Working offline
Check in and write visit reports with no signal, see what is waiting to sync, and fix a visit SalesYatra did not accept.
School gates are where mobile coverage is worst, so the app saves visits on the phone first and sends them when it can. Only visits, and the start and end of your day that check-ins depend on, work this way. Everything else in the app needs a connection.
What works without a signal
| Job | Offline? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Start or end your day | Yes | The odometer photo is kept on the phone until it uploads, and the start goes up before the check-ins made after it. See Start and end your day. |
| Check in at a school | Yes | Your position comes from GPS, which needs no signal, and the photo is kept on the phone until it uploads. |
| Add a school that is not on your list | No | SalesYatra gives the school its code, and the check-in needs it. |
| Write the report for a check-in that has none yet, or edit one still waiting on the phone | Yes | A report made on the phone waits behind its check-in and goes after it. |
| Edit a report already written and synced | No | The app has to load what you wrote first, or a blank form could replace it. |
| Raise or edit an order | No | SalesYatra prices and numbers every order, so a queued one could not show you a total you could trust. |
| Raise a travel plan or fill in its days | No | Plans are saved straight to SalesYatra. |
| Approve or reject | No | A decision has to reach SalesYatra to count. |
| Counters, dues and lists | No | They come from SalesYatra and do not update without a connection. |
When an order or a plan cannot be saved, the app says so and keeps the form open with everything in it. On a slow connection the message can be "SalesYatra took too long to answer. Check your connection and try again." Try again once you have signal. An order you retry from the same form updates the draft it already saved rather than raising a second order for the school.
The check-in screen's list of schools comes from SalesYatra. The app loads it while you have a connection and keeps it only while it stays open, so if the app starts up where there is no signal, the list can be empty. Open Visits once while you still have a connection, before you head somewhere with poor coverage.
Adding a sampled title to a report searches the catalogue as you type, so it needs a signal too. With none, it says "Could not search. Check your connection and try again." Add those titles once you are back in coverage; the report can be written or corrected later, on the phone or on the portal.
Check in and report with no signal
- Check in as usual. See Visits and check-in. The distance to the school is measured on the phone, so the fence works offline.
- The report opens with the note "Checked in and saved on the phone — it will sync when you are online. You can write the report now or later."
- Write the report and tap Save report, or tap Finish later.
The visit appears in your Visits list straight away, marked WAITING TO SYNC. Its card says either "Checked in on the phone — report not written yet." or "Checked in and reported — both sync when you are online." You can open it and write or edit the report as often as you like before it syncs.
When the app sends what is waiting
The app sends everything you have waiting on the phone, oldest first:
- when you open the app, or come back to it from another app
- when you pull down on the Visits list
- when you tap Sync now on Home
- each time you save a check-in or a report
A check-in always reaches SalesYatra before its report. If the connection drops part way through, what has not gone yet stays on the phone for the next try.
Sending twice never makes two visits. Each visit carries its own identity from the moment you check in, so a check-in or report that is sent again lands on the same visit. The photo is uploaded before the check-in that names it, and a photo that already went up is not stored twice.
See what is waiting
| Where | What you see |
|---|---|
| Home | A banner saying how many changes are waiting to sync, with Sync now. |
| Visits | WAITING TO SYNC on a check-in SalesYatra has not received yet, and REPORT SYNCING on a visit whose newer report is still on the phone. |
If the phone cannot reach SalesYatra when you tap Sync now, the app says: "Could not reach SalesYatra. Your changes are safe on the phone and will sync when you are online." Nothing is lost: the visit stays on the phone for the next try. If instead it says "The server did not accept a change" with a reason, SalesYatra is refusing one of your visits. After a few tries the app sets that visit aside as not accepted, sends the rest, and the next section applies.
Fix a visit that was not accepted
Sometimes SalesYatra refuses a visit after it leaves the phone. The phone keeps it with the reason rather than dropping it, and Home says "1 visit was not accepted by the server. Open Visits to see why." Open Visits to deal with it.
The card is marked NOT ACCEPTED and says why, for example: "This check-in was not accepted: You are 1.2 km from Green Valley School — visits can only be logged within 100 m of the school."
A refused check-in cannot be corrected, because its position and time were fixed at the gate. Tap Discard to remove it, its photo and any report written for it, and check in again the next time you are at the school.
Keep unsynced visits safe
Visits waiting to sync, and their photos, are stored only on your phone.
Do not uninstall the app or clear its storage while anything is waiting to sync. The waiting visits and photos are deleted with it and cannot be recovered.
Signing out, and sharing a phone
A visit waiting on the phone belongs to the person who checked in. It is only ever sent under that person's sign-in.
- If you sign out while visits are waiting, the app first tells you how many, for example "2 changes on this phone have not synced yet", and offers Sync now. If you tap Sign out anyway, nothing is deleted. The visits stay on the phone and upload the next time you sign in on it.
- If someone else signs in on the phone, they don't see your waiting visits and can't send them. Their own visits sync as usual.
- Visits left on a phone reach SalesYatra only when you sign in on that phone again. Sync before you hand the phone over or move to a new one.
Location readings are different: the app holds them only while it is open. See Location sharing.
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