Adding and managing offline components

Adding and managing offline components

What does this page cover?
Learn how to add and manage offline components in the Zoho Creator mobile application to access them without an internet connection. Before you begin, ensure you have a clear understanding of how offline access works in Zoho Creator.
Availability
  1. Only in the Creator mobile application on iPhone, Android, and tablets
  2. Across all plans of Creator

1. Adding offline components

When forms and reports are added as offline components from your Zoho Creator mobile application, users will be able to access and interact with these parts of the app even without an internet connection. Follow the steps below to learn how to enable offline capabilities in your Zoho Creator mobile application.
Notes
Note: 
  1. Offline access will not be available for forms that include any of the following:
    1. Formula fields that are dependent on other field inputs—for example, a Total Price field that calculates the value based on inputs like No. of Units × Price per Unit
    2. Integration fields that connect to other Zoho services or third-party applications (e.g., Zoho CRM, Salesforce, QuickBooks)
    3. Workflows triggered before form submission (actions on load of the form, on user input of a field, and field rules)

1.1. See how to add offline component 


1.2. Steps to add offline component 

  1. Navigate to Settings from the Zoho Creator mobile app dashboard.
  2. Tap Offline Components under the Accessibility section.
  3. Tap Add Component. A list of all your applications will appear.

    If you’ve already added an offline component, tap the (+) icon to add more.
  4. Select the preferred application from the list. A list of all forms and reports in that application will be shown.
  5. Tap the form or report component you want to make available offline.

1.3. Accessing the offline components

  1. Open the Zoho Creator mobile app while your device is offline. On the dashboard, only the applications that have offline components will be displayed.
  2. Tap the preferred application to view and access its available offline components.

2. Managing offline components

Offline components include the following manage options:
  1. Viewing, editing, and deleting offline entries
  2. Removing the offline components
  3. Syncing offline components

2.1. Viewing, editing, and deleting offline entries

Records added through an offline component while the device is offline can be viewed, edited, or deleted as needed before the device reconnects and syncs the data. To manage these records, follow the steps below:
  1. Access the offline form and add entries while the device is offline.
  2. Navigate to the dashboard of the Zoho Creator mobile app.
  3. Tap the banner showing the number of offline entries. This will display all applications with offline components.
  4. Select the preferred application to view its offline components.
  5. Tap on the preferred form component with offline entries. A list of all offline entries for that form will be displayed.
  6. Tap an entry to view its details.
  7. To edit the entry, tap the Edit button, make the necessary changes, and tap Submit to save.
        
  8. Select the Delete button to delete the entry permanently.

2.2. Removing the offline components

Deleting the offline component only removes the locally cached version of application components from your device, restricting its offline access. It does not affect the actual form or report data stored online. To remove the offline component, follow the steps below:
  1. Navigate to Settings from the Zoho Creator mobile app dashboard.
  2. Tap Offline Components under the Accessibility section. All the offline components will be listed.
  3. Swipe left on the component you want to remove.
  4. Tap the Remove button that appears to remove the component from offline access.
    Once the component is removed, it will no longer be available offline and can only be accessed when the device is online.

2.3. Syncing offline components

Offline components are synced periodically to reflect updates made in the live application. By default, the Zoho Creator mobile app automatically syncs offline components every 24 hours to ensure they remain consistent with their live counterparts. Users can also manually initiate a sync to update offline data with the latest changes. Click here to learn more about offline components syncing.

Notes
Note:
  1. On iOS devices, the Zoho Creator app must be active for automatic record syncing to occur.
  2. On Android devices, records are automatically synced when the device comes online, regardless of the app’s state. Cached data is refreshed when the user accesses the Zoho Creator app.
  1. Navigate to Settings from the Zoho Creator mobile app dashboard.
  2. Tap Offline Components under the Accessibility section. All the offline components will be listed.
  3. Tap the sync icon next to the offline component to sync.
Notes
Note: Auto-sync is enabled by default. You can disable it using the toggle switch as shown below.

3. Handling failed entries

When the device goes online, the Zoho Creator mobile app will auto-submit all offline entries. If there are any failed entries, the number will be displayed in a banner at the top of the Dashboard.
  1. Navigate to the Zoho Creator mobile app dashboard.
  2. Tap the banner showing the number of failed offline entries. This will display all applications with offline components.
  3. Select the preferred application to view its offline components.
  4. Tap the preferred form component. A list of all offline failed entries for that form will be displayed.
  5. Tap on an entry to view its details. An alert will displayed based on the reason for the failed form submission.
  6. Close the alert message. An inline error message will also be shown within the field with the error.
  7. Edit or modify the values in the field with the error to fix them.
  8. Tap Submit at the bottom of the screen to resubmit the entry.

4. Points to note

  1. Offline access will not be available for forms that include any of the following:
    1. Formula fields that are dependent on other field inputs—for example, a Total Price field (formula field) that calculates the value based on inputs like No. of Units (number field) × Price per Unit (currency field)
    2. Integration fields that connect to other Zoho services or third-party applications (e.g., Zoho CRM, Salesforce, QuickBooks)
    3. Workflows triggered before form submission (actions on load of the form, on user input of a field, and field rules)
  2. Field properties that depend on a cloud connection, such as Mandatory and No duplicate values, are not validated during offline form submission. These validations are performed only when the device reconnects to the internet and the records are auto-submitted to the server. Learn how to handle errors during validation.
  3. Syncing is essential to keep offline components up to date with their live versions, as auto-sync occurs only once every 24 hours.
  4. On iOS devices, the Zoho Creator app must be active for automatic record syncing to occur. On Android devices, records are automatically synced when the device comes online, regardless of the app’s state.
  5. All cached data, including offline-components cached on your device and its unsynced entries, will be removed when a user signs out from the Zoho Creator mobile app. Ensure all data is synced before signing out to avoid data loss.
  6. Capturing added location during offline form submission is supported.
  7. When a report is added as an offline component, records can only be viewed. Other report actions, such as duplicate, edit, delete, and print are not available in offline mode.
  1. Understanding offline access
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Before learning about adding and managing offline components, make sure you understand offline mobile access and its functionalities across Creator.