Offline Hub Guide

Offline Mode lets you keep working in nSpec when you have no internet connection — on a remote site, in a basement or parking garage, or anywhere the signal drops. You prepare the inspections you'll need while you still have a connection, work on them normally while disconnected, and sync your changes back to the cloud when you reconnect. This guide explains how to go offline the right way, what you can and can't do while you're out, and how to get your work safely back online.

Offline Mode is for NSPEC tenants only. Procore tenants cannot use Offline Mode because Procore sync requires a live connection. If you don't see Offline Hub in your menu, your tenant is configured for Procore.

Two Ways to Go Offline

There are two ways into Offline Mode, and the difference matters a lot for what you'll be able to do in the field.

	Prepare ahead (recommended)	Lose connection (safety net)
How you go offline	You open the Offline Hub while online and click Go Offline (Prepare)	Your connection drops and nSpec offers Offline Mode automatically
Best for	"I'm heading to a site with no coverage — get everything ready"	"I just lost signal mid-inspection and need to keep going"
What you can do	Full editing — create, edit, and delete on the inspections you prepared	Add new items, and edit only the items you create during this session
Photos	Full-resolution photos saved for offline viewing and markup	Thumbnails only (whatever was already cached)

Whenever you can, prepare ahead. Preparing is the only way to get full editing and full-resolution photos offline, and it locks each inspection to you so no one changes it while you're out. The automatic prompt is a safety net for when you didn't plan to lose signal — it keeps you working, but with limits.

Full vs. Partial: What You Can Do Offline

Every inspection you can reach offline is in one of two states. nSpec shows the state as a badge on each card in the Offline Hub, and as a colored banner at the top of the inspection.

• Full — You prepared this inspection with Go Offline (Prepare), so it's locked to you. You can create, edit, and delete anything on it, and full-resolution photos are available. The banner reads: "✓ Full offline — locked to you. Full editing and full-resolution photos available offline."
• Partial — This inspection is cached on your device but not locked to you (for example, one you opened recently but didn't prepare). You can add new items and edit the items you create in this session, but existing records are view-only. The banner reads: "◐ Partial offline — you can add new items here. Editing existing records needs Full offline ("Go Offline (Prepare)")."

Why the limit on Partial? When an inspection is only cached (not locked to you), someone else could be editing it at the same time. Limiting you to brand-new items keeps your unplanned offline session from clashing with anyone else's work. Preparing an inspection locks it to you, which removes that risk — so Full mode lets you edit everything.

Prepare Your Inspections (Recommended)

Do this while you still have a strong, stable connection — before you head out. This is when nSpec downloads everything you'll need and locks the inspections to you.

1. Sign in to nSpec at inspect-app.nspec.app
2. Open the menu and click Offline Hub
3. Click Go Offline (Prepare) in the top-right

4. The Choose inspections to take offline window opens. By default it shows the inspections already saved on your device. To find others, turn on Search all inspections and use the search box ("Search by project or inspection number…").
5. Tick the inspections you want. A counter shows how many you've selected and your limit (for example, "2 of 5 selected"). When you reach the limit, deselect one to choose a different inspection.
6. Click Go Offline (the button shows the count, e.g. Go Offline (2)).

7. nSpec prepares each inspection. You'll see progress as it works through the steps — Caching inspection data, Locking for offline editing, and Downloading photos — with a hint: "Large inspections can take a minute — please keep this open." You can click Cancel if you need to stop.
8. When preparation finishes, you're in Offline Mode and your inspections show the Full badge in the Hub.

After preparing, nSpec may show a notice if something needs your attention. The most common ones:

• Some inspections are checked out by someone else. They were not locked to you, so you'll have read-only access to those offline. (See The Check-Out Lock below.)
• Not enough storage. One or more inspections couldn't be saved. Free up space on your device or select fewer inspections, then try again. Nothing is saved halfway.
• Install the app for reliable offline access. On a phone or tablet, the browser can clear stored data when the app isn't in use. For dependable offline work, install nSpec to your home screen (Add to Home Screen) before you go to a no-signal site.

On iPad and iPhone, install the app before relying on offline. Safari can clear a website's stored data when it's left as a tab — sometimes within a few days. Installing nSpec to the home screen gives it durable storage so a site you prepare the night before is still there in the morning. After installing, fully close and reopen the app once — a freshly installed app needs one restart before Offline Mode works.

If You Lose Connection Unexpectedly

If your connection drops while you're working, nSpec offers Offline Mode automatically. A prompt appears titled You're Offline: "Your device has lost internet connection. Would you like to enter Offline Mode?"

• Click Enter Offline Mode to keep working on the inspections already cached on your device.
• Click Not Now to stay out of Offline Mode.

This is Partial mode. Because you didn't prepare these inspections, you can add new items and edit what you create now, but existing records are view-only and photos are thumbnails. Next time you know you'll be offline, use Go Offline (Prepare) first to get full editing.

The Offline Hub

The Offline Hub (Offline Inspections) is your home base for offline work. Open it any time from the menu. At the top, a status badge tells you where you stand:

• Online — connected and working normally
• Offline — no connection, and not in Offline Mode
• Offline Mode — you're working offline

Each inspection you've taken offline appears as a card showing its project name, its Full or Partial badge, the inspection number, report type, status, when it was marked offline, when it last synced, and a count of pending changes (for example, "3 pending operations").

Each card has these actions:

• Open — open the inspection to work on it
• Clear Pending — discard the unsynced changes for that one inspection (appears only when there are pending changes; see Exit Offline Mode)
• Remove — remove the inspection from offline storage (you must sync or clear its pending changes first)

When you have unsynced changes, the Hub shows a reminder banner: "You have unsaved changes. Sync your operations before exiting or they will be lost permanently."

Working Offline

While offline, most of your day-to-day inspection work behaves normally. You can:

• Open and review any inspection you prepared or that's cached on your device
• Create observations (including sub-observations), action items, drafts, and checklist items
• Take and attach photos, and edit your own photos in the image editor
• Filter photos (on/off report, by building, floor, or elevation)
• Edit and delete existing records on Full inspections; add new items and edit your own new items on Partial inspections

What's not available offline

Some features need a live connection, so nSpec hides them while you're offline (they reappear automatically when you reconnect):

• Generating reports / PDFs and Download Photos — these are produced on the server
• AI photo captions and AI description help — these are processed in the cloud
• Collaboration messages — the chat needs a live connection
• Editing project details — project editing isn't available offline
• Procore features — Procore sync requires a live connection
• Sending emails — distribution lists and automated emails run on the server
• Inspections you didn't cache — only inspections you prepared or recently opened are available offline

Navigation is limited while offline. To protect your unsynced work, nSpec keeps you on the Offline Hub and your offline inspections — other pages redirect back to the Hub. Refreshing or closing the page is blocked too. Your work is saved on the device, so a reload won't lose it, but staying put avoids confusion.

The Check-Out Lock

When you prepare an inspection with Go Offline (Prepare), nSpec checks it out to you — it locks the inspection so no one else can change it while you're in the field. This is what makes full offline editing safe: there's no risk of two people overwriting each other.

• Other people see it as read-only. Anyone else who opens the inspection sees a banner: "🔒 Checked out by [your name] — read-only until they sync or the lock is released." They can't edit it until you sync and exit.
• Same person, second device. If you open the same inspection on another device, that one shows: "🔒 You have this checked out on another device — read-only here until you exit offline there or force-unlock." A lock belongs to one device at a time.
• The lock releases when you exit Offline Mode after syncing. Locks also expire on their own after about a week of inactivity, so an inspection never stays stuck.

Forcing a lock open

Sometimes a colleague is out of reach and you need their checked-out inspection. Users with the Force-break Lock permission see a Force unlock button on the read-only banner. (If you don't have the permission, the button doesn't appear — you'll need to wait for the holder to sync, or ask an administrator.)

Forcing a lock is destructive, so nSpec asks you to confirm. A Break lock dialog warns: "[name] has this inspection checked out offline. Breaking the lock will PERMANENTLY DISCARD all of [name]'s unsynced offline changes — this cannot be undone. This action will be logged." You must type break lock to confirm.

Breaking a lock throws away the other person's unsynced work. Only force a lock when you're sure the holder isn't about to sync. If your own lock is broken (or expires) while you have unsynced changes, those changes for that inspection are discarded, and you'll see a notice the next time you sync or open it: "[name] broke the lock on this inspection. All your unsynced offline changes for it have been lost."

Sync Your Work When You're Back Online

As soon as you're back in Wi-Fi or cellular range, the status badge in the Offline Hub changes to Online.

1. Open the Offline Hub
2. Click Sync All (it appears whenever you have pending changes)
3. A progress window shows the upload — "X of Y inspections synced" — along with the reminder "Do not close or navigate away during sync." Let it finish.
4. When every change has uploaded, nSpec takes you out of Offline Mode automatically and you're back to normal online operation.

If a change doesn't upload, just sync again. Most failures are temporary network blips. nSpec keeps any failed change in the queue and retries it the next time you click Sync All — nothing is lost. A large field day with many photos can take a while to sync, because photos upload one at a time.

Exit Offline Mode

The cleanest way to leave Offline Mode is to Sync All — when the last change finishes uploading, nSpec exits for you. If you have nothing to sync, you can click Exit Offline Mode directly.

If you try to exit while you still have unsynced changes, nSpec stops you with a warning so you don't lose work. The Exit Offline Mode? dialog explains: "You have [N] unsynced changes. Exiting Offline Mode now will permanently discard them — this cannot be undone." You then have three choices:

• Sync Now — upload your changes and keep them safe (the right choice almost every time)
• Cancel — go back without exiting
• Exit & Discard — throw the changes away. To prevent accidents, you must type revert changes to confirm.

The per-inspection Clear Pending button on a card works the same way — it discards just that inspection's unsynced changes and also requires you to type revert changes.

After you exit, inspections you prepared drop from Full back to Partial — they stay cached and viewable, but the lock is released so others can edit them again.

Best Practices

Before you go to the field

• Prepare on a strong connection. Use Go Offline (Prepare) while you have solid Wi-Fi, not as the signal is fading.
• Install the app (Add to Home Screen) on your phone or tablet so your offline data is durable — then fully close and reopen it once, since a fresh install needs one restart before Offline Mode works.
• Confirm the inspections loaded. Open one and check that the data and photos are there before you leave.
• Only prepare what you'll use. Each inspection takes storage, and you're limited to a handful at a time.
• Charge up. Bring a charger or power bank for a full field day.

During field work

• Work normally — save as you go; changes are stored safely on the device.
• Take photos and attach them to observations as you would online.
• Don't worry about your connection status; the Offline Hub handles syncing later.

After field work

• Get back to a strong connection — Wi-Fi syncs faster than cellular.
• Open the Offline Hub and click Sync All.
• Wait for the sync to finish and for nSpec to return you online before closing the app.
• Open an inspection you worked on to confirm your changes are in the cloud.

Protect your offline work. Until you've synced, don't clear your browser data, switch browsers or devices, or use a private/incognito window — any of those can permanently delete changes that haven't uploaded yet. Sync first, always.

Troubleshooting

A few quick answers. For the full list — sync failures, lock conflicts, storage warnings, and data recovery — see Sync and Offline Issues.

I don't see the Offline Hub

• Offline Mode is for NSPEC tenants only. Procore tenants don't have it, because Procore sync needs a live connection.
• Refresh the page, or sign out and back in to load the latest version of the app.

I can only View an existing record, not Edit

• You're on a Partial inspection (cached but not locked to you), so existing records are read-only.
• To edit existing records, prepare the inspection with Go Offline (Prepare) while you're online — that gives you Full editing.
• Items you create during the current session are always editable.

An inspection says "Checked out by [name]"

• Someone has prepared it for offline work, so it's locked to them and read-only for everyone else.
• It becomes editable again when they sync and exit Offline Mode, or after the lock expires (about a week).
• If you have the Force-break Lock permission and it's urgent, you can Force unlock — but this discards their unsynced work.

Photos are stuck loading in an inspection

• Fully close (quit) the app and reopen it — this clears the stuck state and the photos load normally.
• It's safe to do offline: your offline data and pending changes are saved on the device and restored when the app reopens.

Sync All is disabled when I'm online, or the offline view doesn't update

• The connection status sometimes lags behind a network change. Wait a few seconds; if it's still wrong, fully close and reopen the app.
• It's safe to do offline: your data and pending changes are restored when the app reopens.

Related Articles

• Sync and Offline Issues
• Getting Started with nSpec
• Working with Inspections in nSpec
• Quick Capture and Batch Photos
• Photo Upload Issues

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