Download a guide for offline use

Text and images sync automatically. Video, audio and PDFs don't — they're too big to pull down for every guide on every device. Download the guides you'll actually need before you lose signal.

1. 1Step 1:

   Open the guide

   Find it on the Library tab and open it.

2. 2Step 2:

   Tap Make available offline

   It downloads the media for the whole guide — every item in it, including its sub-guides. The card shows the progress ("Downloading… 12/40 files") and a Cancel link.

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   mobile-guide-download

   Downloading a whole guide.

3. 3Step 3:

   Let it finish

   When it is done the card reads Available offline, with the size and number of files. If some files could not be fetched — you lost signal part-way — the button becomes Resume offline download. Tap it once you are back in range: files already on the phone are kept, so it carries on rather than starting over.

A download is a snapshot. Media added to the guide later is not fetched automatically — tap Make available offline again before your next trip if the guide has changed.

Video or audio that plays from a web link always streams; only uploaded files can be kept on the phone.

Managing what you've downloaded

Settings → Offline storage & downloads shows how much downloaded media is on your phone, how much space is left, and each downloaded guide. See Manage offline storage.

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mobile-downloads-manager

The offline storage manager.

To remove one guide's download, tap Remove on the guide's card, or the bin beside it in the storage screen. Files shared with another guide you've downloaded are kept.

What still works without downloading

Quite a lot, so don't feel you need to download everything:

• All text, checklists and quizzes sync automatically.
• Images inside content are fetched after each sync.
• Marking things complete, favouriting, and flagging an issue all work offline and go out when you're back in range.

Downloading is really about the heavy media — and about being certain, rather than hoping, that a specific guide is fully there. How it works underneath is explained in how downloaded guides and storage work.