collect-best-practices.rst

Best practices for ODK Collect

Creating Android desktop shortcut to launch specific form

1. Click on :guilabel:`Apps` button at the bottom of the screen.

2. :gesture:`Touch and hold` on an empty space on the Home screen and then click on :guilabel:`Widgets` button at the bottom of the screen.

3. Find the :guilabel:`ODK Form` widget and then :gesture:`touch and hold` it.

4. A menu pops up listing all the available forms. Select the form you wish to create a shortcut for.

5. Shortcut for the selected form will appear on your home screen. You can move the shortcut to the desired position by :gesture:`drag and drop`.

Note

To delete the shortcut, hold and press it. A :guilabel:`Remove` button will appear on the top right corner. :gesture:`Drag and drop` the shortcut to the :guilabel:`Remove` button. The shortcut will be removed.

Tip

If you are unable to find :guilabel:`Widgets` option:

1. Click on :guilabel:`Apps` and then click on three dots at the top right corner of your screen.

2. Click on :guilabel:`Help` option in the dropdown.

3. Click on :menuselection:`Adding Items` option in the menu which appears.

4. Information about adding widgets will be displayed. You can then follow it or try it to find the :guilabel:`Widgets` button.

Tips on Location

When you need to specify location in any survey form, you may get a warning message which says: Sorry, location providers are disabled and a screen will open asking you to enable location providers.

Enable/Disable location providers

To turn your device's location providers on/off:

1. Open your device's Settings app.

2. :gesture:`Tap` :guilabel:`Location`.

Tip

If you don't see "Location", :gesture:`tap` :guilabel:`Security & Location` and then :guilabel:`Location`.

3. Turn Location on or off.

Location providers disabled.

Location providers enabled.

Change location mode

You can also choose your location mode based on accuracy, speed, and battery use. Android can help improve location accuracy by triangulating your location off nearby Wi-Fi access points or cell towers. Combined with data available from your ailing GPS signal, turning on Wi-Fi will greatly improve location accuracy under most conditions.

In the Location section, :gesture:`tap` on :guilabel:`Mode`.

Then pick:

• High accuracy: This mode uses GPS, Wi-Fi, mobile networks, and other sensors to get the highest-accuracy location. It uses Google's Location service to help estimate your device's location faster and more accurately.
• Power saving or Battery saving: This mode uses sources that use less battery, like Wi-Fi and mobile networks. It uses Google's Location service to help estimate your device's location faster and more accurately.
• GPS only or Device only: This mode uses only GPS. It doesn’t use Google's Location service to provide location information. It can estimate your device's location slower and use more battery.

Improve location accuracy

You can also improve accuracy of location.

:gesture:`Tap` on :guilabel:`Improve accuracy` in Location section.

Then enable:

• Wi-Fi scanning: Allow apps and services to scan for Wi-Fi networks automatically, even when Wi-Fi is turned off.
• Bluetooth scanning: Allow apps and services to scan for and connect to nearby devices automatically via Bluetooth, even when Bluetooth is turned off.

Note

Google has added Bluetooth scanning support to further improve location accuracy with Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

For more details on location services, see this guide.