The connection drops. The form won't load. Half the team switches to paper and promises to "enter it later." Some of that data makes it back. Some doesn't. You know this, because you've dealt with the cleanup.
The problem isn't your forms
It's easy to blame the tools. But your forms aren't broken; they just weren't designed for places without internet. And honestly, why would they be? Most form builders assume a stable connection. That's a fair assumption if your users are sitting at a desk. But if they're doing inspections in a basement, collecting survey data in a rural village, or registering patients at a mobile clinic; it's not.
The gap isn't in the software. It's where the software meets the real world.
The workarounds you already know
If you've been doing field data collection for a while, you've probably tried a few things. Paper forms that someone types over later (almost correctly). Screenshots of the form so people at least know what fields to fill in. Shared docs. WhatsApp messages with "can you just send me the answers."
These all work, technically. But they cost time, they introduce errors, and they put the burden on the people doing the actual work. The person in the field shouldn't have to solve your infrastructure problem on top of their job.
What if the forms you already have just worked offline?
That is the question we want to answer. Not "what if we built a better form builder." Not "what if we created a new data collection platform." But: what if your forms, the ones you've already set up, tested, trust, would just work without a connection?
That's what we're building with Offline Forms.
It connects to your existing form setup; right now Gravity Forms, with more builders coming. It downloads your forms to your phone, with all the fields, logic, and structure intact. You fill them out wherever you are. When you're back online, everything syncs. No re-entry, no paper, no lost data.
Your forms. Your setup. Just: offline.
Your data stays yours
This matters, so we want to be clear about it. There is no Offline Forms server sitting between you and your data. When your team fills out a form, that data is stored encrypted on their device. When it syncs, it goes straight to your infrastructure. We never see it, we never store it, we never touch it. Your data is for your eyes only.
Field data can be sensitive: inspection results, patient information, personal surveys. We built Offline Forms with that in mind from day one. Encryption at rest on the device, SSL-only communication when syncing. No shortcuts.
What we're not
We're not a form builder. We're not trying to replace Gravity Forms or any other tool you use. If your forms work for you, great; we want to keep it that way. We just remove the one thing that makes them fail in the field: the need for internet.
Work in progress, real challenges
We're not going to pretend this is simple. Offline-first is genuinely hard. Syncing data reliably, preserving conditional logic without a server, handling edge cases like form versions changing between the moment someone downloads a form and the moment they sync their entry: these are real challenges that need real solutions.
We're building this carefully, because your data matters too much to rush.
Who this is for
If you're collecting data in places where connectivity is unreliable, you probably felt a spark of recognition reading this. You might be running field inspections, coordinating research across remote locations, or managing intake forms for an NGO. The specifics differ; the frustration is the same.
You built a workflow that works. You just need it to work everywhere.
We're looking for early users
We're building Offline Forms right now, and we want to make sure we're solving the right problems for the right people. If any of this sounds familiar, we'd love to hear from you. Sign up for early access and help us shape what this becomes.