Working offline
What happens to what you type in a basement, a lift, or a building with no signal — and how to check it sent.
Both phone apps keep working when the signal does not. Fill in a form, log an expense, close a work order, take a meter reading, clock out — it is saved on the handset and sends itself the moment you are back on a network. You do not have to remember to do anything.
How you know
A strip appears at the top of the app with a count: “3 waiting for signal”. Tap it to see exactly what is queued, in plain language — “Time clock”, “Job costing — Entry”, “Inspection”. When the signal comes back it changes to “Sending 3…” and then disappears. It is not there at all when nothing is waiting.
Nothing is hidden from you: if an item cannot be sent, it stays in the outbox marked, with Retry and Discard beside it. Work is never thrown away quietly.
Why nothing gets entered twice
Each held item carries an identifier made once on your phone. The server records that identifier before it does the work, so if the answer is lost on the way back and your phone sends it again, the second copy is recognized and the work is not repeated. A repair request made in a basement arrives once, not twice.
The time recorded is when you did it, not when it sent. A clock-out taken at 5:02 and delivered at 6:40 is a 5:02 clock-out.
The few things that cannot wait
A small number of actions have to happen while you are connected, and the app tells you so instead of pretending they are queued.
| What | Why it cannot wait |
|---|---|
| Payments and charges | A payment sent hours later lands against a balance, a card and a fee that may all have changed, and you are not there to see the answer. |
| Approving a sign-in, or entering a code | These expire in minutes by design. Queued, they would be refused on arrival — and you would believe you had approved something you had not. |
| Starting or answering a call | A call is only a call at the moment it happens. |
Messages are the exception that looks like a gap: they are queued too, by the messaging screen itself, which keeps them in order within each conversation and shows a failed message in the thread where you wrote it.
What is held, and for how long
Anything you typed, and any file you attach — a photo you took in the app or chose from your library, a video, a voice recording, a PDF or another document. An inspection photo, a video of a leak on a repair request, the paperwork for a housing program and a site check-in all wait with the rest of the record, up to 150 MB in one upload and 500 MB on the phone at once. Only something larger than that fails in front of you rather than waiting, because holding it could fill the phone; the app says so, and you send it again once you have signal.
A file that waits is sent over whatever connection you have when the signal comes back, exactly as it would have been sent at the time. If you would rather a large video went over Wi-Fi, discard it from the outbox and send it again when you are on Wi-Fi.
A few tools need an answer while you are looking at them, so their uploads do not wait: reading a floor plan from a walkthrough video, scanning a receipt, and the other drawing tools in the floor-plan editor. Saving the floor plan itself still waits.
A photo keeps where it came from. When it is sent, Seayora records whether it was taken in the app or picked from your library — and, for one taken in the app, when and where — exactly as if you had had signal at the time.
Items stay until they are sent, or until you discard them. Each one belongs to the account that made it: it is only ever sent as you, and nobody who signs in on the same phone sees it. Signing out clears your items and deletes the files they hold — so send what is waiting first, and the outbox will tell you if anything is. If your session simply expires, nothing is lost: sign back in and it sends.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to do anything to turn this on?
No. It is always on, on both the iPhone and the Android app, for every screen.
What if I close the app before it sends?
The queue is written to the phone, not held in memory. It survives closing the app and restarting the phone, and sends on the next launch with signal.
Will my work be entered twice if I retry?
No. Each item carries an identifier the server records before doing the work, so a repeat is recognized rather than repeated.
Can I see what is waiting?
Yes — tap the strip at the top of the app, or open Outbox from the tools list. Each row says what it is and when you did it.
What happens if something is refused?
A refusal is an answer, so it is not queued — you see the reason straight away, exactly as you would online. Only work that never reached us is held.
Do photos, videos and documents wait for signal too?
Yes. A photo, a video, a voice recording or a document you attach waits in the outbox with the rest of the record and sends itself when you are back online — a photo still marked with where it came from. The limit is 150 MB for one upload and 500 MB waiting on the phone at once; anything larger tells you to send it again with signal.
Related features and guides
- Using the Seayora app as a contractor or technician — Documentation. The time clock, On my way and live arrival times, the photo a job may need before you clock out, charging a customer from a job, and working with no signal.
- Using the Seayora app as a resident — Documentation. Paying rent and setting up AutoPay from your phone, reporting a repair with photos, messages and notifications, the app lock, and what happens with no signal.
- AI that runs on your phone — Documentation. Some Seayora features can run on the handset itself — free, offline, and without the text leaving the device. Which ones, which phones, and what happens on every other phone.