iTunes Sync, lost data

[danbecker]

we recently had a Collector Sync issue; so the solution was to grab the runtime.geodatabase using iTunes.

iOS device was connected, iTunes was launched, Sync button pressed.

Now iTunes, Apps/Collector shows the downloaded folder, but it's empty.

Ugh, any hope here to get the data?

[Anonymous User]

It would be nice if they would put out a bulletin of some sort warning of the upcoming release, but that could something that they are not aware of due to apple.

Funny thing is, this app has saved us A LOT of money; 6 digits worth, with respect to equipment purchases and we are excited to have this technology at our use. It's just like all other software packages; they have their corks, but if you know them, then you can adjust for them.

I'm eagerly awaiting the smart data form ability within the collector app.

[RussRoberts]

I will contact the team and let them know about the update issue you are seeing with offline data being lost after the update.

We post our update plans on the blogs.esri.com site.

Collector for ArcGIS v10.3.4 is out | ArcGIS Blog

Russ

[Anonymous User]

Thanks Russell for both updating the team and the blog link.

[danbecker]

[see my above edit; both iOS devices took the 10.3.4 update]

I'm not 100% sure if the app update is causing un-sync'd data to be erased. 1 survey appeared to have this happen to them; another surveyor's data was fine. Both using iOS Collector on iPhones; both devices took the auto update.

One thing that we did notice is that after the iTunes "save to" of all files/folders under the Collector app is that the "on device" tab of Collector gets cleared. It's like iTunes "save to" is removing/clearing the Collector app data.

Weird thing is that you can wire up the device to iTunes a 2nd, 3rd + time and perform another "save to" and the data is still there; view-able in iTunes and after its saved to PC disk.

iTunes must be modifying the Collector app data folders/files in some way that ver. 10.3.4 is unable to read.

We have not noticed this on previous Collector releases; someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

[joshahmann]

I think we just ran into the same problem. Here was our sequence of events.

1. User collected data all last week (10/5-9) offline using an iPad air

2. The user returned to the office on Friday (10/9) and connected to wifi but did not sync immediately.

3. The user went to sync and noticed that the map was no longer listed as being on the device

4. I connected the iPad to the iTunes today manually removed the existing folders.

5. there was an empty folder on with the users login name and an update time of 2:34 on 10/9 or just after he connected to wifi. But the folder is now empty.

When I talked to ESRI tech support on Friday they assured me that they had never heard of this issue before and it must have been user error or a hardware malfunction. Based on what I'm reading here I think the app update may have removed the data.

It would be great to get clarification on this from ESRI. I know have a field crew and project manager with little confidence in the collector app working. 

[MiaogengZhang · Accepted solution]

We apologize for inconveniences this have caused you. We are aware of this issue and have submitted an update to Apple’s App Store today that addresses this issue. We are trying to expedite the approval process.

If you have updated to 10.3.4, but have not yet launched the app, we recommend waiting for the update to avoid losing any edits on the device. Or you can copy the data from your device, however you need to do this before launching the app.

We apologize again for inconveniences. Once we got approval from Apple, I will update the post.

-Miaogeng

[danbecker]

thanks for the confirmation.

We had surveyors on the team loose 2 days worth of data. $$ loss has potential to be substantial especially if the client demands we re-travel, and re-navigate the transects.

For anyone trying; an iCloud restore (even if the iCloud backup was done prior to the app update) will not bring back the data. From our investigation and testing iCloud doesn't backup Collector app data.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for getting back to us on this and it is unfortunate this occurred. We also lost a total of 4 days worth of work with this occurrence. We have sent out emails asking all of our employees to ensure that the iPad they are using doesn't have auto updated enabled within the app store. As we will start sending out email notifications to our field crews of app updates and how to complete them.

The Pros and Cons of the digital era. We've taken the notion that these types of issues can happen and luckily we did not have our typical field crews; 10 plus, within the field this past weekend.

ESRI - keep up the great work and I'm eagerly awaiting the next release for the smart data forms. Any chance of giving details on that update? Will Collector behave like the Survey123 app?

[MiaogengZhang]

I also recommend turning off automatic download of app updates. It is a good practice to synchronize all local edits you have before updating.

The coming release details are mentioned at Collector for ArcGIS v10.3.4 is out | ArcGIS Blog . It doesn't have smart data form capabilities yet. But we will work on it in the near future.

[Anonymous User]

We just had a field crew member attempt to install; a clean install, for the Collector app, but it is not showing up within the App store any more?

Are they posting the update?