Automatic sync
A colleague with the RingSync app installed sees their directory's contacts update on their iPhone or Android phone without doing anything, at the frequency their administrator has set.
What happens automatically
For each directory, the app compares the date of this phone's last successful sync with the chosen frequency. If that delay has elapsed, it syncs the directory. This check happens:
- when the app opens and each time it returns to the foreground, at most once a minute;
- in the background, when the system launches RingSync's task.
The phone's system decides when the background task runs, on iPhone and on Android alike. The frequency is therefore a minimum delay between two syncs, never a guaranteed time. On iPhone, the task runs mostly in idle windows, such as overnight, rather than every hour.
If the system prevents the app from running background tasks, for example in low power mode or with background refresh turned off, only the check at app opening remains. Opening the app is then enough to sync the directories whose delay has elapsed.
Each phone has its own date of last sync: a sync done on one phone does not hold back a second phone.
Adjust automatic sync in the app
- Open the RingSync app.
- Tap the directory's card.
- Use the Automatic sync switch to turn automatic sync on or off.
- Choose the Sync frequency: Every hour, Every day, Every week or Every month.
Changes take effect at the next sync. Each directory has its own settings. If the card shows Error, tapping it opens the Sync paused screen instead of these settings.
What the user can change depends on the administrator:
| Administrator's settings | In the app |
|---|---|
| Changes not allowed | "These settings are managed by your administrator." The frequency is the administrator's and the sync stays on. |
| Changes allowed, deactivation not allowed | The user picks their frequency. The switch is locked: "Locked by your administrator." |
| Both allowed | The user picks their frequency and can turn automatic sync off. |
On-demand sync is always possible: see Sync on demand.
In the dashboard, open Settings, section Periodic sync. It holds three settings.
- Sync frequency: Every hour, Every day, Every week or Every month. The default is Every day.
- Allow users to change their sync: when this setting is off, the frequency is enforced and users can neither change it nor turn it off in the app.
- Allow user-side deactivation: when this setting is on, users can turn off automatic sync for this directory. It has no effect when the previous setting is off.
When users can change their sync, the frequency they chose takes precedence over yours.
When you remove a person's access to the directory, their contacts are removed from their phone at the latest the next time they open the app, sooner if the app is in the foreground or a sync is running.
When the sync does not run
RingSync refuses to start a sync if the organization's access is suspended (trial ended, unpaid invoice) or if the plan's synced contacts limit is reached. See Invoices, payment and VAT and Seats and limits.
Technical details
- The intervals are 1 hour, 24 hours, 7 days and 30 days. The app compares the interval with this phone's date of last sync, recorded by the server.
- The background task is registered with a minimum of 60 minutes; this is a floor set by the app, not a schedule. It only syncs the directories whose delay has elapsed.
- A manual sync and an automatic sync of the same directory share a lock: if a second one starts during a sync, it joins the one in progress. A contact removal waits for the sync to finish, and a sync started during a removal waits until it is done.
- A departure in the directory reaches the phone at its next sync, not instantly.
- At each check, the app also removes from this phone the directories the server no longer lists for it.
- For the engine's detail, see How sync works.