Rangers having updated lists on their smartphones runs into the same problem you could have had - already being in a no cell area ... Many rangers are out for several days/weeks at a time out of cell range so would have no way to get those updates via smartphone.
I do agree that the understaffing had definitely made the process more of a headache than the folks in permit offices can adequately deal with. The real solution is to properly staff the offices so it's not just one or two people managing ALL of the permits that need to be sent out.
