Listbuilder advice

[animalcareleague]

Hi all - looking for advice from anyone who uses the listbuilder app to collect email addresses, particularly when offline. Have you had success syncing these contacts into your account? How are you keeping track of contacts collected via listbuilder? After a chat with support it's clear the functionality is quite limited, but I'm wondering if anyone has been able to make it work for their organization. I'm mostly worried we are losing contacts collected when offline. Thanks in advance for any info/advice!

[William_A]

Hello @animalcareleague ,

The ListBuilder app should be able to still sync up contacts collected while offline to the associated list. However, there have a been a handful of cases where, if something caused an interruption in the device maintaining that info, it would result in collected info being lost.

If you feel that any contacts collected while offline haven't been syncing to your account, the devs will need some of the following info so they can investigate further:

• Did this occur on an iPad or Android tablet?
• What operating system version is being used?
• Which ListBuilder app version is being used?
• Did the device power down (turned off or battery died) before an internet connection was re-established?

[animalcareleague]

Hi William - Thanks so much for the quick reply! I will provide the info requested below, but I also wanted to note that we tested adding an email address while connected to wifi and the contact was not added to our account. Additionally, offline contacts don't seem to be syncing as the segment with contact source set to ListBuilder App returns 0 contacts (though I know we had several sign ups at an event through the app while offline).

• Did this occur on an iPad or Android tablet?
  • Android tablet (specifically onn. 10.1" Tablet, 32GB, 2020 Model)
• What operating system version is being used?
  • Android 11 (Go edition) 
• Which ListBuilder app version is being used?
  • Version 2.3.2
• Did the device power down (turned off or battery died) before an internet connection was re-established?
  • No, device continued to have power (screen was locked, though) in between collecting the contacts and re-establishing internet connection

Thank you again!

[William_A]

Thank you for providing that info, I've passed it along to the devs for their data. If and when there's an update to the issue, they'll notify you directly about it. However, at this time there isn't an ETA on any updates to the ListBuilder app.

[animalcareleague]

Is there any recommendation for a solution in the meantime? Should we just avoid using the app altogether? Is this a known issue with the Android app or potentially just a glitch with our account and how it's set up? Is the iOS app more reliable than Android?

[William_A]

There haven't been many tracks for the issue, so the devs are still gathering information and trying to figure out what the common element could be. Generally speaking, unless the ListBuilder app is continuously online and running, such as being at a kiosk or cashier's desk during a business' open hours, it may be better to use a different sign up form altogether.

You could try having your website open on the tablet, and then submissions can go to either a coded or landing page form that you have set to it. If you're going to be at conventions or other places where you may not have a reliable wifi or mobile connection, then pen and paper, manually typing it into a spreadsheet program, or manually adding them as a singular contact directly through your account may work better. 

[animalcareleague]

Okay, I see. That's a bummer as we purchased tablets with the purpose of avoiding the need to have pen and paper (and illegible writing!) at events for email sign ups. I did notice that in the reviews for the Android app that many users have experienced the same issue with offline use.

We'll give it a try as a kiosk type set up—what is the recommendation if we continue to experience the issue of contact sign ups not syncing even when we are connected to wifi?

Thank you for the info and assistance so far!

[William_A]

In that case, I'd default to a sign up form that you've made through us, whether that's a coded form you've installed on your website, or a landing page that you can link to or just have always up. 

[animalcareleague]

Gotcha. Thanks!