Hello,
I am working on an OutSystems mobile application with offline capability. Currently, when the device is offline, images captured from the camera are saved to Local Storage and later synced to the main database using Offline Data Sync when the internet becomes available.
My requirement is to capture an image and save it directly to the main database even when the device is offline, without waiting for sync.
I understand that server actions and APIs require an internet connection, but I would like to confirm:
Is it technically possible in OutSystems mobile to save data directly to the main database while offline?
If not, what is the recommended or best-practice approach to handle this scenario?
Any clarification or official confirmation would be helpful.
This is a very common question when working with offline-enabled OutSystems mobile apps, and your understanding is already on the right track.
To answer it clearly: no, it isn’t technically possible to save data directly to the main (server) database when the device is offline. In OutSystems Mobile, anything that writes to the server—Server Actions, REST APIs, or direct database operations—requires an active internet connection. When the device is offline, there is simply no communication path to the server, so the platform cannot perform those operations.
Because of this, OutSystems is built around an offline-first model. The expected flow is to store data locally (using Local Storage or Local Entities) while offline and then synchronize it to the server once connectivity is restored. This is not a workaround—it’s the intended and supported design.
The best-practice approach for your scenario is:
>Capture and store the image locally when offline.
>Keep a clear sync status (Pending, Synced, Failed).
>Use Offline Data Sync to push the image and related data to the server when the device comes back online.
>Add basic error handling and retry logic during sync.
Hi,
Exactly NO. But its not only Outsystems, but the other tech stacks are in the same shoes.
@Jayaprakash Ramesh has suggested the good practice for the offline data sync
No, it is not technically possible to save data directly to the main database while the device is offline in an OutSystems mobile app. Server actions and APIs require an active internet connection to communicate with the server database.
By definition, the server database resides on a remote server that requires a network handshake to receive data. If there is no internet connection, there is no physical or logical path for the data to travel from the mobile device to the server.
In OutSystems, any action that writes to the server database is a Server Action. Server Actions run on the server, not the device and to trigger a Server Action, the mobile app must send a request over the internet.
If the device is offline, the request will fail immediately with a network error before it ever reaches the database.
Cannot! If connection loss you can not work everything to db. You only save it into Local Storage with status Pending and save it into db after Online.
This has been asked and answered more than a month ago.
Why answer today by just repeating what has already been said ?!