> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hiveinspect.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Syncing and Offline Use in the Hive Inspect Mobile App > How the Hive Inspect mobile app saves and syncs reports, works offline, merges team and web edits, and which actions delete unsynced photos and changes. In the mobile app: the **Sync** button at the top right of a report, and **My Profile → Auto Sync**, **Offline Download**, **Gallery Save Settings** and **Clear Cache & Data**. The Hive Inspect mobile app is built to work without signal. Everything you do in a report is saved on your phone first, then sent to Hive when the app syncs. Until a report shows **Synced**, some of your work exists only on that phone. > [!WARNING] > > **Unsynced work lives only on your phone.** Before you clear the app's cache, delete or reinstall the app, or move to a new phone, open each report you worked on and wait for the green **Synced** button. **Clear All Cache & Data** and deleting the app permanently delete anything that hasn't synced, photos included. Hive can't restore work that never reached it. See [What can delete unsynced work](#what-can-delete-unsynced-work). ## Where your work is saved * **On your phone, right away.** Each change you make in a report (text, ratings, checked comments, photos, videos, markup and CYA photos) is saved on the phone a moment after you make it. It stays there if the app closes, crashes, or restarts for an update, and if the phone restarts. * **In Hive, after a sync.** Nobody else sees your changes until they sync: not the Web Editor, not your teammates, and not your client. * **In your phone's gallery, as a backup.** With **Save Captured Photos** on, photos you take with the in-app camera are also saved to your phone's gallery, in an album named with the date and street, like `2026-10-24 123 Main St`. It's on by default under **My Profile → Gallery Save Settings**, and the app warns you before you turn it off. **Save Annotated Photos** saves the marked-up versions too. It starts off. The app keeps your most recently opened reports on the phone and clears older ones to save space. It only clears reports that are fully synced. A report with unsynced changes, or with a photo that hasn't uploaded, is never cleared this way. ## How syncing works ### Auto Sync **Auto Sync** is on by default. While a report is open and the app is on screen, it tries about 30 seconds after you open the report, then every 60 seconds whenever there's something to send. * **It only syncs the report that's open.** Changes in other reports wait on the phone until you open those reports. If any are waiting when you start the app, it shows **Unsynced Changes Detected** with the addresses and the number of changes. Open each one to sync it. * **It doesn't run in the background.** Nothing syncs while the app is closed or in the background. * **It pauses while the camera is open** and picks up again after you close it. * **It needs signal.** When the phone gets its connection back, it tries again right away. * **It slows down when it keeps failing.** After failed tries it waits longer between attempts. Tap **Sync** to try again right away. * **It runs quietly.** There's no window. The button at the top right shows **Syncing...** while it works. To turn it off, go to **My Profile → Auto Sync** and switch off **Auto Sync**. Then nothing uploads until you tap **Sync** yourself. The screen asks you to go back out of the report and open it again for the change to apply. ### Sync by hand 1. Get good Wi-Fi or cell signal. 2. Open the report and tap **Sync** at the top right. 3. The **Syncing Your Data** window shows how long it has been running and says **Please keep the app open**. Keep the app open and on screen until it finishes. 4. When the window closes or you tap **OK**, check that the button reads **Synced**. If Auto Sync is already running when you tap **Sync**, the app stops it and starts your sync with the window. **Cancel Sync** stops a sync after you confirm. Nothing is lost: your changes stay on the phone and go with the next sync. > [!TIP] > > Each report in an inspection syncs on its own, with its own **Sync** button. On an inspection with several reports, open each one you worked on. ### What the Sync button shows ![The Sections screen of a report in the Hive Inspect mobile app, with the green Synced button at the top right next to the search and menu buttons](https://mintcdn.com/hiveinspect-43c85ed1/Ish45kXj50EQHADF/images/Mobile-Reports-2.jpg?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=Ish45kXj50EQHADF\&q=85\&s=72c52f78bd8f2305492bd40cd279c4ef) | Button | What it means | | - | - | | Blue **Sync** | This phone has changes, photos or videos for this report that haven't reached Hive yet. Tap it. | | Orange **Syncing...** | A sync is running, started by you or by Auto Sync. | | Green **Synced** | Everything for this report on this phone is in Hive, photos and videos included. | ### Sync results When you tap **Sync**, the window shows one of these: | Title | What it means | What to do | | - | - | - | | **Sync Complete!** | All your changes were saved. | Nothing. The window closes on its own. | | **Sync Complete** with **N changes were already updated by another inspector** | Your changes were saved, but on some comments a teammate's more recent edit was kept. See [Team inspections](#team-inspections). | Nothing. The window closes on its own. | | **Partial Sync** | Some changes were saved and some are still on the phone. The lines underneath say which, such as **N failed - will retry automatically**, **N waiting for media uploads to finish** or **N media items queued for retry**. | Tap **OK**. Stay on good signal and tap **Sync** again. | | **Saved Locally** | You're offline. Nothing was sent. | Sync when you're back online. | | **Sync Failed** | Nothing was saved this time. The message underneath says why. See the next table. | Follow the message. Your changes are still on the phone. | | **Sync Cancelled** | You stopped the sync. | Tap **Sync** again when you're ready. | The message under **Sync Failed** tells you what went wrong: | Message | What to do | | - | - | | **Network error. Changes saved locally.** | Move to better signal and tap **Sync** again. | | **Another inspector is syncing. Your changes will retry automatically.** | Wait a minute and tap **Sync** again. Hive saves one sync at a time for each report. | | **Session expired. Please sign in again.** | Sign out and sign back in with the same account, then open the report and sync. Signing out doesn't delete your unsynced work. | | **Sync timed out. Your changes are saved locally and will retry.** | The sync took too long and stopped. Move to faster Wi-Fi and tap **Sync** again. | | **The report is still loading. Sync will retry automatically.** or **Sync not ready. Please wait a moment and try again.** | Wait a few seconds and tap **Sync** again. | | **The open report did not match the selected report. Please reopen the report and sync again.** | Go back out of the report, open it again and tap **Sync**. | | **This report was removed from the inspection.** | The report was removed, usually from the web dashboard. See [A report was removed](#a-report-was-removed). | | **Changes are saved locally and will retry automatically.** | Tap **Sync** again on good signal. If it keeps failing, see [If sync fails or gets stuck](#if-sync-fails-or-gets-stuck). | ## Check that everything reached Hive > [!WARNING] > > Sync before you publish from the app. Publishing doesn't sync first, so tap **Sync** and wait for **Synced** before you publish. Otherwise changes still on the phone can be missing from the report your client gets. * **In the app:** open each report you worked on. The button should be green and read **Synced**. It stays on **Sync** until every photo and video has uploaded, CYA photos included. * **At app start:** if **Unsynced Changes Detected** appears, the addresses it lists still have work on the phone. * **On a computer:** open the report in the Web Editor and refresh the page. You see what reached Hive. * **When you view the PDF in the app:** if the open report has unsynced changes, the app syncs it first. For a report that isn't open, it warns you that **N changes in this report have not been synced yet and won't be in the PDF**. Viewing the PDF needs an internet connection. ## Photos and videos **Photos and videos upload when the report syncs, not when you take them.** Until then they're saved in the app on your phone. * **Speed.** On Wi-Fi the app uploads three photos at a time. On cell data it uploads one at a time, and videos always go one at a time. Many photos or long videos on a slow connection can take several minutes. * **The rest of the report doesn't wait.** Text and other comments sync in the same run. A comment whose photos are still uploading waits for them, and the window shows **N waiting for media uploads to finish**. If a photo fails to upload, its comment syncs without it, and the photo is tried again on the next sync. * **Bad signal.** A failed upload never deletes the photo from your phone. It stays on the comment and the button stays on **Sync**. A photo that keeps failing is tried less often (after an hour, after 6 hours, then once a day), plus every time you tap **Sync** and the first time the report syncs after the app restarts. Videos get more tries than photos before they slow down. * **Low storage.** When your phone is low on space, the camera warns you with **Storage Almost Full** or **Low storage: ...MB free**. Free up space before you keep shooting. If the phone couldn't save a photo, it doesn't appear on the comment, so take it again. ## Working offline ### Download reports before you go Download the reports while you still have signal. The app can't open a report it has never downloaded without internet: it shows **You're offline and no cached templates are available.** * **Today's inspections, in one tap.** On the inspection list, tap the cloud button at the top right. The app downloads every report for your inspections today and shows **N inspections ready for offline use**. The cloud turns green when all of today's inspections are on the phone. * **One inspection.** Today's inspection cards show **Download** (tap it), **Downloading** or **Downloaded**. * **Automatically.** While the app is open, **Auto-download** fetches today's inspections on its own, about 10 seconds after you open the app and again every 10 minutes. It pauses while you have a report open. * **Any other day.** Today means your company's time zone. For tomorrow's jobs or older ones, open the inspection while you have signal. If you stay online, the app downloads its reports in the background about 15 seconds after you open it. Opening a report also saves it on the phone. "Your inspections today" means **Confirmed** inspections scheduled for today that are assigned to you or to nobody. Confirmed inspections with no date count as today. Settings are under **My Profile → Offline Download**: | Setting | What it does | | - | - | | **Today** | Shows how many of today's inspections are ready, such as **2 of 3 inspections ready for offline use.**, and when it last checked. **Download now** downloads them now. | | **Auto-download** | On by default. Downloads today's inspections while Hive is open. | | **Wi-Fi only** | Off by default. Automatic downloads don't use cell data. | | **Overnight download** | Shows **Coming soon**. It can't be turned on yet. | > [!NOTE] > > Downloading never replaces a report that's already on your phone, so it can't overwrite work you haven't synced. To get the latest version of a report that's already on the phone, sync it, then go back out and open it again while you have signal. > [!NOTE] > > A download saves the report's text, comments and choices, not its photos and videos. Photos and videos already in the report, for example ones added on the web or on an earlier visit, don't show while you're offline. Photos and videos you take on the phone always show. ### What works offline | Works with no signal | Needs internet | | - | - | | Opening reports already on the phone | Syncing | | Writing and editing comments, checking comments and ratings | Opening an inspection or report that was never downloaded | | Taking photos and videos, and adding them from your gallery | Scheduling in the **Schedule** tab: **Scheduling needs an internet connection.** | | Markup on photos | Viewing the PDF: **Viewing the PDF needs an internet connection. Your changes are safe on this device.** | | CYA photos | The AI tools (Smart Add, Comment Assist and Comment Merge) | | | Pull-to-refresh on the report list | Offline, the app keeps everything on the phone. When you're back online, open each report you worked on and sync it. ## Team inspections When two inspectors work on the same inspection, each phone sends only what changed, one comment at a time. Hive applies those changes to the shared report instead of replacing it. * **Different comments or sections:** everyone's work is kept. * **The same comment on two phones:** for the text and choices, the edit made most recently wins. Hive uses the time the edit was made on the phone, not the time it synced. Photos are different: **each inspector's photos are kept** on that comment. The phone whose edit lost may see **Sync Complete** with **N changes were already updated by another inspector**. * **Seeing each other's work:** changes don't appear live. The app doesn't load teammates' changes while you're in the report, or right after it syncs. It loads the latest copy when you open the report, and only if your phone has nothing left to sync. While your phone still has unsynced changes, it keeps showing your own copy, so sync first, then go back out and open the report again. * **One login per person.** Hive tells inspectors apart by their account. If two phones share one login, Hive treats them as one inspector, and an older change from one phone can be dropped, photos included, when the other phone already synced a newer edit to the same comment. ## The Web Editor and the phone You can work on the same report in the Web Editor and the app. When the app syncs, the Web Editor merges those changes into the report open in the browser. The app doesn't pick up web edits while you're in the report. Go back out of the report and open it again. The safe order: 1. In the app, tap **Sync** and wait for **Synced**. 2. Edit on the web. If the browser was already open, refresh it first. 3. Back on the phone, go back out of the report and open it again. If the Web Editor says **Couldn't save — the report keeps changing on the server**, the phone is syncing the same report. See [My report won't save while I'm editing it on the web](https://docs.hiveinspect.com/faq/fix-a-problem.md#report-wont-save-web-editor). ## What can delete unsynced work | What you do | What happens to work that hasn't synced | | - | - | | Close the app, swipe it away, or restart the phone | Kept. It syncs the next time you open that report. | | Restart the app for an update | Kept. It syncs the next time you open that report. | | Leave the report | Kept. If you leave with unsynced changes, the app shows **Data Saved** with **Stay Here** and **OK**. Leaving stops a sync that's running, so wait for **Synced** first. | | **Sign Out** | Kept on the phone, but nothing syncs while you're signed out. Sign back in on the same phone with the same account and open the report. | | Delete a report in the app | Deleted. The app warns you first: **This report has N unsynced changes (including any photos) that have NOT been uploaded. Deleting it will permanently discard them.** | | **My Profile → Clear Cache & Data → Clear All Cache & Data** | **Deleted for good**: every report on the phone, every unsynced change, and every photo and video stored in the app, including ones that haven't uploaded. | | Delete or reinstall the app, or clear its storage in your phone's settings | **Deleted for good**, the same as above. | | Move to a new phone | Unsynced work stays on the old phone. Sync every report on the old phone before you switch. | > [!WARNING] > > **Before you tap Clear All Cache & Data, read the confirmation.** If it says **unsynced change(s) that have NOT been uploaded and will be permanently lost**, tap **Cancel**, open those reports and sync them first. The **Clear Cache & Data** screen may also say **These will be preserved when clearing cache.** That line doesn't apply to **Clear All Cache & Data**, which deletes them. If you're not sure, ask in the chat bubble in your dashboard before you clear anything. Synced work is safe in all of these cases. Synced reports download again when you open them with signal. Photos saved to your phone's gallery by **Save Captured Photos** stay in the gallery even if the app's copy is deleted, so you can add them to the report again. ### A report was removed If a report was removed from the inspection (usually from the web dashboard) while your phone still had changes for it, the app shows **Report Removed** and asks whether to keep them or discard them. * **Keep** leaves them on the phone. They can't sync to a removed report. Ask in the chat bubble in your dashboard before you do anything else. * **Discard…** asks again with **Delete unsynced changes?** and then permanently deletes them, photos included. ## If sync fails or gets stuck 1. **Don't clear the cache, sign out to "reset", or delete the app.** Your work is safe on the phone while you sort it out. 2. **Get on good Wi-Fi.** Cell data uploads photos one at a time, so large reports are much faster on Wi-Fi. 3. **Open the report and tap Sync.** Keep the app open and on screen until the window shows a result. The timer shows it's still working. Long videos take the longest. 4. **Read the message** and follow the [Sync results](#sync-results) table. 5. **Fully close the app and open it again**, then open the report and tap **Sync**. A restart gives photos that kept failing another try. 6. **Check your phone's storage and permissions.** Free up space if the camera warned about storage. 7. **Still stuck?** Keep the app on the phone and ask in the chat bubble in your dashboard, or tap **My Profile → Contact Support** in the app. Include the inspection address and the report name. If you have to leave the site before the report syncs, that's fine: your work stays on the phone. Sync it as soon as you're on good Wi-Fi, and don't clear the cache in the meantime. ## Common questions > **I cleared the cache and my report lost its photos. Can you get them back?** > > Only what synced before you cleared it. **Clear All Cache & Data** deletes everything on the phone that hadn't reached Hive, and Hive can't restore work it never received. Open the report with signal to download the synced copy. If **Save Captured Photos** was on, your in-app photos are also in your phone's gallery, in an album named with the date and street. Add them to the comments again from the gallery icon. > **Does the app sync in the background or when it's closed?** > > No. Auto Sync only runs while a report is open and the app is on screen. Changes made offline sync the next time you open that report with signal. > **The report says Sync but I already synced. Why?** > > Something on the phone hasn't reached Hive yet, usually a photo or video that's still uploading or failed on a weak connection. Get on good Wi-Fi and tap **Sync** again. A manual sync always retries photos that kept failing. > **Is it safe to sign out with unsynced changes?** > > Signing out doesn't delete them, but nothing syncs until you sign back in. Sign back in on the same phone with the same account, open the report and tap **Sync**. It's simplest to sync before you sign out. > **Can I work a whole inspection offline?** > > Yes. Download the reports before you go (the cloud button on the inspection list does today's in one tap), then write the report and take photos at the site. Sync each report when you're back on good signal. > **I'm getting a new phone. What do I do first?** > > On the old phone, open every report you worked on and wait for **Synced**. If the app shows **Unsynced Changes Detected**, open each address it lists and sync it. Then log in on the new phone and open your reports with signal to download them. > **Why did my teammate's edit replace mine?** > > You both changed the same comment. Hive keeps the edit that was made most recently on a phone, and keeps both inspectors' photos. Edits to different comments never replace each other. See [Team inspections](#team-inspections). ## Where to go next Mobile app FAQ Unsynced changes, offline use, photos and team inspections FAQ [Open](https://docs.hiveinspect.com/faq/mobile-app.md) The app says Sync Failed What each sync message means and what to do FAQ [Open](https://docs.hiveinspect.com/faq/fix-a-problem.md#app-says-sync-failed) Write reports on your phone Sections, defects, search and the Sync button Guide [Open](https://docs.hiveinspect.com/inspections-and-reports/mobile-reports.md) Add photos and videos Camera, gallery, video and markup in the app Guide [Open](https://docs.hiveinspect.com/how-tos/add-photos-and-videos.md) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.