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Bharat Surveyभारत सर्वे
फील्ड में हाथ में पकड़े फोन पर खुला सर्वे ऐप
Survey app · Offline

Download the day's work in town, collect all day in the village, sync on the way back

Bharat Survey is an offline survey app for research agencies, NGOs, government departments and campaigns whose enumerators work where mobile data drops to nothing. The Android app downloads each person's assigned areas and forms in advance, runs every question and check on the phone, stores answers encrypted, and syncs when a signal returns. The web panel shows exactly what has reached the server and what is still sitting on a phone.

Test it on your own form All features
  • Forms, areas and work permit stored on the phone
  • Skip logic and validation run without network
  • Encrypted autosave during every interview
  • Sync count always visible to the enumerator
Hello, Ram Kumar
Today's work
Shift on
Assignment
Gram Panchayat Barauli
Target 40 homes14 done15 done16 done17 done
Shift
On · 2:14 h
Sync
6 phone · 8 server
Today's homes
  • Home 15 · RamlalDone
  • Home 16 · SunitaDone
  • Home 17 · LockedRevisit
  • Home 18 · MohanFilling…
✓ #BS-0413 synced to server
Start new survey
Survey 3/6 · AmenitiesOffline
How is drinking water in your area?
  • Comes regularly
  • Comes sometimes
  • Rarely / never
  • Don't know
✓ Section saved on phone · autosave
BackNext
Sync
6
Safe on phone
8
Synced to server
Last sync12:40
Offline permit18 h left
Photos pending3
Sync now
Offline work permitEncrypted local storageAutosave per answerIdempotent syncSaved on phone vs reached serverLow-RAM AndroidHindi-first screensLocation checked after sync
A day without signal

Here is what the app does at each point of a normal field day in a block where the nearest tower is ten kilometres away.

07:30 · In town

Today's work downloads while there is still network

When the enumerator opens the app with a connection, it pulls the assigned villages or wards, the approved form version and an offline work permit. From then on nothing else is needed from the server for the day.

  • Assigned areas with boundaries or centroids
  • Approved form version only
  • Permit valid offline for the assignment
Hello, Ram Kumar
Today's work
Shift on
Assignment
Gram Panchayat Barauli
Target 40 homes14 done15 done16 done17 done
Shift
On · 2:14 h
Sync
6 phone · 8 server
Today's homes
  • Home 15 · RamlalDone
  • Home 16 · SunitaDone
  • Home 17 · LockedRevisit
  • Home 18 · MohanFilling…
✓ #BS-0413 synced to server
Start new survey
09:00 · First household

Arrival, consent and the interview run on the phone

The enumerator checks arrival, reads consent and fills the form section by section. Routing and range checks work exactly as they would in a city office, because they are evaluated on the device.

  • Arrival check is a button, not background tracking
  • Consent recorded before question one
  • Visit outcome when nobody is home
Home #17 · Intro & consent

Hello, I am Ram Kumar. This survey is run by Sample Organisation. Purpose: to learn about amenities in your area. It is voluntary, and you can say no at any time.

Consent v2 · 09:44
Agreed — start surveyDeclined
13:00 · Battery at 18%

Nothing is lost when the phone dies

Every answer autosaves into encrypted storage as it is entered. If the phone switches off mid-interview, the enumerator reopens the same record at the same question after charging.

Survey 3/6 · AmenitiesOffline
How is drinking water in your area?
  • Comes regularly
  • Comes sometimes
  • Rarely / never
  • Don't know
✓ Section saved on phone · autosave
BackNext
18:30 · Back on the highway

Records sync and the count goes to zero

When a signal appears, finished records upload in the background. Each record has an ID, so a dropped upload that retries never creates a duplicate. The screen shows how many records are still only on the phone.

  • Retry-safe uploads
  • Pending count on the home screen
  • Photos compressed before upload
Sync
6
Safe on phone
8
Synced to server
Last sync12:40
Offline permit18 h left
Photos pending3
Sync now

Our view

Villages, not demos

Rural fieldwork breaks apps in predictable ways. These are the ones the product is designed around.

Runs on the phones enumerators already carry

Many field staff use entry-level Android phones with 2 or 3 GB of RAM, shared with WhatsApp and a camera full of photos. The app keeps screens simple, stores forms as compact data and compresses photos on the device before they take space in the upload queue.

Screens are Hindi-first with an English toggle, with large touch targets that work in sunlight and with dusty fingers.

  • Low-RAM Android support
  • Hindi and English labels
  • Photo compression on device
Survey 5/6 · Photo
Photo of a public issue
Camera · no faces
5 MB → 210 KB · with location/time
SkipTake photo

Location evidence that is honest about weak GPS

GPS in a valley or inside a pucca house can be poor. Instead of pretending, each record is labelled after sync as in area, near boundary, outside, poor signal or mock GPS. A poor-signal record goes to review with its accuracy value; it is not quietly marked verified or rejected.

Village boundaries in India are often approximate, so the badge says 'approx. in area' when the check used a village centroid and radius.

  • Five location states
  • Accuracy and fix age stored
  • Mock location detection
Location evidence
Survey #BS-0412
  • In areaInside approx. boundary
  • Accuracy±12 m
  • Time09:42 · fresh fix
  • Mock GPSNot detected
  • Interview length11 min
Added to accepted count
Decision aid

Offline behaviour of the Bharat Survey Android app, September 2026
TaskWorks offline?Notes
Open assigned areas and formsDownloaded in advance with the work permit
Fill forms with skip logic and validationRules evaluated on the phone
Record consent and visit outcomesStored with time and duration
Take photosCompressed and queued for upload
Capture arrival locationDevice GPS does not need mobile data
Location verification labelAssigned after the record reaches the server
Receive a new form versionDownloads at next connection
Live map for supervisorsUpdates only while the enumerator's shift is live and online
Supervisor corrections sent backArrive at next sync

GPS satellites work without a SIM or data plan; accuracy still depends on sky view.

Architecture in plain words

Adding an offline mode to a web form is not the same as designing for no network from day one. Three decisions make the difference.

01The phone is the source of truth until sync01

The phone is the source of truth until sync

The form engine, rules and answers live on the device. The server receives finished records; it does not have to be reachable for the interview to proceed.

  • Room database with SQLCipher encryption
  • Form definition shipped as data, not a web page
02Sync is retry-safe02

Sync is retry-safe

Rural uploads fail halfway all the time. Each record carries its own ID, so the server accepts it once however many times the phone retries.

  • No duplicate records from flaky networks
  • Background sync scheduled by Android WorkManager
03Status is always shown, never guessed03

Status is always shown, never guessed

The enumerator sees a pending count. The supervisor sees the last sync time per person. Dashboards never show stale data as live.

  • Saved on phone vs reached server
  • Last update time on every view
Offline
No network
6
Safe on phone
8
Synced to server
Syncs when network returns
Devices and people

Offline survey app for Android

Built natively for Android because that is what almost every enumerator and volunteer in India carries. Pilot projects can install by APK before Play Store listing.

Offline survey app for field staff

Each enumerator sees only their own assignments. Supervisors review, send corrections and run back-checks on their own team from the app or web panel.

Survey app for Android on low-end phones

Designed and tested for entry-level handsets with limited memory and storage, which is where most field data in India is collected.

Offline survey app for iPad

Not available. There is no iOS or iPadOS app in version 1. If your enumerators carry iPads, tell us before scoping so we can discuss Android tablets instead.

Not the right fit if

  • Your team must use iPhones or iPads
  • Respondents should fill web links on their own phones
  • You need a free tool for a one-off student survey
  • You need a live map of enumerators when they are offline (it cannot exist)

A good fit if

  • Household and facility surveys across blocks with patchy data
  • Multi-day field trips with evening sync
  • Projects where fake or remote-filled surveys are a risk
  • Hindi-first enumerators on budget Android phones

All features

Seats, forms, verification, QA and exports.

Learn more

Field inspection app

Offline checklists for inspections.

Learn more

Customer feedback software

In-person feedback on a staff device.

Learn more

Survey app development

Custom workflows on the same offline core.

Learn more

WhatsApp and SMS surveys

What messaging can and cannot replace.

Learn more
FAQ

Straight answers to the questions people ask most about this topic.

How to collect data offline in rural areas?

Download assignments and the final form while in network, check that phones are charged and carry a power bank, and use an app that autosaves each answer and runs validation on the phone. Sync each evening, and have supervisors check the pending count per enumerator before the next day starts.

How long can an enumerator work offline?

For the length of the assignment the work permit covers, typically days. Storage is the practical limit, mostly photos. Records remain encrypted on the phone until they upload, and the pending count reminds the enumerator to find a signal.

Is data on the phone safe if the device is lost?

Answers are stored in an encrypted local database, and the app is bound to the enumerator's verified login. Unsynced records on a lost phone cannot be recovered, which is why regular syncing matters on long trips.

Does GPS need mobile data?

No. The phone's GPS receiver works without a SIM or data plan, though a first fix can be slower. The location is stored with its accuracy and checked against the assigned area after the record reaches the server.

Can we use our existing XLSForm questionnaire offline?

Yes. XLSForm files can be imported, reviewed for unsupported question types and published as an approved version that downloads to phones like any other form.

Sources: Android WorkManager documentation · XLSForm standard

शाम के समय कस्बे का हवाई दृश्य
India Nationwide, Hindi-first

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