Set up the tablet for the cab

A few Android settings decide whether the Ditch Assist® app keeps its files, stays connected to the machine and stays readable in the sun. Set them once, at home or in the shop while the tablet has internet. On a Samsung tablet the menu names below match; other tablets have the same settings under slightly different names.

Before you start

• About 15 minutes, at home or in the shop, on Wi-Fi with internet
• The Ditch Assist app installed (Install the app)
• You know how to open the tablet's Settings app and the pull-down panel (Tablet basics)

The tablet

The recommended tablet is the Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+: bright 11-inch screen, 64-bit, expandable storage, and it runs the standard build. It's the tablet offered with kits. Using your own? It needs Android 7.0 or newer, a screen of 10 inches or more and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi to join the control module. For smooth maps and LiDAR, buy at least Android 11 and 4 GB of RAM. Full requirements: Tablet requirements. Need a bigger screen or more power for all-day Land Forming or LiDAR work? Contact us for a recommendation.

1. All files access: on

The app keeps every survey, design, job, benchmark, LiDAR field and log in Documents/DitchAssist/, where you can also reach them with a file manager or a USB cable. To write there, Android must give it All files access. The app opens that Android page by itself on first launch (First launch).

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The quick check: close the app fully and open it again (how to close an app fully). While the switch is off, the app opens this page by itself at every start. There is no switch for it inside the app.

To check it in the tablet's Settings app (Samsung; more on permissions):

1. Open the Settings app and tap Apps

   The grey gear icon (the Settings app). Scroll down to Apps.

2. Tap Ditch Assist

   The list is in alphabetical order.

3. Tap Permissions, then Files and media

   Choose the option that allows management of all files.

On other tablets it can sit under Apps, then Special app access, then All files access, then Ditch Assist (the app's own Permissions page can then read "No permissions granted" even when it's on).

2. Location: on

Turn the tablet's Location on: swipe down from the top of the screen and tap the Location tile so it lights up (the pull-down panel). When the app asks, allow location While using the app. The app uses it to read which Wi-Fi network the tablet is on (Android hides the network name without it), to find Bluetooth GPS receivers, and to open the LiDAR & Mapping map near you. It is essential for Ditch Assist Lite.

3. Wi-Fi: stay on the machine's network

The control module, DIG module and Reach networks have no internet. Android likes to leave networks with no internet for one that has it, and the moment the tablet leaves, the app loses the machine. A few switches in Samsung's Intelligent Wi-Fi menu, and one answer when you first join, stop that. Pictures of the Wi-Fi page: Tablet basics: Wi-Fi.

1. Open the Wi-Fi page

   Open the Settings app (the grey gear). Tap Connections, the first item in the left column. Then tap the word Wi-Fi at the top of the right-hand side. The Wi-Fi page opens with a list of networks.

2. Tap the three dots

   Tap the three dots (⋮) in the top right corner of the Wi-Fi page. A short menu opens.

3. Tap Intelligent Wi-Fi

   Tap Intelligent Wi-Fi in the menu. It's the second of four lines, under Wi-Fi Direct. A page of switches opens. A switch is on when it's blue.

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4. Tablet with a SIM card: turn off Switch to mobile data

   Tap the Switch to mobile data switch so it turns grey. With it on, the tablet leaves the machine's Wi-Fi for mobile data. Tablets without a SIM card don't have this switch: go to the next step.

5. Turn off Switch to better Wi-Fi networks, if your tablet has it

   Some Samsung tablets also have a Switch to better Wi-Fi networks switch. If you see it, tap it so it turns grey. Many newer tablets don't have it; that's fine. If it is on, the app warns you once with Your tablet may drop this Wi-Fi and an Open Wi-Fi settings button that takes you to it.

6. Tap Always connect when Android warns about no internet

   The first time you join the module's network (or the Reach or DIG hotspot), Samsung shows Internet may not be available. Tap Always connect. On other Android versions it may read "Keep Wi-Fi connection" or "Always stay connected".

Network names and passwords for each kit: Connect the tablet.

4. Screen and brightness

• Screen timeout: the app keeps the screen on by itself while it's open, so you don't need to change Android's timeout for work. A short timeout (a few minutes) is fine and saves battery when the app is closed.
• Display Mode: in the Ditch Assist app, tap Settings (gear symbol, right-hand column). The DISPLAY box is at the top: tap Sunlight or Dark on the Display Mode row. Sunlight (the default) is the bright high-contrast theme for daylight; Dark is easier on the eyes at night.
• Brightness: turn Android's brightness up in the cab, and turn adaptive brightness off if it keeps dimming the screen in the sun.
• Sidebar side and language: Handedness moves the sidebar to the left or right edge; Language / Idioma switches the app to Español or Português.

5. Power in the cab

With the screen bright and the app running all day, the battery alone won't last a shift. Keep the tablet on a cab charger.

• Use a charger strong enough to keep up with the screen at full brightness. If the battery percentage still falls while plugged in, the charger or cable is too weak.
• Plug into a supply that stays live while you work, and route the cable so it can't be pulled out of the mount.
• Keep the tablet out of direct sun on the dash when you can: a hot tablet dims its screen and slows down.

Mounting the tablet: Install the tablet mount.

6. Before you head to the field

• All files access on, Location on
• Intelligent Wi-Fi: "Switch to mobile data" off (SIM tablets) and "Switch to better Wi-Fi networks" off (if your tablet has it)
• Always connect chosen when you first joined the module network
• App on the current version (check the version); Android updates done at home, not in the field
• Satellite imagery and LiDAR for your fields saved while you still have internet (Offline imagery, Prepare a field)
• Cab charger and cable in the truck

If something goes wrong

• The tablet keeps dropping the module's Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi drops every few minutes
• Could not detect a Ditch Assist module. while the tablet shows it's on the module Wi-Fi: Can't connect
• Saved work or LiDAR fields missing: Files problems, LiDAR problems
• Screen hard to read or the battery drains: Hard to read, Battery