Download of all content

Why does my Samsung 6 now always have to download content that was already downloaded I Gospel library. I go to open it for class and I can't get to anything until it downloads (10 minutes later).

It just started happening and I know I'm not the only one with the issue. I imagine it might have something to do with android or some 3rd party app "cleaning" my device, but I haven't changed anything and I don't have a 3rd party cleaning app installed.

Thoughts on where to look m

Mine too. It's terribly frustrating. Usually it's just a minute or so but if you don't have an internet connection it could take longer to open.

My wife's phone does it too.

I have seen the same thing. It is my understanding that when GL starts, it syncs your annotations and does an index update to check for new content (the blue line / orange line thing). If this happens at Church at the beginning of Sunday School class, it takes a while because everyone else is doing the same thing and the WiFi is not very robust. I have begun starting GL at least once on Sunday morning before I leave for Church and letting it get what it thinks it needs before I go out the door. The first start of the day seems to take the longest, and I have a good Internet connection at home.

I also have GL set to only download on WiFi. If I forget to prime the pump at home, my workaround is to turn off WiFi on my device, start GL, and then turn on WiFi again. I have found that GL will start quickly, and then GL will work in the background to do what it does.

And while it seems that GL is always downloading all of the content, if I look at what is really downloading it is usually just items that have changed. Sadly, I have also noticed that everything changes a lot. That is not the fault of GL, but happens because of the way the Content Team provides content to LDS.org and the world of mobile devices.

Gospel Library is a difficult app to manage if you are used to doing things efficiently when needed, such as trying to get to your bookmarked spiritual thought in your early morning meeting.

Note that the more books you have downloaded, the more likely it is for there to be a lot of books with updates. lajackson is correct that this is due to the way the content team provides content to the app and LDS.org (it happens on iOS too, but is more "hidden" – no downloading notification – and the iOS app sometimes gets into a weird state because it tries to switch out the content while you're using it, instead of kicking you to a splash screen like Android does – there are tradeoffs). I hope things will slow down, but unfortunately, content updates have been tending to happen once or twice a week.

Yeah it's completely rediculous now, it just keeps say 30 or 29 items to Download looks like it running really fast but never gets through them. I am at my house and internet it's about 60 to 100mbps so I know its wigging out.

Have you tried clearing your current downloads under Settings > Downloaded Media > Current Downloads? Maybe there was some sort of glitch in the middle of the downloading. Also, make sure you're not running low on storage space on your device (that could cause downloads to never finish).

This is a constant issue I face on all of my devices. I don't think it's caused 100% by updated content, and I have no downloaded content to clear. Once or twice a week my GL app will decide to redownload all of the general conference talks from the 70s and 80s as well as magazines. I don't those are being updated weekly by content management.
I remember one suggestion was to not download the content but rather let the app get whatever you need when you need it. However this can leave you stranded and it doesn't let you do thorough searches.
It's odd that this is still an issue after over a year. I have a device with the old 3.x version loaded and it didn't have the constant update problem. All content is downloaded and it just works. Whereas the 4.x version from day one has always started slowly and tried to update.
A really easy fix would be to have an option to turn off automatic content update and allow us to use a simple pull down gesture to refresh if desired, or just an update button.

matthewsage wrote:I have a device with the old 3.x version loaded and it didn't have the constant update problem.

The 3.x version uses a different content store. That content store no longer receives updates. I don't think you'll find anything for 2018 in there.

You're correct that the old 3.x version is not receiving the latest content. Currently I load my phone with the 3.x so that I can reliably have access to manuals and scriptures and my tablet with 4.x so that I can get the latest general conference and other content.
The odd thing is that the most recent content is not what is being done loaded every week. It's always the earliest magazines and general conference talks from the 70s and 80s. That seems like it shouldn't change week to week.

CSS updates can cause a lot of content to be updated at once.

sbradshaw wrote:CSS updates can cause a lot of content to be updated at once.

If a CSS update can trigger re-downloading of a couple hundred magazines or GC talks I think that speaks volumes to needing the option to disable the update check on start up, or at least a pop up notification that says, "371 items have been updated, do you wish to download now?".
When the update check is triggered on startup, there is a high probability of being at a church building on their WiFi in the middle of a class, meeting, or lesson. None of which are ideal times to start downloading a ton of content.
Thank you Sam Bradshaw for reading and responding to this thread!

If CSS is being updated so frequently that it queues the update of all GL content on a weely basis, then maybe the CSS code needs to be more closely reviewed as it suggests/indicates that correctable flaws are being overlooked, and we users become unwitting victims.

I check in the morning, and again an hour before Sunday School started ... nothing. Fifteen minutes before Sunday School started, the updates start ... all 1900+ articles (two languages) and it takes 45 minutes (Galaxy S7 Edge). The GL update chews through approximately 40% of battery life and renders my phone nearly unusable, especially GL, and occasionally--since I usually put my phone back in my pocket while I wait out the update--I even get overheating alerts.

I've deleted GL and reinstalled it, deleted GL content and downloaded all of it afresh ... there has to be a better, more permanent solution than telling people about CSS updates.