App fails to load, cites "Network error"

AppSheet AppSheet Q&A
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We’ve spent the last few weeks developing a simple app for the repetitive tasks our teams undertake. Testing went well so we naturally ramped things up to a testing phase with select users. Inputs and outputs are simple Google sheets and documents respectively (got fed up waiting for AppSheet’s engineers to find a solution to the date issue with Office-based inputs reported a while back, although last Friday they did advise that the problem was fixed. Thick end of six months for that…).

Now, though, the app simply will not load on a mobile device. To try and find a reason, I broke out all of the tables into separate test apps and not a single one of them will load, always citing a network error and advising to check connectivity, so it wasn’t a case of one spoiling all; however, ‘original’ apps still load perfectly well. In addition, the odd thing is, we can preview the app as creator and user in ‘mobile mode’ on the desktop perfectly well and make it generate a report. It simply does not fire on a mobile device (mine is Android). I tried using 4G instead of the office WiFi just in case there was something bizarre going on there but there wasn’t. Play Store does not indicate any app updates to be available either.

I also went back to basics and created a brand-new app, input, bot and processes. As vanilla as you can get. Still the test falls over. The message is just a gobbledygook alphanumeric string specific to the particular app (“7a703f9f-de16-449a-9cb8-6e3d21bcd9ea” is an example of the ‘name’ given to the app within the error message).

The bots are simple Event > Process > Task arrangements which don’t crossover between one bot and another. All but one should generate an in-line email which we have templates for. I asked AppSheet to generate its own version in case this was the root of the issue, using that result as template and separately as information for the email body. No joy.

I understand that “Network error” is more likely to be male bovine dung than a true reason which is all the more confusing and frustrating. Does anyone have any ideas?

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To resolve the issue where your AppSheet app works on desktop but not on mobile, start by ensuring each table and view is correctly configured. Verify that there are no complex formulas causing problems. Next, check your mobile network settings and try different networks to rule out connectivity issues. Ensure the AppSheet mobile app is up to date, and clear the app’s cache and data via Settings > Apps > AppSheet > Storage on your Android device.

If a new minimal app also fails, begin with the simplest configuration: one table and one view. Test this minimal setup on your mobile device, then incrementally add elements and test at each step to identify the problematic component.

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Thanks, Mohssin. The apps/views are already compliant with your suggestions and my debugging efforts are similarly minimal: single table, single view, single bot versions, all other information purged. I also made sure to check the tables for any auto-computation which AppSheet appears to like to slip in unrequested from time to time. Nothing like that found. Cache also cleared and app still refuses to launch.

I had wondered if there might be a problem with a random hexadecimal instruction (=DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(0, 4294967295), 8**)) I had placed in one field to give results a unique identifier, so I removed that. Still no success.

The tables and views are as simple as they can be, two comprise just a row with headers to derive the column names and a tiny bit of text (one has hexadecimal as well), the rest is driven in/by the app. The third is a static list of tasks to undertake and respond to as necessary, again with the quasi-random hexadecimal. The final element references a table to select an item from, the remaining fields are specific-to-the-view date and text entries plus signature elements.

The only thing I haven’t tried is a different mobile network, but if that is the case I’d have no idea how to resolve that.

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  • Since you mentioned not trying a different mobile network yet, this could help determine if the issue is network-specific. If possible, try using a different Wi-Fi network or another mobile data provider. If the app loads successfully, it confirms that the issue is related to the original network, and then we can move to diagnose and potentially resolve network-related issues
  • Make sure your mobile device’s operating system and the AppSheet app are both up to date.