Gospel Library on New Device not Syncing/Importing Notes/Highlights

Hey all,

I'm just wondering if anyone can help... As the ward clerk I am getting asked this question and I don't know how to answer: When a member procures a new device (iPhone, Android, etc.) and installs the Gospel Library App, many members are complaining and asking if I can help them import their notes, highlighted verses, etc. on their new device. Does anyone know how this can be done so I can help answer questions next time it comes up? The members are signed into the Gospel Library on the old device while annotating their scriptures, and then once they log into the Gospel Library on the new device and sync, none of their highlights, notes, etc are coming over. It is causing some frustration and I'd like to be able to help (as the resident ward tech specialist... aka ward clerk, lol).

Thank you for your help!

CRM

App data doesn't transfer reliably for all apps (like Gospel Library) when using the automatic iOS or Android migration process to switch to a new phone. If that's how they transferred Gospel Library to the new phone, they'll want to delete Gospel Library on their new phone, then reinstall it fresh from the App Store (iOS) or Play Store / Amazon Appstore (Android). Then they can sign in and wait a few minutes for data to sync.

If their annotations are still missing after a fresh install, there might be a general sync issue that's not necessarily related to the device migration. A few things they can check:
– On their old device, if they go to Gospel Library Settings, does it show their name and username indicating that they're signed in?
– On their old device, does it show a recent "last synced" time under their username in Gospel Library, or does it show any sync errors?
– Is the signed-in username in Gospel Library on their old device the same as the signed-in username in Gospel Library on their new device?
– Are they able to see their recent annotations online in a web browser, if they go to Notes.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, or sign in at Study.ChurchofJesusChrist.org?

Bro. Brashaw,

Thank you for the reply.

I am thinking of one individual in particular, our Temple Prep teacher, and he is young (25) and fairly tech savvy... Anyway, I contacted him and he told me the delete and fresh install was the first thing he tried, to no avail. I read to him the questions you included in your reply and he informed me that he does not have his old device any more (something about a trade-in). He also informed me that he is logged in uder the same username and password now as he was on the old phone, and that when he logs in online (PC, using Google Chrome browser, Win 11 OS) it tells him he has over 7,000 annotations but that they don't show up online either...

I am honestly not trying to be difficult, and I appreciate your/anyone's help.

Thanks again!
Christian

captain_mills wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:28 pm … when he logs in online (PC, using Google Chrome browser, Win 11 OS) it tells him he has over 7,000 annotations but that they don't show up online either...

Interesting – do you know which page he's going to in the browser that says he has 7000 annotations? Notes.ChurchofJesusChrist.org doesn't show a number, as far as I've been able to find.

Sync works (basically, I'm simplifying a little bit) by syncing changes up to the website, then syncing changes back down to other devices. So if his notes and highlights don't show on the website after signing in, it means that either 1) they never synced up from his old phone; or, 2) they synced up from his old phone under a different Church Account (maybe he has two Church Accounts?).

sbradshaw wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 9:07 pm Interesting – do you know which page he's going to in the browser that says he has 7000 annotations? Notes.ChurchofJesusChrist.org doesn't show a number, as far as I've been able to find.

On the page Notes.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, on the left hand side, there is a "search" bar. Directly under the search bar is a number that for him says "7,156 Results" (for me it only says 2,663 results, lol). This is where he's getting that number.

sbradshaw wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 9:07 pm So if his notes and highlights don't show on the website after signing in, it means that either 1) they never synced up from his old phone; or, 2) they synced up from his old phone under a different Church Account (maybe he has two Church Accounts?).

I asked about his church account, and he sounded as if he had no idea what other account he could have signed in on, lol... He said he's been using the same username and password for his church account since he was 12...

So, his notes show up under that said search bar, but when he goes into the scriptures themselves (like for instance, I have Ether 12:27 highlighted with an annotation attached to it, and it shows up highlighted both on the web and on my android device), nothing shows up underlined or highlighted.

Anyway, thank you again for your help. I look forward to hearing back from you again.
Christian Mills

captain_mills wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2025 6:17 pm On the page Notes.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, on the left hand side, there is a "search" bar. Directly under the search bar is a number that for him says "7,156 Results" (for me it only says 2,663 results, lol). This is where he's getting that number.

Nice! I never noticed that before. I see that as well.

If it shows the number of annotations, that implies that they did sync up to the Church website, which is a relief (meaning his annotations weren't lost with the old device). I've noticed that sometimes the Church website gets into a partially-signed in state after being signed in for a while, and signing out and back in fixes it. Maybe that will allow him to see his annotations online, and not just the number of annotations.

If delete and reinstall or signing out and back in in the Gospel Library app doesn't make the annotations show up on his new device, I'm not sure what to suggest next, other than having him report the issue using the Send Feedback form in the Help section of the app. Sending feedback through the app includes diagnostic information that can help the feedback team or the development team debug.

captain_mills wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2025 6:17 pm On the page Notes.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, on the left hand side, there is a "search" bar. Directly under the search bar is a number that for him says "7,156 Results" (for me it only says 2,663 results, lol).

I must be a real slacker. Mine says 2 results. [grin]

Hi Folks,

I have been reading your comments about not being able to see your notes from your old phone to the new phone.
I just activated my new Android Galaxy S25 FE and ran into the same problem - my notes did not update/sync with the new phone -5009 of them.

Uninstalling and reinstalling 3 times did not work. It worked well on my previous phone but not the new one-software updates/changes I suppose...

The old phone still had the notes, and my church account still had all the notes.

This morning, I tried again to resolve this and was successful!

Open up your Gospel Library app on the new phone, go to one of your scriptures-I went to the Book of Mormon.
Click on the 3-dot menu/icon in the upper right, then select settings.
Under account, it asks if you want to sync your phone with your online account.
I selected yes, entered my user id and password for my church account and allowed the sync process to begin. It did not take too long.
I gave it a few minutes, and all the notes and links refreshed and updated!

I hope this helps.
Brother Roy Wright