Download all items in background on iPad?

jessriedel
I've got a new iPad and am trying to download all the attachments in my database like I had done on my previous iPad. As far as I can tell, Zotero will not download attachments unless the app is running in foreground. That makes it very inconvenient to download a database with 7,000 PDFs, which takes more than an hour. As far as I can tell, I can't even let the iPad go to sleep, much less use it for something else, while the attachments are downloaded.

Assuming I'm not confused, I suggest a "download in background" feature be added (which would presumably be toggled from the main settings menu). It would of course also be nice to also then have a setting to download over cell vs just wifi.

I am running Zotero version 1.0.47 build 313 on iPadOS 18.3.2. Thanks.
  • mvasilak
    Hey @jessriedel, this functionality is already available. If you tap and hold on a collection, in the menu there is the action "Download Attachments". This action will continue in the background, if you close the app (not terminate it by swiping up in the app switcher, just go back to the springboard or switch to another app). If that is not the case for you, maybe you have modified default settings for background execution/downloads?
  • jessriedel
    Thanks. I did indeed do the tap-and-hold selection for "Download Attachments". The downloaded item counter would tick upward (roughly 1/sec) while using the app, but if I switched to another app for a while and then returned it wouldn't have increased. I also tried leaving the iPad plugged in overnight, but nothing additional had downloaded by the morning.

    I went to the iOS settings General > Background App Refresh, but Zotero was not listed. (I'm not just saying it had a toggle switch that was set to off. I'm saying it wasn't listed at all.) I don't know if the Background App Refresh list is what you mean when you say "settings for background execution/download".
  • mvasilak
    edited today at 6:39am
    @jessriedel that's ok, you are right, background app refresh is not of relevance, my bad. Can you try please rebooting your device, open the app again, start the downloads, close the app, and check if the downloads work as expected in the background now?
  • jessriedel
    No dice unfortunately.

    I rebooted the iPad, opened Zotero, long pressed “all items” and selected “download attachments”. It started downloading. But it I left the app and the returned to it a few minutes later, it hadn’t downloaded anything in the background. It just picked up where it left off.
  • mvasilak
    Can you also let us know how much available space there is in the device? You can check that in Settings > General > iPad Storage
  • jessriedel
    I left the iPad at home so can’t give you an exact figure until later, but it’s a lot. It’s has 1 TB of total space, and only 150-250 GB used.
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