Feature Request: Skip Login/Sync Button

For the last two weeks when I've tried to open Gospel Library to use in church, it is stuck in the opening/loading screen, unable to finish syncing at a given level.

This happens when I have the wifi connected. The wifi is slow, but not literally 2 hours without change slow.

As a Gospel Library User, I would like to be able to access the downloaded materials (and download new materials if possible) on my device even if my internet connection is very poor/gone.

I would like a button on the loading screen that allows me to skip to the main page. By all means, warn me that my highlights and notes are gone for this session. I seriously don't care. I just need to not be stuck without my scriptures next time I'm trying to participate.

Are you using Windows, or is it some other platform?

I have similar request for option to bypass syncing upon demand. I am using Gospel Library for Android.

The "syncing" (catalog updating) is, unfortunately, necessary. We used to skip over it, but because of how annotations and content sync with the content servers, it was impossible to do without causing major instability in the app. We're currently working on a major refactor in the application that makes use of a new content source the Church's content team has been working on that will allow us to once again quickly get back into the app, with the app simply updating content in the background as it is able. The new content source (and its catalog) is also dramatically smaller and drastically more sensible in structure, meaning mass updates to content should be quite rare, too.

In the mean time, the best and easiest way to avoid a long launch time is to ensure that the app has been used a few times on your device throughout the week. Using the app at home on Saturday evening/Sunday morning is especially ideal as it ensures the app has been able to grab any catalog changes that the Church's content team has pushed. As it is this catalog update that is actually causing the long startup time (typically 5-10 seconds), once the app has the updated catalog, it can move instantaneously into the library. You can test the change it opening speed by closing and reopening the app a few times after a catalog update.

ToManyLetters wrote:As it is this catalog update that is actually causing the long startup time (typically 5-10 seconds), . . .

Thanks for my daily chuckle. The blue-line long startup rarely takes less than 15 seconds, and is more likely to take 45 to 60 seconds. It takes even longer when I forget to update Saturday night and hit the app at Church on Sunday for the first time. Nevertheless, the Saturday night/Sunday morning trick is a valuable workaround until things approve.

And I understand you are at the mercy of the way content is provided. The more I use the app, the more I have a grasp on how it works in the real world. What a novel concept. [smile]

ToManyLetters wrote:the best and easiest way to avoid a long launch time is to ensure that the app has been used a few times on your device throughout the week.

I just knew there was another reason for reading the scriptures everyday.

The 20th century version of this problem was having the silver/gold gilded pages on those ancient paper scriptures. Very embarrassing in Sunday school if your pages were still stuck together on the pre-reading assignment.