Spare offers two distinct backup solutions to ensure drivers can continue serving riders during different types of service disruptions.
Offline Mode is designed for situations where you lose cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity but the Spare Driver app itself is still functioning—allowing you to navigate and complete trips using cached data and downloaded maps.
Disaster Recovery Mode is a separate web-based solution for more critical situations where the Spare Driver app becomes temporarily unavailable or stops working entirely. Understanding when and how to use each feature ensures you can maintain service reliability no matter what technical challenges arise.
Offline Mode
Losing your cellular connection or Wi-Fi doesn't mean your work has to stop. The Spare Driver app has a backup feature that allows you to keep navigating to your stops, even when your device is offline. There are two steps:
A one-time setup you must do before you lose your connection.
How to use the feature during a network outage or loss of cell service.
1. ❗ Before You Go Offline: Download Your Service Area
For the offline feature to work well, you must proactively download an offline map of your service area in Google Maps. This saves the map data directly to your device. We recommend doing this while connected to Wi-Fi.
Open the Google Maps app.
Tap on your profile picture or initial in the top-right corner.
Tap on "Offline maps".
Tap "Select your own map".
Pan and zoom the map so the blue box covers your entire service area.
Tap "Download".
We recommend checking your downloaded maps every few months to make sure they are up-to-date.
2. 📱 How to Use Offline Mode in the App
How the app behaves depends on how long you're offline.
For Momentary Signal Loss
If you just drive through a tunnel or a small dead zone, you don't need to do anything.
The app automatically caches your trip information and navigation.
You can complete your pickup or drop-off as normal.
The app will save your completed work and send the update to the system as soon as it reconnects.
For an Extended Network Outage
If your device is offline for a longer period (e.g., during a cell provider outage), you can use your downloaded maps to keep moving.
In the Spare Driver app, go to your list of stops (your manifest).
Next to your upcoming stops, you will see an "Open" button with an arrow icon.
Tap "Open" for the stop you need to navigate to.
The app will automatically open the Google Maps app.
Google Maps will then use your downloaded offline map to provide turn-by-turn directions to that stop.
After you complete the stop, return to the Spare Driver app to mark it as complete (if possible) and tap "Open" for your next stop.
Disaster Recovery Mode & The Backup Manifest
About this feature
Accessing a backup manifest ensures that drivers can continue their duties seamlessly, even when the Spare Driver app becomes temporarily unavailable. This feature empowers drivers with an alternative, browser-based solution to manage their manifests and maintain service reliability.
You might also be interested in learning more about:
How does it work?
Review the video or follow the steps below to access the backup manifest and update your duty progress via the web interface:
Logging into the Backup Interface
Open a browser on your tablet or another internet-enabled device.
Navigate to the link shared by your administrators. The URL depends on the region your hosted in. Please reach out to your Partner Success Manager if you're unsure.
driver.us.sparedr.com
driver.us2.sparedr.com
driver.jp.sparedr.com
driver.sparedr.com
Log in using the following credentials:
Organization Key: Unique to your organization.
Username: The same username used for logging into the Spare Driver app.
Disaster Recovery Code: A special code set by your administrators. This is distinct from a driver's usual password.
Accessing and Using Your Manifest
Once logged in, you'll view the most recent backup of your manifest. The backup updates every 15 minutes.
Completed tasks might need manual updates if the last backup was slightly outdated.
View detailed trip information, including:
Base fare (in cents).
Number of passengers.
Mobility aid requirements (if applicable).
To navigate to a pickup or drop-off, tap the blue link to open directions in Google Maps.
Updating Duty Progress and Returning to the Spare Driver App
Mark trips as completed after pickups and drop-offs by selecting the appropriate status for each trip in the manifest.
Once directed to use Spare Driver app again, scroll to the bottom of the backup interface and select Finish Driving and Send Data.
This ensures that any updates made via the backup interface are sent to your dispatch team for reconciliation. If you do not do this, your information may be lost.
Switch back to the Spare Driver app to resume normal operations.
Because the Spare Driver app and the backup are separate, your Driver App manifest may show trips that you have already completed.
Receiving Driver Data:
After a driver has selected Finish Driving and Send Data, an email will be sent your specified Backup Email inbox containing a record of their activity. This data can be used to reconcile scheduled trip times with actual trip times.
For more information, refer to the following guide by clicking on the image below.
