End-of-day sync

The "End Day" sync is a structured process that uploads all your field data to the server and verifies that everything arrived safely. Unlike the automatic background sync (which runs every 5 minutes), the End Day flow ensures a complete, verified upload of your entire day's work.

Why End Day sync matters

Automatic background sync is convenient, but it has limitations:

• It may not have uploaded large media files (photos can be several MB each)
• It doesn't verify that the server received everything
• Your trip lead can't tell the difference between "auto-synced some data" and "deliberately confirmed all data uploaded"
• If your device battery dies overnight, anything not yet synced could be lost

The End Day flow solves all of these by doing a priority-ordered full sync followed by server-side verification.

How to use End Day

1. Connect to WiFi or mobile data (End Day works on mobile data but WiFi is faster for photos)
2. Open the Today screen and tap End Day at the bottom, or go to More > End Day
3. Review the summary of today's work:
   • Number of observations
   • Number of photos and their total size
   • GPS tracks
   • Time entries
   • Safety checklists and incidents
4. Tap Start Full Sync

Sync phases

The sync runs in three phases:

Phase 1: Critical data

Safety-related items sync first: checklist completions, incident reports, and check-ins. These are small payloads and upload almost instantly.

Phase 2: Core data

Observations, species records, GPS tracks, time entries, and other survey data. These are also relatively small and upload quickly.

Phase 3: Media files

Photos, audio recordings, and documents. These are the largest files and take the most time. A progress bar shows how many files have uploaded and an estimated time remaining.

Verification

After all three phases complete, the app sends a verification request to the server:

• The app tells the server: "I uploaded 23 observations, 47 photos, and 3 GPS tracks"
• The server checks its records and responds with what it actually received
• If the counts match, you see Sync Complete — All data uploaded and verified
• If there's a mismatch, you see which items are missing and can tap Retry missing items

A successful verification creates a Day Sync Confirmation record that your trip lead can see on the web portal. This is how they know you've done a proper end-of-day sync, not just an incidental auto-sync.

Troubleshooting

"X items failed to sync"

Some items may have been rejected by the server (e.g. validation errors). Tap the failed items to see the error details. Common causes:

• Observation missing required fields — open the observation, fill in the missing data, and retry
• Photo too large — the server has a maximum file size. Try reducing photo quality in Settings
• Network timeout — move to a location with better connectivity and retry

Verification shows a mismatch

If the server received fewer items than expected:

• Tap Retry missing items to re-upload just the missing data
• If the retry also fails, check your network connection
• As a last resort, note which items are missing and report to your trip lead

Sync gets stuck on a large file

Large photos on a slow connection can take a while. The app shows the current file being uploaded and its size. If a single file is consistently failing:

• Try switching from mobile data to WiFi (or vice versa)
• Check if your device has sufficient battery (uploading consumes more power)
• The sync queue will automatically retry failed items up to 5 times

"No data to sync"

If the End Day screen shows zero items, either:

• You already synced everything via auto-sync (this is fine — tap Done)
• Your observations may be saved under a different survey than expected
• Check the Sync screen for any items with "Failed" status that need attention

For trip leads

On the web portal's trip sync dashboard, you can see each team member's End Day status:

• Complete — user performed End Day and verification passed
• Uploading — sync is in progress (media still uploading)
• Not synced — user has not performed End Day today

If someone hasn't synced, you can send them a push notification reminder directly from the dashboard. At the end of a field day, the goal is to see all rows showing "Complete" before the team leaves the site.