- to what extent is better to use sheet computing power rather than AppSheet actions?
Generally speaking, I would not use formulas in the sheet…period. If not implemented well they can slow down app Sync performance. Additionally, if you plan to migrate to a database later, having formulas in the sheets can make that migration difficult.
In a case-by-case basis, you may want to use sheet formulas in two areas:
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External app data processing - whether its consumed by the app or not. For example, creating a Summary table using a Query formula. The Query formula calculates values from the data rows and inserts its results in a completely separate sheet. AppSheet can load this sheet as a read only table. NOTE, this type processing can take from many seconds to minutes to complete so users would not see results immediately. Summary tables are the only way I ever use formulas but if an app needed a user to see the Summary impact immediately after row entry, I would not use formulas and implement it directly in the app.
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Your app has a process flow that is too slow in appsheet and sheets can perform it faster. You want to be very selective about when you us the formulas this way. You will want to know the exact impact the formulas will have on the app - now and when the sheet has a large number of rows. CAUTION: again these can cause un-expected results to Sync times and make any migration to a database difficult.
Another thing to remember.. when using sheetformulas, the app needs to calculate them all every time you sync, even you are not using that sheet at all in the app. The same goes to other sheets if the app is not using them.
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