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Sebastian

Sebastian

Last updated on Jul 2, 2026

Aam Digital is fully usable offline - both on mobile phones and desktop computers. All information and (almost all) functionality is available without an internet connection after you have logged into your system at least once on a device. We have designed Aam Digital as "offline first", specifically for the challenging environments of social projects across the world, where internet may be slow, unstable or not covering certain areas.

When you log in for the first time on a device, the application automatically downloads the software and all data you have access to. Data is automatically synchronized in the background whenever the device has an internet connection. If no internet connectivity is available, you can continue to view, edit and add data. These updates are shared with colleagues as soon as internet connectivity is available again. The synchronization uploads any changes you made and downloads changes your colleagues made while you were offline.

How to use Aam Digital offline

Please note: Before you can use the app offline, you need to log in online at least once on that device.

  1. Open the app or website
    (offline functionality is available both for the web app and normal web browser use)

  2. If you do not have an internet connection the normal big "Log in" button will not work. You see a small message after trying to log in as shown here:

    It is still important that you try to log in like this whenever you have connectivity. Otherwise your data will never be shared with other team members or devices and you will not receive the latest data from them.

  3. Below the "Log in" button, you can see a section "Offline Login". Here you can see all user accounts that have data available for offline use. (You must log in online at least once on the device before you see your account here and can start using it offline because the app needs to load the initial data first.)

  4. Click on your account / email to log in and use Aam Digital offline.

  5. If your device connects with the internet again, the app will automatically start updating data with the server again.
    (You may get forwarded to the login screen, which is required for security before syncing data.)

Offline functionality

Most features work offline, including the following:

  • create new records

  • view existing records (with their full context and relations, same UI as online)

  • edit and delete existing records

  • manage notes, tasks and relationships between records

  • search, filter, export, import, etc.

  • view dashboards and in-app analysis screens

Functionality not available offline

The following advanced features require a server and only work online:

  • File attachments (download / upload)

  • Advanced reports

  • (PDF) file generation

  • Changes to user accounts (passwords, permissions)

  • Public forms to submit data without a user account

    • (we currently do not support this technically because there is a high risk that external participants will not keep their forms active until internet is available and data may be inadvertently lost)

Conflicting changes

If two users edit the exact same record while one of them is offline, the system may run into a sync conflict. Because the first change could not be updated before the new change, it may be unclear which version of your record is correct. Such conflicts have to be resolved manually then.

From practical experience over the years, we discovered that such conflicts happen only very rarely (much less often than even we had expected):

  • Due to the design of the data structures, any note or additional information is synchronized separately, so parallel updates of such details can be synced automatically without issues.

  • Also often, the main data of one record is managed only by a few users responsible. As long as they have internet connectivity every few days, there is little risk conflicting changes.

Depending on your processes and environment, you should keep this question in mind, however. With certain designs of data structures and strategies like permissions to only create new records (without updating existing data), you can ensure smooth operations even with extreme offline requirements.