title: Background data sync for mobile apps
body: <p>We're building an API and mobile app on top of a database that has a few hundred thousand records in the main table of interest.</p>
  
  <p>Our mobile developer is pushing hard about pre-loading the app with the full table in a local db, then having a service which the phone can sync changes against an <code>updated_at</code> column.</p>
  
  <p>While this can definitely increase performance of the app by having it search a local store, I'm worried this will create a lot of load on the server as we acquire more customers.</p>
  
  <p>Has anyone else dealt with this? Is it a good idea, bad idea? Can you share some insights and links?</p>