zzTakeoff – Offline Access / Offline Estimating Capability
Hi zzTakeoff Team,
I wanted to ask for long time whether there is any possibility of introducing an offline mode for zzTakeoff.
I completely understand that zzTakeoff is cloud-based and that this has many advantages. However, there are times when I don't have internet access, particularly when travelling. For example, I sometimes spend 5–6 hours on a plane, and that would be perfect time for me to continue working on and completing my estimates.
Would it be possible to have some form of offline access, where an estimate or project could be downloaded before travelling, worked on without an internet connection, and then automatically synced back to the cloud once internet access is restored?
I use zzTakeoff extensively, and having this capability would make a big difference to how effectively I can use my travelling time.
Just wondering whether something like this is already possible or perhaps something you would consider for a future update.
Thank you kindly and all the best from Australia
Steve G.
Thank you for the feature request, Steve! As far as I know, there are no plans to introduce an offline mode (at least in the near future), but I will mention this to the dev team. 🙂
We have discussed this internally in the past, and the main reason we have not implemented offline mode is that zzTakeoff is a multi-user environment, which can cause some issues if an offline user deletes a takeoff while an online user updates that same takeoff.
Hi Lorin,
Thanks for getting back to me. I completely understand the concern with zzTakeoff being a multi-user environment and the potential for conflicting changes when someone is working offline.
I was wondering, though, whether there could eventually be a simpler “check-out” type of offline mode rather than full unrestricted offline access.
For example, before travelling I could select an estimate/project and download it for offline use. While I have it checked out, it could either be locked from editing by other users, or certain functions such as deleting or restructuring takeoffs could be restricted. Once I reconnect, my changes could then sync back to the cloud and the project becomes available normally again.
Even a limited version where I could continue doing quantities, measurements and estimating while offline would be extremely useful. I don't necessarily need every zzTakeoff function available offline.
I appreciate you passing the suggestion on to the development team. I use zzTakeoff extensively, so I thought it was worth explaining the practical reason behind the request and perhaps suggesting another way it could work.
Thanks again, Lorin.
All the best from Australia,
👍2