alicejensen wrote:How does the sync function, anyway, aside from logging out/in, or quitting, relaunching app? Is it pushed immediately, or every so many minutes? It would be nice if there was a "sync now" button.
This is how it's supposed to work, but it sounds like there may be issues:
iOS
– When you create an annotation, the app should sync it up to the server immediately. If there are changes from other devices, it uses the opportunity to sync down as well.
– Apps are closed by the operating system after they've been in the background for a while (a few hours, or sooner if the phone is doing memory-intensive tasks). When you launch the app after it's been closed by the OS, the app should sync both up and down.
– If you force close the app by swiping it out of recent apps, when you launch it again, the app should sync both up and down.
– If you sign out and sign back in, the app should sync both up and down. (When you sign out, local annotations remain on the device in a user-specific database, but the app switches to an "anonymous" database so those user annotations are no longer visible. Signing in switches you back to the user-specific database.)
– Deleting and reinstalling the app, then signing in, should cause the latest annotations that are on the server to sync down. It can also fix issues when the app is in a bad state, if it is frequently misbehaving. However, depending on how you use the app, this should be a last resort, because items that don't sync – screens, study plans, settings, and downloaded books and media – will not be preserved.
There have been some interesting issues with iOS 13 related to apps never closing in the background or closing in the background too quickly. It's likely there are some changes to how the OS handles closing apps in the background that need to be taken into account.
Android
– When you create an annotation, the app waits 30 seconds to make sure there are no more changes, then it should sync it up to the server immediately (the 30 seconds gets reset if another change is made). If there are changes from other devices, it uses the opportunity to sync down as well.
– The app should check for changes on a 12-hour schedule (including in the background) and sync both up and down.
– If you force close the app by swiping it out of recent apps, when you launch it again, the app should sync both up and down.
– If you pull down on the main library screen or while viewing content, the app should sync both up and down (pulling down on the main library screen also checks for content updates).
– Signing out and back in should cause the app to sync, however, on Android, local annotations DO NOT remain on the device when you sign out. So, if you have annotations on your Android device that haven't synced up yet, signing out on that device will delete them.
– Deleting and reinstalling the app, then signing in, should cause the latest annotations that are on the server to sync down. It can also fix issues when the app in a bad state, if it is frequently misbehaving. However, depending on how you use the app, this should be a last resort, because items that don't sync – screens, study plans, settings, and downloaded books and media – will not be preserved.
Variations in internet connectivity (no connection, poor connections [LDSAccess, captive portal], intermittent connections [commuting], filtered connections [VPN, ad blocking, content filtering]), OS changes, and platform differences in how annotations are created and synced (iOS, Android, Windows, old online study tools, Gospel Library Online) make sync issues difficult to debug, especially when the developers aren't able to see the issues on their own devices. If nothing above works, I'm not sure what to recommend, other than sending feedback.
). But it's possible that's the issue. If it is the issue, I think you would see a "Sync Errors" count under your username in Gospel Library settings.
I even tried erasing and downloading the app again, but it's still not syncing.