Auto-Archiving
Lokate makes sure your assignments are never lost or can be shared easily. It does this by automatically archiving assignments into one tidy, portable package. Once Auto-Archive is turned on, each assignment in your iPhone is saved as a compressed ZIP file inside your iCloud Drive, under Lokate > Archives.
Each archive includes your GPS tracks, photos, weather data, and time-stamped log entries, all wrapped into an auto-formatted report you can open with a browser. It also contains your data in several common formats, so you can import your work into other mapping or analysis tools with no extra effort. This should make it certain that your data stays with you no matter if you change phones or decides to work with a different software later on. It also makes sharing training data with your fellow volunteer easy as well as prepare to support court cases.
In future versions, Lokate will support importing these archives back into the app, giving you a full backup and restore cycle.
Enabling Auto-Archiving
To turn on Auto-Archiving, go to Settings > Archives and enable the “Auto-Archive Assignments” switch. Lokate will now automatically create an archive every time you stop recording a new assignment.
Because archiving uses cloud storage and network access, you can choose a minimum battery level (we recommend 30%) to avoid draining your device during situations when this is better spend on more critical functions. Archiving won’t run if your battery is below that level, but you can always trigger a manual archive anytime.
For Archiving to work, iCloud Drive must be enabled. Check:
Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > iCloud Drive → ON
Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Apps Using iCloud Drive > Lokate → ON
Once enabled, you don’t need to do anything else—Lokate handles it all in the background.
How You Know It’s Working
In your Assignment List, you’ll notice a vertical status bar at the right edge of an assignment selection:
Green means the archive is complete and saved to iCloud
Orange means archiving is in progress
Red means the archive hasn’t been created or failed
Archive failures and error codes can be found in the Settings/Auto-Archive section as well. (if you don’t see it; it means there are no failures).
Where Are the Archives and How Can I Share Them?
Archives are stored in your iCloud Drive, under the folder: Lokate > Archives You can access this folder in multiple ways:
On iPhone or iPad: Open the Files app, navigate to iCloud Drive > Lokate > Archives
On Mac: Use Finder to browse to iCloud Drive > Lokate > Archives
Online: Visit iCloud.com, open iCloud Drive, find the Drive icon and then browse to the Lokate folder. Notice that you cannot open ZIP files while in iCloud.com, double clicking will ask you to download the folder and perform file operations on it while in your Mac or PC.
Each archive is named by date and assignment, e.g.: 2025-03-15-Search_Mission_Pine_Ridge-UUID.zip. The UUID is a unique code that prevents multiple archives with the same name and date to overwrite. This UUID is unique across all Lokate generated files across all its users hence this ID may be used as master ID if a single database is created with data sets from different users.
To view an archive:
Open the ZIP file
Inside, find and open report.html in any web browser
Explore maps, weather, logs, and media—even offline
To share, simply send the ZIP file to a teammate, instructor, or agency contact. They can unzip it on any computer or mobile device and see everything you did. Alternatively, you can share your file or folder so that continuous changes and updates are visible to whomever you shared it with.
If you prefer, you can also share just the GPX files or photos individually. The archive keeps everything organized so you don’t have to.
Archive Contents
Each archive is a complete snapshot of the assignment at that moment. Here’s what you’ll find inside:
HTML Report – Open this in any browser to see:
GPS Track Files – In professional formats:
GPX files: Separate for handler, K9, and subject
GeoJSON file: All tracks combined for use in mapping software
Log - in JSON format
Map Items - all imported data as captured by the assignment in JSON format
Backup Data – Everything needed for future restore:
All track points with exact timestamps
Original full-resolution photos, marked with position, altitude and heading information
Assignment settings with weather data
When Does Lokate Archive?
Lokate automatically archives at several key points:
Immediately after you finish recording an assignment (if Auto-Archive is enabled and your device meets battery and internet requirements)
Any time you update the assignment, including:
Adding GPS tracks (manual or imported)
Changing the assignment name
Adding photos or editing the log
Updating weather data
When you manually trigger an archive, either from:
Assignment Details → Create Archive Now
Long-pressing an assignment in the list → Re-Archive Assignment
When an archive is deleted from iCloud, Lokate will detect this and create a new one automatically
Manual archiving works regardless of battery level or internet connection.
What is in the Report
Each archive includes a browser-based report (report.html). No software or configuration is required—just open it on any device. The report contains:
Header: Assignment name, date, and summary detail based on captured data.
Map: Interactive satellite map with color-coded tracks
Weather: Charts showing temperature, wind, humidity, and more. The weather data starts 1 hour prior to the first captured data point to 1 hour after the last captured data point. Most of the time this is 1 hour before and after your recording. But in case of an aged track by a subject, the weather chart may span across 24 or 48 hours depending on how old the subject track is.
Log: Time-stamped log entries, ordered and formatted
Photos: Gallery of all images from the mission (this will be coming in a future release)
Everything is included automatically if available—no need to configure anything.
Troubleshooting
If Archiving Fails Start by checking:
Is iCloud Drive enabled?
Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > iCloud Drive → ON
Apps Using iCloud Drive > Lokate → ON
Are you signed into iCloud?
Do you have a working internet connection?
Is your battery above the minimum threshold?
If conditions aren’t met, auto-archiving is skipped, but you can always use “Create Archive Now” to force an archive.
If you’re not sure what’s wrong, go to Settings > Archives to see error details.
If You Don’t See Your Archives
Open the Files app, go to iCloud Drive > Lokate > Archives
Wait a few minutes—iCloud sync isn’t always instant
Try a manual archive to verify everything’s working