Dates shown via a formula/virtual column always render as MM/DD/YYYY, ignoring device/browser locale, while raw date columns render correctly

AppSheet AppSheet Q&A
1

When a date value is displayed directly from a real, unformatted Date column in a Detail view, it correctly follows the device’s or browser’s locale setting (for example, DD/MM/YYYY for a non-US locale).

When the same date value is instead shown through a formula, for example inside a CONCATENATE expression in a virtual/Label column, it is always rendered as MM/DD/YYYY, regardless of the device or browser locale, even when the raw column on the same screen shows the correct locale-based format.

This creates an inconsistent experience on a single screen: one date field shows the correct format, another (formula-driven) field showing the same underlying value shows a different, wrong format.

The only workaround I found is to explicitly force the format inside the formula itself, for example using TEXT([DateColumn], “DD.MM.YYYY”), rather than relying on locale-based automatic formatting.

Expected: a date value referenced inside a formula should follow the same device/browser locale formatting rules as a raw date column, or at minimum this discrepancy should be documented.

Repro steps:

  1. Add a real Date column to a table and display it directly in a Detail view. Confirm it follows the device/browser locale (for example, DD/MM/YYYY).
  2. Add a virtual Text column with a formula that includes the same date value, for example CONCATENATE("Date: ", [DateColumn]).
  3. View both columns on the same Detail view screen.
  4. Observe that the raw column shows the correct locale format, while the formula-driven column always shows MM/DD/YYYY.
2

First, read the docs:

The content of a textual column is never interpreted as a date (or time), even if it looks like one. If you want the column interpreted as a date, set its type to Date. Note that a Date column value may only contain a date, no other text.