Using it offline
TabrilloSign in

Works when the signal doesn’t

Open it from closed, on a plane, with no signal — not just keep it open. What you add syncs exactly once when you land.

On the plane, in the basement restaurant, up the mountain, in the country where the data did not work. The moment you need to write down who paid is rarely the moment you have a bar of signal.

Dinner at IchiranYou paid · splitting 3 ways66.00
Airport trainWaiting for signal · will send once44.00

From closed, not just left open

Every screen is on the device before the signal goes, so the app starts with no network at all — not a spinner, not a cached front page. Open it, add the expense, put the phone away.

Syncs exactly once on reconnect, however many times you reopen it

What can you do with no signal?

Add expenses, in any split method and any currency. Add somebody who has just joined you and split with them. Read the balances, the expenses and the receipt behind any number.

What you are reading is the ledger as it was at your last sync, and the screen says so rather than pretending to be live.

Which groups can I open offline?

The ones you have opened on this phone. Every screen is on the device, but what is IN a screen — the expenses, the balances, who is in the group — arrives when you open it, and that is what is there to read later.

One more thing worth knowing: at the moment an update clears what was stored, so a group you have not opened since Tabrillo last updated needs a moment of signal before it will open without one.

What needs a connection?

Starting a group, recording a payment somebody made, and editing or deleting an expense. Each of those says so before you start — the control is there, and it tells you why rather than failing when you press save.

A name is the interesting one. Somebody added with no signal is on your device and nowhere else until you reconnect; the name is checked then, and if it cannot be used you are asked to choose another — with the expenses you split with them following the new name rather than being lost.

What happens when the signal comes back?

It sends what is waiting, in the order that makes sense — a person before the expense that names them — and exactly once, however many times you opened the app in between. Every expense carries an id made on your phone, so sending it twice cannot make two.

Where this matters most: a trip

Questions about using it offline

Does this expense app work offline?

Yes, including from completely closed. Open Tabrillo with no signal and it starts: balances, history and the entry form are there, for a group you have opened before. Add expenses and they sync exactly once when you are back.

Can I add an expense on a plane?

Yes — that is the case it is built for. Any split method, any currency, and anybody already in the group plus anybody you add while you are up there.

Will it sync twice if I keep opening it?

No. Every expense carries an id made on your phone, so replaying it cannot create a second one. It sends once, whenever the connection comes back.

What does not work without a connection?

Starting a group, recording a payment, and editing or deleting an expense. Each says so before you start rather than failing at the end.

Start without an account