Will Equipd automatically update when changes are made on WOL?
Important: Magazines and Workbooks often first appear on JW.org in PDF or EPUB format. Equipd downloads web-pages from the Watchtower Online Library (WOL.jw.org). They are different websites. I must wait for magazines and workbooks to appear on WOL.jw.org before they can be used in Equipd - and they are typically added to WOL several weeks after first appearing on JW.org.
In Equipd > Admin > Languages you can "Check for Updates Now". Updates might be a new publication, or the latest magazines. This feature will check to see if there are any updates pending for the languages you have enabled on this screen. In the background Equipd will automatically check once a day for updates - so you don't need to manually press this button.
A frequent expectation from users is that Equipd is updating directly from the Watchtower Online Library - i.e. that when new magazines are added to WOL.jw.org then these new magazines will be immediately available in Equipd.
This is not a realistic expectation.
I want to clarify that nowhere did the publicised features of Equipd mention anything about an auto-update of the Watchtower Online Library contents in Equipd. This is quite a large expectation for users to have - there is a reason why this has not been done in an app before.
In saying that however - I have been implementing some background support for updating the contents of Equipd. These updates are not real-time and they are not automatic. They involve work at my end, and I will push out the updates on an in-frequent basis, and after the updates have been tested as much as possible. I don't want to push updates that then proceed to break everybody's install of Equipd.
So how does this unpublicised feature work?
- I will periodically check WOL for updates (typically once a week or fortnight).
- I will then update the lightweight language definition files used in Equipd.
- After testing where possible, I will make these updates available on my servers.
- Your copy of Equipd will then detect any updates to these language files and will download and install them in your copy of Equipd.
Equipd will check my servers once a day for these updates - otherwise you can manually check for updates at any time in Admin > Languages. Make sure that you have enabled updates for all the languages you need.
So when WOL is updated the Equipd updates are not automatic.
If you must get your hands on magazines or KM's the moment they are released then I suggest you use the Podcast feeds in Equipd under the News tab to keep an eye out for the PDF and EPUB files, which are typically released a number of weeks before the magazines appear on WOL.jw.org.
I hope that answers any questions and clarifies any expectations!
Troubleshooting
Sometimes your copy of Equipd may get "stuck" and not pick up the latest language file updates even though they have been made available. This is a bug I am working on resolving, but in the meantime
you can work around it by following these steps:
- Go into Admin > Languages
- Make sure that updates are enabled for your language
- Scroll to the bottom of this screen
- Click “Replace Existing Files”
- Wait for the alert to confirm the files were replaced, then restart Equipd
Only do this if you have checked WOL and can see newer magazines available and your Equipd is a few months behind. For example I have some users still seeing English mags up to July, but updates are available to take the English mags up to September.
If your publications are up-to-date, but you find that the OKM schedule or Watchtower study is not showing on the Today screen under the Daily Text, please
refer to this article.