Inspections without coverage: what actually has to work

Many of the most important observations are made where coverage is worst: in the basement, the crawl space, the loft, or at a cabin far from the nearest mast. A field tool that only works online does not work where the job happens.

“Saved” has to mean something

The most dangerous thing an app can do is say something is saved when it only lives on the phone. You believe the photos are safe, but they have no backup until they are actually received. Synfar therefore separates three states clearly:

• Only on this device: recorded, but not sent. No backup yet.
• Uploading: on its way, and it can fail. A failure never deletes the original.
• Saved: received with a receipt in the workspace.

Prepare before you leave

Offline starts before you drive. You choose which assignments and documents to keep available, and see how much space they take. If an assignment is not prepared, you are told before you are standing in the basement.

No issuance with loose ends

As long as anything exists only locally, the report cannot be issued. It can feel strict, but the alternative is a report missing the photos you thought were included.

One-handed

On site you often hold a torch, a ruler or a moisture meter in the other hand. So the four most important actions are always visible and large enough for a thumb: photo, dictate, record finding and measure.