Offline & On-Site Usage

Construction sites are not offices. Basements have no signal, remote sites have patchy coverage, and even urban projects can have dead zones inside concrete cores. Pasco Cloud is designed with this reality in mind — the app is optimised for low-bandwidth environments and works to keep your data safe even when connectivity drops.

Current Approach

The Pasco Cloud mobile app requires an internet connection for most operations, but it is built to handle the intermittent and low-bandwidth conditions common on construction sites:

Lightweight Data Transfer

• API responses are compact — the app requests only the data it needs, keeping payloads small
• Image compression — photos are compressed before upload, reducing file sizes significantly without noticeable quality loss
• Efficient polling — the mobile app polls for notifications every 5 minutes (compared to 30 seconds on web), reducing background data usage while still keeping you informed via push notifications

Resilient Uploads

• Retry on connection restore — if a photo upload or form submission fails due to a dropped connection, the app queues the operation and retries when connectivity returns
• Auto-save — report drafts are saved as you work, so you do not lose progress if the connection drops mid-form

ℹ️ Did you know?

Full offline mode with local storage and background sync is on the roadmap as a future enhancement. The current approach focuses on being resilient to poor connectivity rather than working completely offline.

Working On-Site: Practical Tips

These tips will help you get the most out of Pasco Cloud on construction sites with limited connectivity:

Before You Head to Site

1. Start your report on Wi-Fi — open the app and begin creating a report while you still have a strong connection. This loads the template structure and any reference data you need. You can then fill in fields on-site even if connectivity is weak.
2. Browse templates and projects — load the screens you will need while connected. The app caches recently viewed data, so navigating back to them on-site is faster.
3. Check your notifications — review any pending approvals or assignments before heading out, so you know what needs attention.

On-Site

4. Use mobile data as backup — the app is light on data usage. A typical report submission (with a few compressed photos) uses only a few megabytes. Your mobile data plan can handle it.
5. Fill in text fields freely — text input works regardless of connection quality. Enter your observations, measurements, and notes. Photos and GPS can be captured at any time.
6. Take photos normally — the camera works offline. Photos are stored locally and queued for upload when connectivity improves.
7. Move to a signal spot for submission — when your report is complete, move to an area with better reception (often outside the building or on an upper floor) to submit.

After Site Work

8. Submit and sync on Wi-Fi — if your site has no reliable mobile coverage, save your work as a draft and submit when you return to an office or Wi-Fi connection. Your draft is preserved in the app.

💡 Tip

Start reports on Wi-Fi before heading to site. The template loads fully, and you can then fill in fields on-site even with minimal connectivity. Photos queue locally and upload when the connection improves.

What Needs Connectivity

Here is a quick reference for what works with different levels of connectivity:

⚠️ Watch out!

You need some level of connectivity to submit reports, create issues, and sync changes with the server. The app will save your work locally as a draft, but the submission itself requires a connection.

GPS on Construction Sites

The mobile app captures GPS coordinates from your device's hardware, which works independently of internet connectivity. However, GPS accuracy can vary on construction sites:

• Open areas — good accuracy (within a few metres)
• Inside buildings — reduced accuracy, especially in basements or near heavy concrete structures
• Urban canyons — tall buildings nearby can reflect GPS signals and reduce accuracy

The app records whatever coordinates your device provides. For most construction documentation purposes — pinning a defect to a general area of a site, recording which building a report relates to — this level of accuracy is sufficient.

Data Usage

The Pasco Cloud mobile app is designed to be conservative with data:

• Text operations (creating reports, logging issues, commenting) — negligible data usage
• Photo uploads — compressed to typically 100–500 KB per image, depending on content
• Report submission — a typical report with 5–10 photos uses roughly 2–5 MB
• Background polling — minimal, approximately 1 KB per poll every 5 minutes

A full day of active site use — multiple reports, several issues, and regular notifications — typically uses less than 50 MB of mobile data.

Future: Full Offline Mode

Full offline mode — where you can create, edit, and complete reports entirely without connectivity, then sync everything when back online — is planned as a future enhancement. This would include:

• Local database for storing report drafts, templates, and reference data
• Background sync when connectivity returns
• Conflict resolution for changes made offline by multiple users

Until then, the current approach of resilient connectivity handling and local caching covers the majority of real-world construction site scenarios.

What's Next?

• Getting the App — how to download and install the mobile app
• Mobile Features Overview — everything you can do on the mobile app
• In-App & Push Notifications — how push notifications keep you informed on-site