Version 5.0.0 of Diving Log for Android has been released, which now targets Android 11, as required by Google. This has been a challenging release, because Android 11 does not allow apps access to the general file system anymore. Up to now, Diving Log stored the logbook files in the “Diving Log” folder in the root of the device. This folder was not deleted when the app was uninstalled, so your logbook files were not deleted either.
Android 11 requires storing all data within the internal app folder, which is deleted when the app is uninstalled. So, this requires some strategy to avoid accidentally data loss, e.g. when a user temporarily uninstalls the app because something doesn’t work.
Previous logbook location
New logbook location
Phone/Android/data/com.divinglog.divelog/files/Logbook
When you update from a previous version of Diving Log, you do not have to do anything. Diving Log will migrate all logbooks to the internal folder and automatically backup the logbooks from time to time to the former external “Diving Log” folder (which won’t be deleted). A “!!!FolderMoved!!!.txt” file is created in the old folder as indicator, which contains the path to the new folder.
Once you do a fresh install of the app, you have to manually select a backup folder to avoid deletion of your logbooks during uninstall. You can do this from the start screen shown below. You can also restore your logbooks from a previous backup folder. You can later configure the automatic backup in the app settings screen:
 Start screen with backup and restore options |
 Configure backup in settings |
Tip: You can select the backup folder on a removable SD Card, because you can easily retrieve the card even when the device does not boot anymore. Please remember, this automatic backup is still only locally on your device! So, if your Android device is lost or damaged, it won’t help you. Additionally, you should backup your logbook to the cloud or a PC.
Diving Log 6.0 can handle both logbook locations, so USB synchronization will work, no matter which Android app version you have.
You can see the current logbook location at the top of the “Logbook Management” screen. You can also use this screen to import any backups into the internal app logbook folder, if you’ve dismissed the start screen restore function:
 Logbook storage path |
 Import backup files |