The primary use of the BioCollect mobile app is to help project members collect data. It allows data collection in both online and offline mode.
The app is made with Progressive Web App (PWA) technology. PWA apps work with technologies shipped with modern web browsers such as Safari, Firefox, Chrome etc. It is not hosted on App Store or Play Store. It can be downloaded by simply visiting a URL (https://biocollect.ala.org.au/mobile-app). Installation is as simple as clicking a button. Please see installation section below.
To use the BioCollect PWA, you must have a registered Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) account, which can be created here.
The main aim of the mobile app is helping project members collect data. Therefore, the app only lists projects you have membership. Adding data is as simple as clicking the + button against the survey. However, doing that offline is a bit more involved. The reason being offline usage requires data to be downloaded to your mobile device. The data downloaded to your mobile includes packaging up of the form, downloading relevant species and caching map tiles. Hence before taking the app for offline data collection, you need to make sure the intended survey is offline ready. You can do that by clicking the download button. See instructions below for more details.
Installation
PWAs can be installed on modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera. For iOS devices running iOS 16.4 and later, PWAs can be installed from the share menu.
After logging into the PWA, click the ‘Install Button’ in the top-right corner of the screen. This will prompt you to install the PWA.
If the install functionality is not supported by your browser, the install button will instead show manual installation instructions (such as how to install the app for iOS).
Once installed the App shortcut will be listed with other installed apps.
Entering data online
Data can be entered online as you would normally using the PWA and can be done from either the home page or a project page.
From the home page, find the project you wish to enter data for. In this case, we’ll choose Ginninderra Catchment – Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch:
Then, click the ‘+’ button to the right of the survey you wish to enter data for, which will open a dialog where you are able to enter the records details and submit.
Rather than directly adding a record from the home page, we can also view additional detail about a project on a separate page and enter survey data from there. Click the ‘View project’ button on a project card to navigate to the project page:
Then, scroll down until you see the surveys section, and click the ’+’ button on the survey you’d like to enter data to:
After you have submitted the record, you will be redirected to the unpublished records page on the same dialog. As we are online and the record was immediately submitted to BioCollect, we will not see any records here.
We can now close the dialog by clicking the ‘X’ button located on in the top-right corner of the dialog. If you click the eye icon located to the left of the ‘+’ button we used earlier to add the record, you will be able to see your newly added record, alongside any other records that have been added to that survey:
Downloading a survey
Surveys need to be downloaded before they can be used offline, which can be done from either the home page or project page. On the home page, click the survey name with the download icon located to the left of it.
If you’re on the project page, click the ‘Download’ button on the survey you wish to download.
This will open a survey download dialog and download the required resources to access the survey offline:
Before the download can be confirmed, map tiles need to be downloaded.
Use the pan/zoom function on the map located to the left to select a specific map area to download. Make sure to zoom in until the selection are on the right is below 25km2, otherwise the map will not be able to be downloaded. This is to limit the amount of disk space used by the App.
Provide a name to identify the map in the text box below the map area, and then click ‘Download map’. After the download has completed, you can finalize the survey download by clicking the ‘Confirm Download’ Button at the bottom of the dialog:
One you have confirmed the survey download, the ‘Download’ buttons on the home & project page will update accordingly:
Entering data offline
Once a survey has been downloaded (as outlined above), it is able to be used offline. The connection status indicator in the top-right of the portal will be updated accordingly.
You can filter to only show offline surveys using the ‘offline surveys’ checkbox:
Offline records can be added either directly via the ‘+’ button for the survey on the home page, or with the ‘+’ button on the survey card on the project page. Once clicked, you will be able to enter in your records details like usual:
Upon completion, you will be redirected to the unpublished records page. Once online, you will be able to upload the record. You can return to the unpublished records page by clicking your profile name on the top right and clicking unpublished records.
