Working offline

You can use the Covram Field App on your mobile device without mobile service. Anything you record is saved on your device and syncs automatically when you reconnect.

Downloading for offline use is only available on a mobile device, not in a browser.

Before you leave

Download your project while you still have a connection.

1. Open the Covram Field App and go to the Projects screen.
2. Tap the three dots in the top right corner and tap Download. A download button appears next to each project.
3. Tap the download button next to your project. A progress bar shows how far it has got.
4. Stay connected and keep the app open until the download finishes. You'll see Project Data Downloaded, or a message about map tiles if the project also has a download boundary.
5. Read any message that appears afterwards. If some photos failed to download, tap the download button again to retry. Photos already on your device are skipped.

What gets downloaded

• The project's sites, visits, photopoints, map layers and tracked locations.
• Photos from previous visits and photopoints, as smaller copies of the originals.
• The lists used in forms: species, threatened ecological communities, herbicides, community groups, and themes and issues.
• Victorian Ecological Vegetation Class (EVC) lookups, if the project is in Victoria and its area is no more than about 170 km across. If it's larger, the app tells you the lookups weren't downloaded. These let the vegetation type in Seed Collection and EVC details on the map work offline.

Offline maps

If the project admin has set a download boundary, map imagery for that area downloads as part of the project. You'll see Offline map tiles downloaded when it finishes, or a message saying how many tiles failed.

If your project has no download boundary, you can download an area yourself:

1. On the Projects screen, tap the three dots in the top right corner and tap Offline Map.
2. Follow the on-screen instructions to select an area on the map.
3. Confirm the details and tap Start Download.

In the field

Use the app as normal. If you have no connection when you open the map, Covram warns that new map tiles won't load, but you can still complete an activity.

Some things need a connection:

• Map imagery for areas you haven't downloaded, and any basemap other than Satellite.
• Map overlays, and the details shown when you tap one, other than downloaded EVC details.
• Issues for a theme, if they haven't been saved to your device. Covram tells you if they aren't available.
• Plant identification. You can identify the plant later.
• Video tutorials.

When you reconnect

Your data syncs automatically. Photos upload separately and can take longer because of their large file sizes, so they may appear in the Covram Dashboard after the rest of your data.

To check your photos, go to the Projects screen, tap the three dots in the top right corner and tap Upload. The Pending Uploads screen lists what's still waiting, and has options to retry uploads that failed.

If the Covram Dashboard says images are pending upload, open the visit on the mobile device that took them, while connected.

Set a download boundary

The project admin can set the area and level of detail that everyone downloads with the project.

1. Sign in to the Covram Dashboard and open the project's map.
2. Click Edit Download Boundary, then draw or adjust the boundary on the map.
3. Set the Min Zoom and Max Zoom. Higher zoom levels show more detail but make the download larger. Covram shows an estimate of the download size.
4. Click Save Boundary.

People who download the project after this get the map imagery for that area.