful for values that should be controlled by business logic, integrations, or admins — such as synced data, status indicators, approval-related fields, IDs, timestamps, or automation-driven updates.

What’s new?

App builders/admins can now configure a field as Read-Only directly at the field configuration level.

Once enabled:

• The field value remains visible to all users who can access the item
• The field cannot be manually edited by end users in the UI
• The field content text can still be selected and copied
• The read-only state is clearly indicated with a lock icon without disrupting the user experience

The setting is available across Podio field types and is designed to behave consistently across screens and views, including item views, related fields, web as well as mobile apps.

Who can still update read-only fields?

Read-only fields restrict manual edits for end users, but they continue to support system-driven and administrative updates. Values can still be updated by:

• App admins via the UI
• Workspace admins via the UI
• Automations
• API and integrations

Why it matters?

Until now, many teams relied on workarounds — including calculation fields or complex app design patterns — to prevent users from editing certain values. Read-only fields provide a cleaner, simpler and more flexible way to manage this directly in Podio. This gives teams better control over critical data while keeping information transparent and accessible to the people who need to view it.

If you work with a Podio Partner, get in touch with them to help replace your calculation based read-only setups with this direct native read-only field.

Let us know in comments below if this was on your wishlist too and what business limitations would this help solve for you. We look forward to you feedback. Please contact support if you encounter any issues while using the read-only field.

Cheers,

Progress Podio Team