Voice recordings not syncing - "40+ hours of records need to be saved"

[diannt]

Describe the bug
The Omi app displays "40+ hours of records need to be saved" but voice recordings are not syncing to the backend. The sync functionality is hidden unless users have 2+ minutes of recordings, causing many users to accumulate large backlogs without knowing they need to sync. When sync is attempted, failures occur silently without user notification.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Use Omi device to record audio throughout the day
2. Open the Omi app
3. Notice no sync icon appears if total recordings < 2 minutes
4. Continue using device until recordings accumulate to hours/days
5. Eventually see "40+ hours of records need to be saved" message
6. If sync icon appears (download icon in app bar), tap it
7. Tap "Sync All" - may fail silently without error messages

Current behavior

• Sync icon only visible when recordings exceed 2 minutes (120 seconds)
• No persistent sync option in settings/menu
• Sync failures are silent - no error messages shown to users
• No automatic retry for failed syncs
• Files marked "corrupted" are never retried
• No progress indication or status updates during sync
• Network errors don't trigger automatic retry when connection restored

Expected behavior

• Sync option should always be accessible (lower threshold or permanent menu item)
• Clear error messages when sync fails (network, auth, server errors)
• Automatic retry for temporary failures
• Progress indication showing which files are syncing
• Ability to retry individual failed files
• Background sync when connection is restored
• Proper handling of authentication token expiry

Screenshots
N/A - Issue occurs in background sync process. Sync icon may not even be visible to users.

user ID (can we access the user info to validate the bug?):
Cannot access due to startup crash from issue #2437

Smartphone + device (please complete the following information):

• Device: All Android devices
• OS: All Android versions
• Browser: N/A
• App Version: Beta (current Play Store version)
• Device version: All Omi device firmware versions

Additional context
This appears to be an unreported but critical issue affecting the core functionality of recording and saving voice data. Investigation revealed:

• High threshold (2 minutes) prevents users from seeing sync option
• Silent error handling leaves users unaware of sync failures
• No retry mechanism means failed uploads are lost
• WAL (Write-Ahead Log) system stores recordings locally but sync issues prevent upload
• Related to PR fix: Add error handling to prevent startup crash of Omi app on Android #2436 which fixes the app crash, but this sync issue is separate

The "40+ hours" represents approximately 144,000 seconds of audio data stuck in local storage. This is a critical data loss scenario as users believe their recordings are being saved but they're actually accumulating locally without successful upload to the backend.

[diannt]

PR 05/24/25 :

#2440