Ever since the Axios thing, the AppSheet API has had a MASSIVE reduction in the allowed limits - and this has caused most of our automated systems to break.
I’ve got a bunch of google apps scripts that run on schedules that check various google services for new items, pull data from AppSheet apps, process things, etc.
I’ve got these scripts set to send me an email alert on error immediately
Take a look at this list of emails (and this is just from this morning):
This is day 3 of trying to smooth out this problem, and I’ve already made a bunch of changes to the code in an effort to reduced the number of calls we were making.
We were checking things every 5 minutes
We’ve dropped down to once an hour
I’ve added in caching
More…
Yet we STILL receive the error “Too many requests” all the time.
Might it be a rogue API key that was leaked due to the Axios thing?
I’ve checked all the apps for something like this, checking the audit logs for a flood of activity: no massive increase in activity on any of our apps. (If anything, because of my efforts it’s been a huge reduction, like 80% to 90% (!?!) and yet we’re still receiving this error.)
My only conclusion is that the API has had it limits silently reduced.
And not by a little, by a lot.
And this reduction has completely broken foundational mission critical systems that were in place and running(for like 2 years at this point now)
Our email processing system now barely works
Same for the email responses system
Our document ingestion pipeline is now failing
Systems that process incoming data from devices are now failing
So all the data, emails, documents, faxes… all the info that comes into our system is now NOT being processed correctly, accurately, or on time… because of this silent reduction. #NotHappy
I get that with the axios thing, there is a need to like… “fix” something that’s broken. But shouldn’t this have been communicated?
“Dear AppSheet Community; we also suffered from this Axios fiasco, we’re working to shore up the systems. For the next week, we’re reducing the API limits by 50% so we can better monitor the situation”
I mean… I’m building the software that runs businesses using your platform. At what point do the devs in charge at AppSheet have a responsibility to be transparent about things that affect critical infra?
I was an Antigravity user until recently. There, Google dramatically nerfed all plans, including the $250/month “Ultra” plan, making them all virtually unusable, then announced only weeks after the fact that they were implementing an entirely new pay-as-you-go model. The new model was broken at launch. No refunds, no compensation for lost service, no explanation in the weeks before the new plan was announced, silence in the forums, silence from support. No transparency, no explanations, no regard for users or customers at all. Google is simply too big to care. I do not recommend engaging Google as a strategic partner, because they will do you wrong. We’ve seen it repeatedly with AppSheet.
“I do not recommend engaging Google as a strategic partner, because they will do you wrong. We’ve seen it repeatedly with AppSheet.”
In all the time I’ve followed the AppSheet forums, you have consistently provided accurate and helpful information.
I am currently preparing to launch professional services supporting micro and small businesses with process optimization and automation. Google Workspace and AppSheet are intended to be core components of my toolset.
Given your experience, could you help me understand where you would draw the line when relying on these tools?
Additionally, what other platforms would you recommend I consider as alternatives or supplements?
If you choose to stake your business on Google products, you must expect the worst and hope for something marginal. You must expect to receive no support and no communication from Google. You must be prepared to respond immediately to service changes and interruptions with workarounds, because you’ll have no idea how long the fix might take, if it even comes. You must be a do-it-yourselfer, you cannot lean on Google for help.
Alternatives? Consider any prominent competitor. There are numerous AppSheet alternatives, some (most?) with vastly greater extensibility.
What you may find with Google products, and particularly AppSheet, is the niche details and edge-cases. Google does handle some of these, and they can be very appealing and keep you with Google.
Honestly… in the current day and age, you can go to Claude, OpenAi, fill-in-your-favorite-LLM and ask it to provide you with a system that will do what you want.
You just need to tell it where to work, what sandboxes to play in (so it’s not doing whatever)
And tell it what you want/need it to do, iterate with it to plan things out, then let it build it
Where to store everything, host, etc.?
I suggest Google Cloud Platform; it’s kinda expensive in certain regards, but it’s also rock-solid… like bedrock.
GCP SQL for databases
Cloud Storage Bucket for files
Cloud Run for actual front-end serving, backend processing endpoints
If you bring in a coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, etc.) they will work with GitHub, where it will store all your code, and you can setup it up (i should revise that: the coding agent can set it up for you) so that when you make a new merge on your main branch, it sends a rebuild signal to cloud run. This gives you a continuous deployment that’s pretty seamless.
Bring in the fact that cloud run has revision tags, so you can create “stable versions” and control where traffic is routed…
You’ve got everything you need to deploy your own custom endpoint that IS your web-app.
Bonus: Once this is created, you’ve got the bones for an API or MCP server, allowing for even more flexibility and expansion.
This means, however, that you now have to build it all… but honestly… these coding agents are pretty good nowadays (especially if you’re not trying to build something with dozens of tables, hundreds of thousands of records, where there’s like 15 layers of references and complications to take into consideration…) and if you’re already a DIY person that kinda thinks technically, you can go really far really fast.
This is something I cover in my Apprenticeships, if anyone is looking for a tutor/mentor for all this crazy Ai stuff.
#NotHappy