QField allows you to do fieldwork on QGis projects with Android phones or tablets.
In this article we will discuss how to install QField on a mobile device and how to install and work on a QGis project.
Let’s see what can you do with QField?
QField allows you to install a QGis project on your phone or tablet. You will have a display equivalent to your QGis display on your PC and you will be able to edit the attribute or geometric information in the field. Do not confuse QField with the QGis Android version. It opens an interface equivalent to the one you have on your PC, with all the features of QGis. QField opens a simplified interface where you are primarily limited to updating the data included in your project.
Download QField to your mobile device.
There are several ways to download QField: through the Play Store, the QGis Downloads page, or simply by searching your browser with the words “qgis android”:
Touch the option QField for QGis Experimental (not QGis Experimental)
Then touch Install
Touch Install again to allow the application access to the location data
When finished, close the Play Store window and tap the QField icon that has just been added to your desktop:
A window tells you that the different modules are being installed
Then a window shows you that the installation is completed and ready to be used:
As the message indicates, now you need to create a project on your PC version of QGis, transfer it to your mobile device and open it using the button on this page.
How to create a QGis project
You must create a project on your PC with QGis. You will have a .qgs file that you will have to transfer to your mobile. But you will also have to transfer the required data to your project. Let’s see an example:
Create a directory with all the files needed by the project
All the required data must be physically on your mobile. WFS, WMS connections, internet connections like OSM, etc., will not work.
In our example, we use OpenStreetMap as background map. In order to be able to use it on our mobile, we have to save the basemap as an image, then load it into our project instead of the OSM layer.
For WFS, WMS, etc. layers, we also have to save the layer as a shp file and replace the layers with their files in our project.
In our example, we create a directory “Campus” where we save the image from OSM and the file with the data of the buildings. We save the project in this directory.
Create the desired symbology for the fieldwork.
For each layer you can use all QGis features for their symbology and labeling. You will not be able to change these settings in QField.
Transfer the project to your mobile
Connect your mobile to your PC and copy the directory together with your project and data. Even if you can do it anywhere, you should do it in the Android / Data directory
Launching QField on your mobile
Launch QField from your mobile desktop. You will have a project selection window, tap the button to browse the files
Browse the directories, in our Android / Data / Campus example, select the project’s .qgs file and click Open.
QField opens the project window on your mobile
There are two buttons at the top left. The blue button allows you to activate the location of your mobile and display a red dot on the map indicating the geographical position of the mobile.
The menu button opens a panel:
At the top of the panel, there are two buttons. The first (menu) closes the panel. The second opens the possible options:
Besides the Open a project option to change projects, the other important option is the Mode option .
There are two working modes: Browse and Draw.
The first refers to the attributes of the entities, the second to the geometries.
Browse mode
The browse mode allows to select the entities identifiers on the right banner by touching them on the map.
If you touch the identifier of the right panel, a new window opens with the attribute table of the entity:
Drawing mode
At the top right there is a pencil to edit. Then, you can enter / modify the values of the attributes.
On the left banner you select the layer to edit. The pencil at the bottom left goes into edit mode.
The cursor is placed in the centre of the screen. Unlike the PC, you move the map and not the cursor.
• The + green button records a new point
• The X button cancels the entity and exits the edit mode
• The – button cancels the last entered point
• The yellow button completes entering the entity and saves it, leaving the edit mode.
