Your device records every drive and keeps it until EngineMon has it. This page explains how the data gets to us, why a drive can take a while to show up, and what sleep and a weak car battery do to syncing.
Do I need my phone in the car?
No. The device records with or without your phone and holds the data until it can send it. The drive reaches EngineMon in one of two ways:
- Over Wi-Fi: the device uploads by itself whenever it's in range of a saved network, like your home Wi-Fi. Your phone isn't involved.
- Through your phone: the EngineMon app picks up the data over Bluetooth and sends it on. This works while the app is open, or with the app closed if background sync is on.
So a drive with no phone along still arrives: when the car gets home to its Wi-Fi, or the next time your phone comes near the parked car with the app open (or background sync on). To watch live data while you drive, you do need the phone along, or the car in range of a saved Wi-Fi.
Tip: Wi-Fi is the easiest way to sync. The device uploads faster on its own and doesn't need your phone. Add your home Wi-Fi on the web or in the app.
Syncing over Wi-Fi
Once you've saved a network, the device joins it whenever it's awake and in range: when you pull in at home, and each time it wakes while parked. If it has unsent data, it stays awake until the upload finishes. With the car on in range of the network, live data goes out over Wi-Fi too, and the device shows the Live badge.
A network you add takes effect the next time the device syncs. If it isn't on Wi-Fi yet, open the app near the car so your phone can pass it along.
Syncing through your phone
While the app is open, it looks for your device every 30 seconds or so and connects by itself when it's in Bluetooth range. It then streams live data and sends anything the device recorded while the phone was away.
If your phone has no internet at that moment, the app keeps what it received and uploads it when you're back online.
Keep syncing with the app closed
Background sync lets the app keep syncing while it's in the background. It's phone-only and off until you turn it on:
- In the app, open Settings and tap App.
- Under Background sync, turn on Keep syncing when the app is in the background.
- Tap Enable to confirm.
The app also offers this right after you register a device. It can use more of your phone's battery, and it pauses when the phone's battery is below 15% and not charging. You see Background sync paused, then Background sync resumed once the phone is charging or back above 15%.
On Android, a notification shows while it syncs in the background. You can hide it by muting the Background activity notification channel; syncing carries on. If you let EngineMon pair with the device when Android asked, Android can also start the app when the device is nearby.
With background sync on, you can also turn on Auto-open on engine start in the same place, which opens live data when you start the car (Phone settings for live data).
What "Catching up" and "Syncing old data" mean
When the device has data recorded earlier, for example a drive you took without your phone, it sends that first. While it does:
- The device shows the Catching up badge on the web and in the app.
- The app shows a Syncing old data banner. Over Bluetooth it includes a percentage and how long is left ("Done in ..."). When the data comes through Wi-Fi or another phone, it shows the time the data is from instead. Catching up slowly means progress has slowed or paused; it carries on by itself.
- The car's card in the Garage says how far along it is ("40% caught up").
Live values show up once it's done, and the banner says Up to date. You don't need to do anything. If you own the device and haven't saved a Wi-Fi network yet, tap the banner for details, where Set up Wi-Fi takes you to add one. Uploads over Wi-Fi are faster and don't need your phone.
When does a drive show up?
A drive appears in your logs as soon as its first data reaches EngineMon. On the web it's on the Logs page; in the app, open the car and look under Recent logs. While data is still coming in, the log says Live. If uploads stop partway, for example because the car drove out of Wi-Fi range, it says In progress until the rest arrives or 15 minutes pass with nothing new. Once the last data is in, it's usually ready to open within a minute or so. What each status means covers the rest.
A new log starts each time the device wakes up. If it fell asleep in the middle of a drive, you'll see two logs.
Why hasn't my drive appeared?
- Nothing could send it yet. The device wasn't near a saved Wi-Fi, and your phone wasn't nearby with the app open or background sync on. Open the app near the car, or add Wi-Fi for where it parks.
- It's still catching up. Wait for Syncing old data to finish.
- It's still coming in. A Live or In progress log finishes on its own.
- Your phone is offline. The app uploads what it holds once you're back online.
- The app shows a banner. Server sync failing means the app holds the data and keeps trying. Automatic sync paused means the app crashed several times: tap the banner to resume.
- Your phone's battery is low. Background sync pauses below 15% until the phone is charging or back above that.
- The car battery is low. The device sleeps to protect it. See Low car battery.
- The device is being transferred. A device you've offered to someone doesn't sync until they take it, decline it, the offer expires after 7 days, or you cancel it.
- The car wasn't identified. Recordings where the device couldn't identify a car don't appear in your logs. Turn the key to ON and check the device is pushed all the way into the port.
Still missing? Troubleshooting has more checks.
What the device does while parked
After you turn the car off, the device finishes its work, like uploading over Wi-Fi, then goes to sleep to save the car's battery. Both lights go out while it sleeps. Nothing is lost: the data stays on the device until EngineMon confirms it got it.
While asleep, it wakes now and then to check its Wi-Fi and give a nearby phone the chance to connect. The longer it sits, the longer the gaps get, up to about a quarter of an hour. So when you walk up to a parked car with the app open, it can take several minutes to connect. Starting the car wakes it right away.
While the app is open on the device's live data, settings or Troubleshooting screen, it keeps the device awake.
On Android, the app posts a silent notification when the device falls asleep, with the reason ("Asleep · Engine off", for example). iPhone doesn't show one.
If the car sits for a week or more
After about 7 days without the car being switched on, the device stops listening for your phone while parked. It still checks its Wi-Fi. To reach it from the app, start the car or turn the key to ON first. Your drives are safe either way.
The device's storage isn't endless. If it fills up before anything syncs, it keeps the older drives and stops recording new ones, so let it sync now and then.
Low car battery
The device watches the car's battery voltage:
- Low (below 11.5 volts for 30 seconds): the device goes back to sleep quickly, even if it has data left to send, and wakes less often. It stops listening for your phone.
- Critically low (below 11.0 volts): it stops waking up on its own schedule, and wakes only when the car is started or moved.
The dip while the engine cranks doesn't count. Firmware updates won't install on a low battery either.
Drives sync again once the battery recovers, usually after a drive or a charge. People who can see the car's drives can get a notification about it: see Car battery alerts.
See what your phone has synced
In the app, open Settings and tap Data & storage (phone only). Sync activity charts how much this phone has received from your devices over Bluetooth, for Today, Week, Month or All time:
- Data synced: what the phone received from your devices.
- Data uploaded: what it sent on to EngineMon.
While a device streams to this phone, Receiving now shows the speed, plus the time left when it's catching up. Uploads the device makes over its own Wi-Fi don't pass through your phone, so they don't count here.