Offline use and sync
Saddle is built to work wherever you ride — including places with no cell signal. Almost everything you do in the app saves instantly on your phone and uploads automatically the next time you're connected. You don't need to do anything special: just use the app normally, and Saddle handles the rest.
What works offline
You can do all of this with no signal at all:
- Record a ride. GPS works without cell service, so your route, speed, and gaits are captured normally. The ride saves to your phone the moment you finish.
- Add or edit horses — profiles, photos, details.
- Edit barn info and browse your barn, members, and recent activity.
- Create posts with photos. The post appears in the gallery right away; photos upload when you reconnect.
- Create and edit events on the barn calendar, and RSVP to them.
- Update blanket settings for your horses.
- View trails and documents you've kept on your phone — see Keeping things available offline below.
When you make a change offline, you may see a brief note like "You're offline — changes will sync when you reconnect." That's just confirmation: your change is already saved on your phone.
How your changes upload
You never need to press a button to sync. Saddle uploads your pending changes automatically:
- In the background every few minutes while the app is open
- The moment your phone reconnects to the internet
- Whenever you open or return to the app
Items waiting to upload show a small cloud badge until they've safely uploaded to your account. Photos and documents upload in the background too — if one fails repeatedly, you'll see a warning badge with a Retry button.
Check what's waiting to sync
Open the notification center (the bell icon). If anything is pending, you'll see a Changes pending card listing what's waiting — horses, barns, posts, rides, events — plus any stuck photo uploads with a one-tap Retry. When you're online, a Sync now button lets you push everything immediately instead of waiting for the next automatic sync.
If you're offline, the card simply says "Will sync when online." Nothing is lost — it goes through as soon as you have a connection.
Pull to refresh
Most screens support pull-to-refresh: drag down from the top of a list to get the very latest right away. This is handy when you know a barnmate just posted something and you don't want to wait for the next background refresh.
What needs a connection
A few things need an internet connection:
- Signing in for the first time on a device (after that, the app opens with your local data even when offline)
- Joining a barn with an invite link or QR code, and sending invites
- Weather forecasts
- Downloading a document you haven't opened before
- Saving a trail route you've drawn or edited in the route editor — you can keep editing offline, but saving waits for a connection
- Viewing full details of items that aren't stored on your phone (for example, a trail you've never opened)
If you try one of these offline, the app tells you plainly — for example, "Can't save your route offline — try again when connected" — and nothing breaks. Just try again once you're back in coverage.
Keeping things available offline
Two kinds of content are only downloaded when you ask for them, so you can choose what lives on your phone:
- Trails — open a trail and tap Keep it available offline to save it. Saved trails keep their full route on your phone, so you can follow them with no signal. See Trails.
- Documents — opening a document downloads it and keeps it on your phone, so you can view it again offline. See Documents.
- Events — saving an event to your calendar also keeps it available offline. See Events.
What happens if two people edit the same thing?
It's rare, but if you and a barnmate both edit the same item while one of you is offline, Saddle keeps both changes wherever it can. If you each edited different details — say, you changed a horse's weight while someone else updated its photo — both changes are kept.
Tips
- Never wait for signal before making a change. Everything saves locally first — that's the whole point.
- Heading somewhere remote? Open the trails you plan to ride and tap Keep it available offline before you leave, and open any documents you might need.
- A cloud badge on a photo or post just means "waiting to upload" — it clears on its own once you're connected.
- If something seems stuck, check the notification center for a Retry or Sync now button.