Android app doesn't sync photos

[Mattia Menchetti]

Hi all, when I try to sync the observation with my smartphone (LG G4, photo taken with the LG camera app and saved in the SD card) it doesn't work.
I had this problem from June to September and also during a Bioblitz many citizens had the same problem as mine. After it I don't remember exactly what I did but then I worked.
I had again this bug the 26th of December and I resolved it reinstalling the app (but I sync obs with photos manually). I recorded the screen of my smartphone to report this bug, you can find the video here.
Today again, more than 30 obs "lost". I tried many times to upload them and then all the obs turned without photos as well as the other times (and the counter of the unsynchronized observation shows 66, I don't know why, they were less). Here you can find the video.
I will reinstall the app but it's really boring to add the photos with the pc in exactly the same obs (using the time of the observation and the photo).

It seems to happen when I have many observations and I sync them (maybe the screen turn off during the sync?).

Anyone outside Italy had this problem?

Mattia

[Hilda Flamholtz]

I just got a new smartphone and went out to play with iNaturalist on Friday.  I only made 3 observations (with a total of 4 photos -- all photos taken from inside the app).  All three observations sync'd to iNaturalist, but only one of the photos.  They are all still fully visible on the phone.  I am very much interested in finding a solution.  

(I saw that someone else ask about this problem a few years ago and he said he resolved it by copying data from internal memory to his SD card.  I doubt I have filled up my internal memory, but I'll try to figure that out in case it helps.)  

Hilda

[Ken-ichi]

Mattia, looking at
http://www.mattiamenchetti.com/files/inaturalist/sync_bug_2.mp4, it
looks like you have auto-upload turned off, you have 66 observations
to upload, none of the ones visible have photos, and then you pull to
refresh and the green Upload bar goes away. Is that the problem? The
disappearing Upload bar is a problem I can reproduce, but it will come
back if you rotate the device, or leave the screen and come back. Keep
in mind that pulling to refresh only downloads data. You must tap
"Upload" to upload your observations.

To both Mattia and Hilda, if you're having a different or additional
problem, can you come up with a list of steps that I can follow to
reproduce the problem? The more detail you can provide the better. I
routinely use the Android app to upload 10+ obs at a time without a
problem, so clearly you're doing something a little differently than
what I do. It also really helps to report the version number. It looks
like you're using 1.5.0 in your last video, but it always helps to be
sure.

If the problem is not happening consistently (i.e. you can't come up
with a list of steps that consistently reproduce the problem), can you
try testing conditions like more or less observations, storing photos
on or off your SD card, over wifi vs over cell, etc?

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[Mattia Menchetti]

Yes, I have the auto-upload turned off. I had something like 44 obs with many photos, then after trying many times to upload them they turned without photos and the number has increased to 66.
Now I have the same problem, again. I tried to upload about 30 obs and they didn't sync (but during the synchronization it I had an electric blackout and the WiFi turned off... then the app crushed and when I open it again it I had the problem. I'm starting to think that maybe is due to this or to the screen that turn off during the sync.

Now the photos are still visible, but the number of observations has increased (screenshot).

Yes, I'm using the version 1.5.0.

I will re-upload them manually, then I will start to do some tests, trying to see if it's due to the internet connection or to the photo storage.

[Ken-ichi]

Hi folks,

I just got another report like this, also from an Italian user,
interestingly. Here's an additional request that I made to him. The
next time this happens, or if you can force this to happen
consistently, try doing this immediately after uploading: go to the
Settings screen and tap on the version number three times. You should
get a prompt asking you to send an email. Once you choose an email
client it should start an email to he...@inaturalist.org that will
include some debugging information as an attachment. That might help
us figure out what's going wrong.

-ken-ichi

[Hilda Flamholtz]

Ken-ichi, Thank you for your responses.  Since you asked for more information, I have determined:

- My version of iNaturalist on the phone is 1.5.1 (187) - Auto Upload is set to Yes.

- I have an SD card, but I do not know how to tell if my iNaturalist observations save there or how to change where they are saved

- My OS is Android 6.0.1

I have some observations that are "stuck" on my phone, so I did send the debug email in case that helps. 

Thank you,

Hilda

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[Hilda Flamholtz]

I went out today with the phone and submitted 5 observations.  3 uploaded properly and 2 uploaded with no photos.  The photos are on my phone so I will probably try to manually add them. -- Hilda