Reference
29Internet connection
The complete picture of what needs a connection, what works offline, what degrades, and how to prepare for a flight with no coverage.
The short answer#
The dividing line is simple, and it is worth internalizing because it holds almost everywhere in the app.
Good to know
You are never signed out by a lost connection. The app tells the difference between the server rejecting your session and the server being unreachable, so a whole day in a valley with no coverage leaves you signed in.
Feature by feature#
This is the full picture. Offline means it works with no connection at all. Prepared means download it once, then it works offline. Degraded means it works but with limits. Online means it needs a connection at the moment you use it.
| Feature | Needs | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Recording a flight | Offline | No account check, no server, no signal. The track goes straight to the phone. |
| Flight statistics | Offline | Computed on the device from your track. |
| Task navigation | Offline | Optimized route, start gates, turnpoints and goal all run locally. |
| Vario and sound | Offline | Phone sensors or a Bluetooth vario. |
| Thermal assistant | Offline | Derived from your own climb data. |
| XC Guide | Offline | All geometry is computed on the phone. |
| Airspace and obstacle warnings | Prepared | Install the files once. Warnings then run entirely offline. |
| The base map | Prepared | Download an offline region. Outside it, with no signal, the map is empty. |
| Terrain height, AGL, arrival, side view | Prepared | Inside a downloaded region it works offline. Outside one it needs a connection. |
| Thermal maps | Prepared | Included in a downloaded region for the seasons you downloaded. |
| Local tasks and waypoint lists | Offline | Anything stored on the device. |
| Task QR import and export | Offline | Two phones side by side need nothing else. |
| Layout sharing by QR | Offline | Same as tasks. |
| Logbook, flight detail, replay | Offline | Local database. The map underneath follows the map rules above. |
| IGC import and export | Offline | Local files. |
| Pilot identification QR | Degraded | Cached on the phone. Offline it shows the cached code with its cache date. |
| Live tracking | Degraded | Positions are buffered while offline and flushed when the signal returns. The buffer is in memory and capped. |
| Buddies overlay | Online | Positions are fetched live and are not cached. |
| Level messages and pilot status | Online | Sent to the organizer over the internet. |
| Post flight retrieve request | Online | Needs a signal to reach the organizers. |
| Weather stations | Degraded | The last loaded readings stay on screen. Nothing new arrives offline. |
| Sign in, register, password reset | Online | The one time you truly need a connection. |
| Profile and gliders | Online | Loading and saving both talk to the server. Gliders already added work offline. |
| Glider catalog search | Online | The catalog lives on the server. |
| Competitions, news, files, operations | Online | Pull anything you need before you leave coverage. |
| My tasks and public tasks | Online | Save them locally to fly them. |
| XC routes, challenges, leagues, records, feed | Online | Routes already saved to the device work offline. |
| Flight upload | Online | There is no upload queue. Upload when you have a signal. |
| XContest publishing | Online | Follows the upload. |
| Share image with a map background | Online | This map loads its style from the server, unlike every other map in the app. |
| Cloud layout templates and settings backup | Online | Local layouts and settings are unaffected. |
| Downloading maps, airspace or obstacles | Online | By definition. |
Live tracking in poor coverage#
Live tracking deserves its own note, because it is the feature most likely to be misunderstood.
- Your recorded track is never affected. Live tracking failing has no effect on your flight, your statistics or your IGC file.
- Positions that could not be sent are held and flushed automatically when the connection returns, so a gap fills in afterwards.
- The backlog is held in memory and is capped. A very long stretch with no coverage loses the oldest positions.
- Force closing the app while offline loses the backlog entirely.
Caution
Tell anyone relying on your live track that the last visible point is where you last had signal, not necessarily where you are now.
Preparing for a flight with no coverage#
Everything on this list is done at home on Wi-Fi and takes about ten minutes. Afterwards the app is fully functional with the phone in airplane mode.
- Download an offline map region covering where you will fly and where you might land out. Use standard detail over the flying area.
- Install the airspace dataset for the country, and check it is enabled.
- Install the obstacle package for the area, and check it is enabled.
- Save any tasks you will fly to the device, and import the waypoint lists you need.
- For a competition, work through the Files tab and pull the airspace, obstacle and waypoint files the organizer published.
- Open the task once with a connection so the terrain heights for its turnpoints are resolved.
- Check your glider is set up, since the glide numbers depend on it.
- Charge the phone, and decide whether battery save mode is worth turning on.
Tip
The step people skip is opening the task with a connection. Without it, the ground heights at your turnpoints may be unresolved, and arrival height at goal is exactly the number you do not want to be missing.
Note
For travel abroad, also turn off Use mobile data for maps in Maps. With a downloaded region the map costs you nothing and never stalls waiting for tiles.