Before you can start using the magical sharing features of Showpad, you'll need to make sure you have content available in the Showpad app. Your marketing colleagues can provide a lot of interesting and awesome content and not all devices have enough available storage to store it all. Wouldn't it be sad you'd have to delete your latest holiday pictures on your device to make room for new brochures?
The download options will differ depending on which Showpad app you’re using.
Note: For security reasons all Showpad content, along with the application itself, cannot be downloaded onto external storage (such as an SD-cards). This helps prevent the accessibility of confidential information by other parties.
See how it works
Key features
- Keep device storage under control
- Always download all content automatically in the Showpad app
- Only download content when opening the file in the Showpad app
Choose your success platform
![]() iOS |
![]() Android |
![]() Windows |
![]() Windows Desktop |
![]() Web App |
See how it's done on iOS
When signing in on the iOS Showpad app for the first time, you have 2 options:
1. No, only what I need.
When selecting this option, the content will download when you open a selected file. However, if you need to download multiple files, you can select them all first and download them at once. To do that, click the ellipsis icon and choose Select Files.
Select the files you want to download and click the download icon.
This means an internet connection is always necessary. Once the content has been downloaded, it's available offline on your device for future usage.
Note: When viewing a collection, similar to viewing an individual asset on-demand, press the verification icon in the upper right corner. Select the assets individually or choose Select All. Choose Make Available Offline from the bottom menu. This will download the chosen assets from the collection to the device making it available when you’re offline. An internet connection is needed to download the assets.
2. Yes, always download all files.
When selecting this option, all available content will always be automatically downloaded in the background. This requires a stable internet connection to make sure everything is downloaded correctly. You can continue working in Showpad during this process.
Note: If you choose to download all content, make sure to leave the Showpad open for a bit while it downloads. If the app is closed during the download, all files will be canceled and will start over the next time Showpad is opened. It is fine to leave the app open and visit other apps on your device during the download. The only way content will stop downloading is if you log out, or swipe up to close it.
When the Always Download All Files option is enabled, you won't be able to remove the downloaded files from your device. To remove the downloaded files, disable the Always Download All Files option first in your Account settings.
If you are on a mobile connection, large files can take longer to download and will affect your data usage. You can enable or disable the usage of your Cellular Data connection in the Account settings.
Note: When you're offline and you create a share, it will go out once the connection is back online.
You also have the option to pause downloads and continue downloading the content once you have a wifi connection available.
Updates to the content are not automatically downloaded to your device. However, the Showpad app checks for updates in the background on a regular basis. If future content updates are available, you will see a notification in the top right corner. You can start syncing your content by tapping the icon. After downloading the updates, you'll see what's new and what changed in which Experience.
Every time you sign in on the app after you signed out, the latest content updates will be updated in the background. In this case, you won't see what's new and what changed in which Experience.
Downloading content in the background
Background activities on your iOS device, like syncing your music, downloading files from your iCloud drive, downloading content from Showpad,... are handled by iOS.
When Showpad's app is closed on your iPad or iPhone, iOS determines whether or not Showpad content will be downloaded. Background downloading of this content is influenced by the state of your device. We recommend
- using a good wifi network.
- having your device fully charged.
- disabling low-power mode.
Changing the download settings
If you want to switch between both options, you can go to Account and change the Always Download All Files setting.
When you sign in to the Showpad App, you'll get a choice on how to download your content:
- Download on Demand: The content will download when you open a selected file. However, if you need to download multiple files, you can select them all first and download them at once. To do that, long-press the files you want to select and click the download icon. Once the piece of content has been downloaded once, it's available offline.
Note: When viewing a collection, similar to viewing an individual asset on demand, select the three dots in the upper right corner. Select Available Offline from the dropdown menu. This will download the assets from the collection to the device making it available when you’re offline. An internet connection is needed to download the assets.
- Download all files: All available content will be download at that time. This requires a stable internet connection during that action. After downloading, all content is fully available offline.
You also need an internet connection for the following actions:
- Update your content
- Mail your content
- Synchronize contact data
If at any point, you want to switch to Downloading all content, you can go to the settings of your Showpad app.
- Select Download all files during update
- Tap Download all files now
To remove the downloaded content from your device, tap Remove downloaded files.
See how it's done on Windows
When you sign in on the Showpad Windows app, the content will not be downloaded on your device automatically. This means an internet connection is necessary if you want to display content. You will need a connection for the following actions:
- Update your content
- Share your content
- Synchronize contacts
You can make your content available offline, by downloading it manually. This is very useful when you have an appointment where no network connection is available. This also means your content will be available ad hoc as it is readily available on your device and you are not dependent anymore on your internet connection speed.
You can download selected Experiences on your device by swiping downwards on an Experience. Once you've selected all the Experiences you want to download, you can choose Download Selected.
You can also download an Experience while you're viewing it by clicking the same button.
Note: Downloading content can take some time if you have lots of content available in your Experiences.
You can also choose to download all the content inside an Experience by swiping from below the screen to inside the screen and then choosing Download selected when you're already browsing an Experience. If you're in Desktop mode, right click on the assets or Experiences to select and download them.
There are 4 possible icons you see for your content and Experiences, that show you the offline or online status.
- A cloud icon means that all the content is available online. You will need a connection to browse the content.
- A download sign appears next to the Experience and it stays there until the content is downloaded.
- If you see no cloud or download icon, the content is already available offline.
- When downloading content and you see a red dot next to the download icon, it means there are updates available in that particular Experience. If there are no changes then there is no red dot. The app can only detect newly added content or updated content if a previously downloaded version of the Experience or folder is already stored on your device.
To remove downloaded content from your device to free up disk space, you can
- Open the Account settings.
- Click or tap Content Cleanup.
Additionally, check this article to see how you can update the content.
See how it's done on the Windows Desktop app
When using the Showpad Windows Desktop app online, you can access all your available content. During this time you can choose content to make available for offline viewing. To do so, open an asset and click the cloud icon to make the file available offline. In a Classic Experience, you must make assets available offline individually. You can also make Collections available offline in bulk, or select single assets within them to be available offline.
If you are viewing a Page, you can make it available offline by clicking the download icon. In order to be able to view assets within the Page while offline, you need to open each individual asset on the Page and make it available offline as well.
If you'd like these assets to be automatically downloaded when made available offline, click your avatar and select Available Offline. Slide the Download All toggle on. At any time you can clear all the downloads from your local device by clicking Clear All.
To remove individual assets from being available offline, click the cloud icon under status for that asset.
You can also make assets no longer available offline when viewing an asset. Click the cloud icon again to make it available online only while the asset is open.
If you try to open an asset while not connected to a network that was not previously made available offline, you will be shown an error message indicating you need to try again when online.
See how it's done on the Web app
When using the Showpad Web app in your browser, all your up-to-date content will be automatically available. It's not possible to use the Web app while you're offline.