Install and work offline — Advanced

#What you'll learn

• What an installed Pixx app stores on your device, and what still needs the internet.
• How long an app stays unlocked offline, and why.
• How updates reach an installed app.
• How to prepare for working with no connection, and how to bring the work back.

#Before you start

• You've installed at least one app; see Install the apps and use them offline.
• You're signed in and your plan includes the apps you'll use.
• You know the difference between cloud projects and the Library; see Cloud projects and your Library.

#How offline works

How long the unlock lasts: each time an app checks your plan online, it gets a pass that's good for up to 7 days, but never past the end of the period you've paid for (or your trial). It renews quietly whenever you're online. If the pass runs out while you're offline, the app shows You're offline and asks you to connect once.

How updates arrive: whenever you're online, an app loads its newest files first and keeps them for next time. Offline, it uses the copy from your last online visit. You never install updates by hand.

#How-tos

#How to prepare for a trip without internet

1. While online, open each app you'll need, signed in. This refreshes its files and its 7-day pass.
2. Install the apps you'll use (see Install the apps), so they open from their own icons.
3. Open any cloud projects you'll work on (Cloud → Open from cloud…) so they're on the device.
4. Turn on airplane mode and open each app once to check it starts.

#How to move work between apps while offline

Send to App and the Library need a connection, so use files instead:

1. In the first app, use its Export to save a PNG, GIF or sprite sheet to your device.
2. In the next app, open that file with the app's own open button, or drag it onto the app.

When you're back online, you can send the finished work properly so it lands in your Library.

#How to bring offline work back to the cloud

1. Reconnect and open the app you worked in.
2. Use Cloud → Save to cloud. If the project changed on another device in the meantime, your version is saved as a separate copy, so nothing is lost.
3. Send any results other apps need with Send to App, or save them to the Library.

Pixxivi syncs by itself once it's back online; its Cloud menu shows when it last synced.

#How to make sure an installed app is up to date

1. Connect to the internet.
2. Close every window of the app, then open it again. It loads its newest files.
3. If something still looks old, reload the page once (in a browser tab, Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows or Cmd+Shift+R on a Mac).

#How to keep your work safe on a phone or tablet

1. Install the app to the Home Screen rather than using a browser tab.
2. Save to the cloud at the end of each session.
3. For anything you can't lose, also export a file to the device.

#Workflows

#Sketching on a plane, finishing at home

1. Before leaving, open Pixxivi and Pixxula signed in, and install both.
2. In the air, draw and animate in Pixxivi; export a sprite sheet if you want to pack it in Pixxula offline.
3. At home, let Pixxivi sync, then Send to App → Pixxula for the final sheet so it's in your Library.

#A classroom or studio with a weak connection

1. Have everyone sign in and open their apps once while the connection is good.
2. Work offline for the day; each person's work stays on their own device.
3. At the end, save to the cloud from each device. If you use Flow, send results to the run then.

#Tips and shortcuts

• The server is never cached, so cloud and Library actions always show live data, or a clear error when you're offline.
• An installed app and the same site in a browser tab share the same storage on that device.
• Each Pixx app is its own website, so each one keeps its own offline copy and its own saved work. Opening one app doesn't make another available offline.
• On iPhone and iPad, Safari can clear a website's stored data after a few weeks without use. Apps installed to the Home Screen are kept much more reliably, and the cloud copy is always the safe one.

#Troubleshooting

• "You're offline" even though the app opened yesterday. The 7-day pass ran out, or your plan's paid period ended. Connect once and press Try again.
• An app won't open at all offline. It was never opened on this device while online, or its storage was cleared. Connect and open it once.
• My work is missing on another device. Work saved while offline stays on the device where you made it until you save it to the cloud there.
• Send to App and the Library show an error offline. That's expected; they need the internet. Export a file instead, or wait until you're back online.
• An app looks out of date. Close all its windows and reopen it while online.

#Related guides

• Install the apps and use them offline
• Cloud projects and your Library
• Working across apps — Intermediate
• Your account and storage — Intermediate