This article will show you how to use the Sync to Mobile feature on gaiagps.com. You will learn:
- Best Practices for Using Sync to Mobile
- How to Use the Sync to Mobile Feature
- Shared Folder Behavior with Sync to Mobile
Best Practices for Using Sync to Mobile
The Mobile Sync feature on gaiagps.com is a great way of selectively controlling what data gets synced to your mobile device in preparation for a trip or after the trip is complete. It can be extremely useful for only syncing the information you need for your trip instead of having your device sync all of your data every time you open your app.
This feature also fundamentally changes how you should think about the archive/unarchive feature in Gaia GPS. Now, instead of archiving data that you don't want to sync to your mobile device, you can instead simply turn off mobile sync for these items. This will remove the items from your mobile devices, but keep those items still visible on the web.
By minimizing the amount of data syncing to your mobile devices, you can save on loading times, improve performance and de-clutter your map, allowing you to focus on navigation.
How to Use the Sync to Mobile Feature
You can access the Mobile Sync feature after signing into your account on gaiagps.com.
You can control Mobile Sync status for Waypoints, Tracks, Routes and Areas individually by clicking on the individual item in the sidebar and toggling Mobile Sync to ON. This option appears under the Map Visibility toggle.
You can also choose to sync an entire folder to mobile (or not). Toggling Mobile Sync on/off for a folder will change the status for ALL items in a folder.
You can also manage your data in bulk by navigating to the dropdown under your profile picture and selecting the list of data you wish to view:
From each section, you can further control which items you wish to Sync to Mobile. You can toggle Mobile Sync on or off individually for each item, or you can edit a number of items at once by selecting them and hitting 'Toggle Mobile Sync' at the top of the menu.
The Sync to Mobile option will default to ON. If you wish to save an item without syncing the item to mobile, you will have to toggle that option to OFF:
If you toggle Mobile Sync to OFF, the item will still be saved in your account, but it will not show up on your mobile device. This can be useful if you are just in the planning phase and want to see your options on gaiagps.com but wish to save and sync only one item for the actual trip (example: you are charting out your campsite options but wish to see only the campsite that you'll be staying at when it comes time for the trip).
When you return from a trip, you can now toggle Mobile Sync to OFF for the items pertaining to that trip, thus cleaning up unnecessary data from your mobile device.
Shared Folder Behavior with Sync to Mobile
There are some additional considerations when using Mobile Sync with Shared Folders.
If you are the owner of the shared folder and you toggle Mobile Sync ON for the folder, the shared folder will be accessible to all recipients of the shared folder, but recipients will not have the option of toggling mobile sync on or off for that shared folder.
You will also see some helper text as the owner of the shared folder that toggling Mobile Sync On/Off affects all members of the shared folder:
If you are the owner of the shared folder and you toggle Mobile Sync OFF for the folder, it will turn off Mobile Sync for anyone you shared the folder with.