User Manual

App: Nomadical

Version: 2.5.0

Owner: KangaBlue.au

Contact: skippy@kangablue.au

Last updated: 2026-04-14

Platform: Android (API 24+)

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Introduction

Nomadical is a fully offline survival companion for Android. Everything — AI inference, knowledge articles, document search, GPS, compass, checklists, journal, and SOS tools — runs entirely on your device. After the one-time AI model download, the app requires no internet connection for any feature.

What's in v2.5

• 1,000+ curated survival articles across 22 categories — first aid, food and foraging, knots and rope, navigation, off-grid living, self-defence, shelter, fire, water, weather, tools, bug-out bags, communication, vehicle repair, DIY repair, alternative energy, clothing, coastal and marine, cold weather, desert, bush medicine, and survival psychology. Sourced from US Army FM 21-76, FEMA/Ready.gov, NOAA, CDC, US Forest Service, NPS, NZ DOC, NSW WeedWise and more.
• On-device AI chat powered by Google's Gemma 4 2B model via the LiteRT-LM SDK. Ask survival questions, get structured emergency-mode and learn-mode answers. Fully offline after a one-time 2.6 GB model download.
• My Documents and chat with your own PDFs (new in v2.5). Import any PDF, TXT or Markdown file and ask the on-device AI questions about it. Single-document mode for focused drill-downs and "Ask my library" for cross-document search across everything you've imported. Source pills deep-link directly into the PDF viewer at the cited page.
• On-device OCR (new in v2.5) via Google ML Kit Text Recognition for scanned PDFs without a text layer — no cloud round-trips, all extraction runs locally.
• AI Scanner for plant, animal and object identification with a danger-level indicator.
• Offline maps with user-cacheable tiles, digital compass with magnetic declination correction, and a field journal with optional GPS tagging and photos.
• Emergency tools — SOS Morse-code flashlight, persistent one-tap SOS button, customisable emergency checklists, and a Medical ID for blood type, allergies, medications and emergency contacts.

Important: Nomadical is a preparedness aid and educational tool. It does not replace professional survival training, medical expertise, or certified emergency equipment. AI answers and document-grounded responses are imperfect — always cross-reference critical information.

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Table of Contents

• Introduction
• First Launch and AI Model Setup
• Home Screen Dashboard
• Survival Knowledge Library
• Reading Articles
• Bookmarks and Favorites
• My Documents and Chat With Your PDFs
• AI Survival Assistant
• AI Scanner
• Emergency Checklists
• Field Journal
• Compass and GPS
• SOS and Emergency Tools
• App Settings
• Persistent SOS Button
• Troubleshooting

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First Launch and AI Model Setup

When you open Nomadical for the first time, you will see the Onboarding Screen.

What the Onboarding Screen Shows

• A welcome message and app overview
• A storage requirement warning — the Gemma 4 2B AI model is approximately 2.6 GB. You need this much free space on your device to use AI features.
• A Download AI Model button
• An option to Skip and use the app without AI features

Downloading the AI Model

• Ensure you are connected to Wi-Fi (recommended — the download is ~2.6 GB)
• Tap Download AI Model
• A progress bar shows download percentage and estimated time remaining
• Do not close the app during download
• After download completes, the app performs a SHA256 checksum verification to confirm the file is intact
• Once verified, you will be taken to the Home Screen and AI features are ready

Skipping the Download

If you tap Skip, you can use all non-AI features immediately. You can download the model later via Settings > AI Model > Download Model.

GPU vs. CPU Inference

When you first use the AI chat or scanner, the app attempts to use your device's GPU for faster responses. If your device does not support GPU acceleration, a notification will appear: "Running on CPU — responses may be slower." This is normal and the AI will still work correctly, just more slowly.

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Home Screen Dashboard

The Home Screen is your central hub. It is the first screen you see after onboarding.

Elements on the Home Screen

Greeting & Date

Displays a contextual greeting (Good Morning / Afternoon / Evening) and the current date.

Search Bar

Tap the search bar at the top to search across all 1,000+ survival articles instantly. Results appear as you type, with highlighted snippets showing where your search term appears in each article.

Category Grid (8 Categories)

A 2×4 grid of category cards. Each card shows:

• Category icon
• Category name
• Number of articles in that category

Tap any category card to open the Library filtered to that category.

The 22 categories are:

• First Aid & Medicine
• Food & Foraging
• Knots & Rope
• Navigation & Orientation
• Off-Grid Living
• Self-Defense & Security
• Tools & Weapons
• Bug Out Bags
• Communication
• Vehicle Repair
• Clothing & Gear
• Coastal & Marine
• DIY Repair
• Alternative Energy
• Weather
• Bush Medicine
• Shelter & Construction
• Survival Psychology
• Cold Weather
• Water Purification
• Fire & Warmth
• Desert Survival

Quick Actions Row

Three quick-access buttons:

• Compass — opens the digital compass immediately
• SOS — opens the SOS emergency screen
• Flashlight — toggles the SOS morse flashlight on/off

Survival Tip of the Day

A daily rotating tip card showing a short, practical survival tip. The tip changes each day at midnight and stays the same all day. The card shows:

• Tip text
• A category icon
• A Read More button that links to a related article

AI Chat FAB

A floating action button (bottom-right area, green) opens the AI Survival Assistant chat.

Persistent SOS FAB

A semi-transparent red button always visible in the bottom-right corner. See Persistent SOS Button.

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Survival Knowledge Library

Accessing the Library

Tap the Library tab (book icon) in the bottom navigation bar.

Browsing by Category

The Library screen shows all 22 categories. Tap a category to see its articles listed as cards.

Searching Articles

• Tap the search icon or the search bar at the top of the Library screen
• Type any word or phrase
• Results appear instantly, ranked by relevance (BM25 ranking)
• Each result shows a snippet — a short excerpt from the article with your search term highlighted so you can see the context before opening
• Tap any result to open the full article

Search works fully offline using SQLite FTS5 full-text search technology.

Filtering by Difficulty

Above the article list, you will see difficulty filter chips:

• All — shows every article
• Beginner — foundational techniques
• Intermediate — requires some prior knowledge or practice
• Advanced — complex skills for experienced users

Tap a chip to filter. Each article card shows a colored difficulty badge (color-coded by level).

Scenario Tags

Articles are tagged with survival environment scenarios: Desert, Arctic, Jungle, Urban. These tags are visible on article cards and help you identify which articles are most relevant to your environment.

Bookmarked Articles (Favorites)

A Favorites section at the top of the Library shows articles you have bookmarked, sorted by most recently bookmarked. See Bookmarks and Favorites.

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Reading Articles

Opening an Article

Tap any article card from the Library or search results to open the full article.

Reading Progress Indicator

As you scroll through an article, a progress bar at the top of the screen fills from left to right, showing how far you have read. This helps you track your position in longer articles.

SVG Diagrams

Some articles include illustrated diagrams — knot-tying guides, shelter layout plans, signal patterns, and more. These are rendered inline within the article text. Pinch to zoom if needed.

Asking the AI About an Article

At the bottom of every article, there is an "Ask AI about this" button. Tapping it opens the AI Chat screen with the input pre-filled with "I'm reading about [article title]." — giving the AI immediate context so you can ask follow-up questions without re-explaining what you're looking at.

Bookmarking from the Article Screen

Tap the bookmark icon in the article's top-right corner to bookmark it for quick access. Tap again to remove the bookmark.

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Bookmarks and Favorites

Bookmarking an Article

You can bookmark articles in three ways:

• From the article reader: Tap the bookmark icon in the top-right corner
• From the article list: Swipe right on any article card to reveal the quick bookmark shortcut
• From search results: Swipe right on a result card

A medium haptic pulse confirms the bookmark was saved.

Viewing Bookmarks

Open the Library tab. Your bookmarked articles appear in the Favorites section at the top, sorted by most recently bookmarked.

Removing a Bookmark

Tap the bookmark icon again in the article reader, or swipe right on the article card in the Favorites list.

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My Documents and Chat With Your PDFs

Nomadical lets you import your own PDF survival guides, first aid manuals, field books, or any text document, and then ask the on-device AI questions about them. Everything runs entirely on your phone — documents never leave your device, and no internet connection is used.

Importing a Document

• Open the Library tab.
• Scroll the category filters at the top and tap My Docs (the last chip).
• Tap the green Import PDFs button.
• Pick one or more files from your phone (PDF, TXT, or Markdown).
• Wait for the import to finish. Nomadical copies the file to private storage and extracts its text for search.

Tip: For faster import, download PDFs to your phone first (via OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or a browser), then pick them from your Downloads folder.

What Happens During Import

• Text-based PDFs (ebooks, Word exports, modern gov publications): text is extracted directly and indexed in seconds.
• Scanned PDFs (old books or photographed pages with no text layer): Nomadical automatically runs on-device OCR using Google ML Kit to read the images and extract text. This is slower — roughly 1–2 seconds per page on a mid-range phone. A progress bar shows which page is being processed.

The document row shows its status: e.g. "2.3 MB • 176 chunks indexed • Added 14/4/2026".

Chatting With a Document (single-document mode)

• In the My Docs list, tap the green chat bubble on the right side of a document row.
• The chat screen opens. If the document was imported before RAG was added or hasn't been indexed yet, it indexes on first open.
• Use a suggestion chip (e.g. "Summarise this document") or type your own question.
• The AI searches the document's text, finds the most relevant sections, and answers using only what's in the document. If the answer isn't in the document, it will say so.

Chatting Across Your Whole Library (cross-library mode)

When you have more than one imported document, an "Ask my library" button appears above Import PDFs in My Docs. Tap it to open a chat that searches every indexed document at once.

• The status bar at the top shows how many documents are currently being searched.
• Retrieval pulls the most relevant passages across your library, capped at 2 per document so a single large PDF can't dominate the answer.
• Each source pill shows 📘 DocTitle · p12 and tapping it jumps straight into the right PDF at the right page. Hit back to return to the cross-library chat.
• Gemma is told to cite which document each fact comes from, so replies naturally reference "According to BackcountryCookbook…".

When to use which mode:

• Single-document chat — when you know which document has the answer and want the AI focused on just that text (great for summaries and drill-downs).
• Cross-library chat — when you're not sure which document has the answer, or you want to compare/combine information from multiple sources.

Tapping a Document (view the PDF)

Tapping the document row (not the chat bubble) opens the built-in PDF viewer. Use this for traditional reading, sharing, or jumping between pages manually.

Sources in AI Answers

Under each AI response, Nomadical shows green source pills linking to the sections of the document the AI used to build the answer.

• In single-document mode the pill shows just Page 12 or Section 3.
• In cross-library mode the pill shows the document title as well: 📘 First Aid Handbook · p47.

Tap any pill to jump directly to that page in the PDF viewer. Hit back to return to the chat with your conversation still on screen.

Thinking Indicator

While the AI is working, a three-dot animated indicator appears with a phase label that updates as Nomadical goes through retrieval and generation:

• "Searching across N documents…" — FTS5 retrieval
• "Reading relevant passages…" — prompt assembly
• "Writing answer with Gemma…" — the on-device model is generating

Expect a cross-library answer to take roughly 10–20 seconds on a recent Android phone with GPU, longer if your device falls back to CPU inference.

Deleting a Document

Swipe right-to-left on any document in the My Docs list, or long-press it, and confirm. This removes the file from your device and deletes all indexed chunks.

Limitations

• Image-only pages that fail OCR: if the pages are too low-quality or blank, Nomadical will tell you it could not extract any text.
• Non-Latin scripts: the built-in OCR recognises Latin characters (English and most European languages) by default. Other scripts may not extract cleanly.
• Very large PDFs: indexing time grows with page count. 500+ page scans can take several minutes.
• Accuracy: the AI is grounded in your document's text but still an AI — double-check critical information against the original pages using the source links.

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AI Survival Assistant

Accessing the AI Chat

• Tap the green FAB on the Home Screen, or
• Tap "Ask AI about this" from any article (pre-populates context)

First Use

If the AI model has not been downloaded yet, you will be prompted to download it. See First Launch and AI Model Setup.

The first time you open the chat after installing the model, there may be a brief initialization delay while the model loads into memory. Subsequent opens are faster because the model loads in the background at app launch.

Having a Conversation

• Type your survival question in the text field at the bottom
• Tap Send (or press the send icon)
• The AI's response streams in token by token — a typing indicator (animated dots) shows while the response is being generated
• Continue the conversation naturally — the AI maintains context within a session

The AI is configured with a survival-focused system prompt emphasizing practical, safety-conscious advice.

Chat History

All conversations are saved automatically. To access past sessions:

• Tap the history drawer icon (usually top-left of the chat screen)
• A list of past chat sessions appears
• Tap any session to resume it
• Swipe left on a session in the history list to delete it

Starting a New Session

Tap New Chat (or the compose icon) to start a fresh conversation. The previous session is saved in history.

What the AI Can Help With

• First aid procedures and wound care
• Building emergency shelters
• Finding and purifying water
• Identifying edible plants (always cross-reference!)
• Fire starting techniques
• Navigation without GPS
• Emergency signaling methods
• Gear selection and improvisation
• Any topic covered in the survival library

Remember: AI responses are general guidance. In a real emergency, always cross-reference critical information, especially regarding plant/mushroom identification and medical decisions.

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AI Scanner

The AI Scanner uses your device camera and the on-device Gemma 4 2B vision model to identify plants, animals, insects, mushrooms, tools, and other objects.

Accessing the Scanner

Tap the Scan tab (camera icon) in the bottom navigation bar.

Camera Permission

The first time you open the scanner, Android will ask for camera permission. Tap Allow to enable scanning. Without camera permission, you can still use the gallery pick option.

Scanning an Object

Using the Camera:

• Point your camera at the plant, animal, mushroom, or object
• Frame the subject clearly — good lighting improves accuracy
• Tap the Capture button (large circle)
• The image is compressed and sent to the on-device AI model
• A progress indicator shows while analysis runs (up to 30 seconds)
• Results appear on the Scan Result screen

Using a Gallery Photo:

• Tap the Gallery button (photo icon) instead of capturing
• Select a photo from your device gallery
• Analysis proceeds the same way as a camera capture

Understanding Scan Results

The Scan Result screen shows:

• Captured image with a danger level overlay card
• Identification — what the AI thinks the subject is
• Confidence percentage — e.g., "87% confidence"
  - If confidence is below 80%, multiple alternative identifications are shown
• Danger level indicator with color coding:
  - Green — Safe
  - Amber — Caution (approach carefully)
  - Red — Dangerous (avoid)
• AI analysis text — detailed description and relevant survival information
• Safety disclaimer — always visible: "AI identification is approximate — always cross-reference with survival guides before consuming wild plants/mushrooms."

Retaking a Scan

Tap Retake to return to the camera viewfinder. The last 10 scan results are cached in memory, so switching between recent results is instant without re-running inference.

Saving a Scan to Your Field Journal

• On the Scan Result screen, tap Save to Journal
• A journal entry is automatically created with:
  - The captured photo
  - AI identification and danger level
  - Current GPS coordinates (if location permission is granted)
• You can add optional notes before saving
• The entry appears in your Field Journal

Critical safety note: Never eat or touch a wild plant, mushroom, or animal based solely on this app's identification. The AI can be wrong. Always verify with multiple authoritative sources and, when in doubt, avoid.

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Emergency Checklists

Accessing Checklists

Tap the Checklists tab (checklist icon) in the bottom navigation bar.

Pre-Loaded Checklists

Nomadical includes six comprehensive pre-loaded checklists:

Checklist	Items
Bug-Out Bag	30+ items
First Aid Kit	25+ items
Vehicle Emergency Kit	20+ items
Home Emergency Supplies	20+ items
Wilderness Day Pack	20+ items
Winter Survival Kit	20+ items

Using a Checklist

• Tap any checklist to open it
• Each item shows:
  - A checkbox — tap to check/uncheck (light haptic feedback confirms each tap)
  - Item name and quantity
  - Priority indicator — colored dot:
  - Red = Essential (must have)
  - Yellow = Recommended (strongly advised)
  - Green = Optional (nice to have)
• A progress bar at the top shows your completion percentage, updating in real time as you check items

Editing Items

Long-press any checklist item to open an edit menu where you can:

• Change the item name
• Update the quantity
• Change the priority level
• Delete the item

Resetting a Checklist

Tap the menu icon (three dots) in the checklist's top-right corner and select Reset. This unchecks all items and returns the checklist to its starting state. A confirmation prompt appears before resetting.

Sharing a Checklist

Tap the Share icon in the checklist header. The checklist is formatted as plain text and shared via the system share sheet — you can send it via messaging apps, email, notes, or any other app.

Creating a Custom Checklist

• On the Checklists screen, tap the + New Checklist button
• Enter a name for your checklist
• Add items one by one:
  - Enter item name
  - Set quantity
  - Choose priority (Essential / Recommended / Optional)
• Tap Save when done
• Your custom checklist appears in the list alongside the pre-loaded ones
• Long-press any item in your custom checklist to edit or delete it

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Field Journal

Accessing the Journal

Tap the Journal tab (open book icon) in the bottom navigation bar.

Journal Entry List

Entries are displayed in chronological order, grouped by date. You can search entries by typing in the search bar at the top — search looks through entry titles and notes text.

Creating a New Journal Entry

• Tap the + New Entry button (or FAB)
• Fill in the entry fields:
  - Title — a short name for the entry
  - Notes — multi-line text for your observations, thoughts, or findings
  - Photo (optional) — tap the camera icon to capture a new photo, or the gallery icon to pick an existing one
  - GPS Coordinates (optional) — tap Capture Location to automatically record your current GPS coordinates. Requires location permission.
• Tap Save to store the entry

Timestamps are automatically added and formatted for readability.

Viewing a Journal Entry

Tap any entry in the list to open the full detail view, showing all fields, the photo (if any), and GPS coordinates.

Auto-Entries from AI Scanner

When you save a scan result to the journal, an entry is automatically created pre-populated with:

• The captured photo
• AI identification result
• Danger level assessment
• GPS coordinates at time of scan

You can add additional notes to this entry at any time.

Sharing a Journal Entry

Open a journal entry and tap the Share icon. The entry text (title, notes, timestamp, and coordinates) is shared via the system share sheet.

Deleting Journal Data

To delete all journal entries at once: Settings > Privacy > Clear Journal Data (requires confirmation).

To delete individual entries: Open the entry detail view and tap Delete.

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Compass and GPS

Accessing the Compass

• Tap Compass in the Quick Actions row on the Home Screen, or
• Navigate to it from the Library or Settings

How the Compass Works

Nomadical uses your device's rotation vector sensor — a fusion of the magnetometer and accelerometer — for tilt-compensated heading. This means the compass gives accurate readings even when your phone is not held perfectly flat.

A low-pass filter smooths out noisy sensor readings for a steady compass display.

The screen stays on (wakelock active) while the compass is open so it does not sleep during navigation.

Reading the Compass

• The compass dial rotates to show your heading
• Heading in degrees is displayed numerically (0–360°)
• Cardinal direction (N / NE / E / SE / S / SW / W / NW) is shown
• If location permission is granted, GPS coordinates are shown below the compass in your chosen format (Decimal, DMS, or MGRS)

True North vs. Magnetic North

By default, the compass shows magnetic north. To switch to true north:

• Open Settings > Compass
• Toggle Declination Correction on
• The app uses your GPS position to automatically calculate the local magnetic declination and apply the correction
• Alternatively, enter a manual declination value if you know it for your area

Locking a Bearing

Tap the compass dial to lock a bearing. A secondary needle appears on the dial showing your locked bearing. This is useful for:

• Maintaining a heading while moving through terrain
• Marking a direction to return to

Tap the dial again to unlock.

GPS Coordinate Formats

Coordinates can be displayed in three formats, selectable in Settings > Compass > Coordinate Format:

• Decimal Degrees — e.g., 37.7749° N, 122.4194° W
• DMS — Degrees, Minutes, Seconds — e.g., 37° 46' 29.6" N
• MGRS — Military Grid Reference System

Battery Warning

If your device battery drops below 20% while the compass is open, a warning banner appears reminding you to conserve power.

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SOS and Emergency Tools

Accessing the SOS Screen

• Tap the red SOS FAB (always visible in the bottom-right corner of every main screen)
• Tap SOS in the Quick Actions row on the Home Screen

Personal Emergency Information

The SOS screen displays a Personal Info Card with your emergency medical information. This is critical information for first responders.

To set up your personal info:

• On the SOS screen, tap Edit on the Personal Info Card
• Fill in:
  - Blood type
  - Allergies
  - Medical conditions
  - Current medications
  - Emergency contacts (name + phone number)
• Tap Save

This information is stored only on your device.

SOS Morse Flashlight

The SOS Morse Flashlight flashes your device's LED in the international SOS pattern (··· — — — ···) with precise timing:

• Dot = 100ms flash
• Dash = 300ms flash
• Letter gap = 300ms pause
• Repeat gap = 1000ms pause

Simultaneously, your device vibrates in the same SOS pattern — dual-channel signaling for maximum visibility and detectability.

To activate:

• On the SOS screen, tap Start SOS Flash
• The LED and vibration begin immediately
• The screen stays on (wakelock) during SOS operation
• Tap Stop to end the signal

Quick activation without navigating: Long-press the red SOS FAB from any screen to start the SOS flash immediately.

Note: SOS runs on a background thread to keep the app responsive. Do not force-close the app while SOS is active.

Emergency Signal Reference

The SOS screen includes a reference card with:

• Full morse code chart — all letters A–Z plus the SOS pattern
• Whistle signals — 3 blasts = general distress, 3×3 = SOS
• Ground-to-air signals — shapes to create for aerial search parties
• Mirror signaling — instructions for using a reflective surface

Emergency Phone Numbers

A reference card shows international emergency numbers:

• 911 (USA/Canada)
• 112 (Europe/International)
• 999 (UK)
• 000 (Australia)

If you have any cellular or data connectivity, tapping a phone number launches your phone dialer with the number pre-filled.

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App Settings

Accessing Settings

Tap the Settings icon (gear) from the Home Screen or navigation menu.

AI Model Section

• Status badge — shows whether the model is downloaded, downloading, or not installed
• Model file size — 2.6 GB
• Download progress — shown if a download is in progress
• Delete Model — removes the model file from your device (frees ~2.6 GB of storage). A confirmation dialog appears first. After deletion, a notification confirms the storage has been reclaimed.
• Re-download — re-downloads the model if it was previously deleted

Display Section

Font Size Presets

Choose from five sizes: XS / S / M / L / XL. The selected size applies to all text throughout the app immediately. Your choice is saved and remembered between sessions.

Theme Toggle

Switch between:

• Dark Mode — standard dark theme
• AMOLED Mode — true black (#000000) background that saves battery on OLED screens

Compass Section

• Declination Correction — toggle true north correction on/off
• Manual Declination — enter a custom declination value in degrees (positive = east, negative = west)
• Coordinate Format — choose Decimal / DMS / MGRS for GPS display

Privacy Section

Each action requires a confirmation dialog before proceeding:

• Clear Journal Data — permanently deletes all journal entries and associated photos
• Clear Chat History — permanently deletes all AI chat sessions and messages
• Clear Checklist Progress — resets all checklist checkboxes and deletes custom checklists

About Section

• App Version — current version number and build number
• Open Source Licenses — view licenses for all open-source libraries used in the app
• Privacy Policy — opens this document
• Terms of Use — opens the terms document
• User Manual — opens this manual
• FAQs — opens the FAQ document
• Quick Start Guide — opens the getting started guide

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Persistent SOS Button

A semi-transparent red SOS button (40dp) is always visible in the bottom-right corner of every main screen in the app. It is intentionally designed to never be hidden.

Single tap: Navigates immediately to the full SOS screen.

Long press: Activates the SOS Morse flashlight and vibration pattern immediately, without navigating away from your current screen. This allows you to signal for help while continuing to reference other app content.

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Troubleshooting

The AI Chat is very slow

Cause: Your device is using CPU inference instead of GPU acceleration.

Solution: This is normal on devices without compatible GPU drivers. Responses will still be generated — just more slowly. Shorter, more specific questions get faster answers. Ensure no other heavy apps are running in the background.

The AI model download keeps failing

Solutions:

• Ensure you have a stable Wi-Fi connection
• Verify you have at least 3 GB of free storage space (the model is ~2.6 GB and needs working space during extraction)
• Try again — tap Re-download in Settings > AI Model
• If repeated failures occur, restart your device and try again

The compass is spinning erratically

Causes: Magnetic interference from metal objects, other electronics, or cases with magnetic closures.

Solutions:

• Move away from metal furniture, vehicles, or electronics
• Remove your phone from any case with a magnetic clasp
• Calibrate your compass: wave your phone in a figure-8 pattern several times, then hold it level
• The low-pass filter smooths readings over time — allow a few seconds for the display to stabilize

GPS coordinates are not showing on the compass

Solution: Ensure location permission is granted. Go to Android Settings > Apps > Nomadical > Permissions > Location and set to Allow while using app or Allow all the time. Then return to the compass screen.

The camera won't open for scanning

Solution: Camera permission may have been denied. Go to Android Settings > Apps > Nomadical > Permissions > Camera and tap Allow.

The AI Scanner says "low confidence" on everything

Tips for better scans:

• Ensure the subject is well-lit (natural light is best)
• Get closer to the subject and fill the frame
• Hold the camera steady when capturing
• For plants: capture the leaves, stem, and any flowers or berries if present
• For mushrooms: capture the cap, gills (underside), and stem
• Avoid blurry images — tap the screen to focus before capturing

The SOS flashlight stopped working

Solutions:

• Some devices restrict torch access when the battery is critically low — charge your device
• Ensure no other app is currently using the flashlight
• Force-close Nomadical and reopen it, then try again
• Restart your device if the torch is still unresponsive

Journal photos are not showing

Cause: Storage permission may have been revoked, or photos were stored in a location that was cleared.

Solution: Check that Nomadical has storage/media permissions in Android Settings. Photos taken within the app are stored in the app's private storage and should always be accessible as long as the app is installed and data has not been cleared.

The app is using a lot of storage

The AI model is ~2.6 GB. If you do not use AI features frequently, you can delete the model via Settings > AI Model > Delete Model. You can re-download it at any time when you have Wi-Fi access.

I accidentally cleared all my journal data

Unfortunately, this action cannot be undone. The Privacy data clear actions are permanent. We recommend periodically sharing important journal entries via the share function to keep copies elsewhere.

Contact Support

If you encounter an issue not covered here, contact us at skippy@kangablue.au and describe:

• Your device model and Android version
• The feature where the issue occurred
• Steps to reproduce the problem
• A screenshot or screen recording if possible

We review support emails as soon as practicable and will respond with next steps or a bug fix timeline. Because Nomadical operates entirely offline, we will never ask for your data or chat history — please only share what you believe is relevant to the issue.

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Thank you for choosing Nomadical as your offline survival companion. Stay prepared, stay safe.