Platform: android
App version number: 1.19.8 (430)
Screenshots of what you are seeing:
Description of problem: on “My Observations” screen, the app is perpetually syncing. The message is “preparing” then “cleaning up” and this cycle repeats over and over.
Yeah, ditto. It occasionally does stop, but then the next time I add a single new observation, it’ll be back to syncing for weeks.
This is often due one the observed on date of an observation being edited and now occurring after its submitted on date, which is impossible in this known reality, so the app doesn’t like it.
Did you edit any of your observations? Can you please email log files from the app to help@inaturalist.org? To send log files, go to the Settings tab in the app and tap three times on the version number. You will then have the option to email the log files to us.
Log files sent. The only editing I do is to change the name or add/delete photos.
I have the exact same symptoms, and have emailed my logs using the instructions above.
This has been going on for close to a year, in my case. It is super annoying. I’m not sure if the hypothesized explanation is true or not, but it really seems beside the point. The observed behavior is a bug whether the user “did something wrong” or not. In general, iNaturalist on Android is one of the slowest/buggiest apps on my device, unfortunately. If there is anything I can do to help improve the situation, I’m all ears…
Mark
Just FYI (though I’m sure you are already aware of it), the issue seems to be pretty widespread:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/android-app-stuck-in-preparing-cleaning-up-syncing-loop/14964
this current thread: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/perpetual-sync-activity/14406/
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/android-app-observation-remains-in-sync-loop/13504
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/sync-issue-on-mobile-app/4866
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/android-app-doesnt-sync-observations/11777
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/updating-1-of-8-observations-android-app/4821
Sorry, I replied to haunma via email but not here. The bug that haunma is encountering should be fixed in the next update from the Google Play Store.