Yes. The Hydroscape App is offline-first. You can open it, browse the HydroLibrary, and submit sightings without any signal. Submissions are saved locally, queued, and uploaded automatically when you're back online.
When you install the app to your home screen, the browser caches the core app files locally. From then on, the app opens and runs without needing a connection.
When you submit a sighting while offline:
- The sighting is saved to your device's local storage (IndexedDB)
- The form shows a confirmation ("queued for upload") rather than "submitted"
- The Hub shows a pending count — how many records are waiting to sync
- As soon as signal returns, the queued records upload in the background
- Once uploaded successfully, the pending count drops
You don't have to do anything manually. The app handles the queue.
- Opening the app
- Browsing the HydroLibrary (500+ species cards)
- Filling in any form (Biodiversity, Cormorant, Water Quality, HydroDeter)
- Taking photos and attaching them
- Capturing GPS from your device
- Entering what3words manually (if you know the address)
- HydroVision AI — image and audio identification needs to call our servers
- what3words lookup from GPS — the conversion from coordinates to three-words needs an internet connection (though you can use your coordinates directly)
- Postcode search — needs an internet connection
- Dashboard / MyHydroscape — you can open the cached view, but live data won't update
- The Live Data Map — needs a connection
- Install the app to your home screen before you go. It won't cache if you open the URL fresh in a browser.
- Check the HydroLibrary you expect to need is loaded. Open the cards for likely species in advance — once viewed, they're cached.
- Know your what3words ahead of time if you can. Or capture the GPS via the device crosshair and complete the what3words when you're back in signal.
- Don't try to use HydroVision AI offline — it will fail. Fall back to the species search.
- Trust the queue. When you see "queued for upload" your record is safe on your device. Don't refresh the page or force-close the app before it syncs.
Indefinitely. Your records sit in IndexedDB until they successfully sync. You could log a dozen sightings across a week in the field with no signal, and they'd all sync the moment you got home.
The one risk: if you clear your browser data or uninstall the app before syncing, the queue is wiped. So if you've got unsynced records, let them sync before clearing anything.