A few days ago I had posted another similar scenario of adding tables. in G Sheets at least one can add tables through a workaround. But in ASDB it is not possible at all.
Presuming you look into overall development roadmap, may I request AppSheet development team to lift any restrictions on adding removing sources to the app. Around 1.5 years ago there was some action from AppSheet team as the referred thread above mentions but still the “coauthor restrictions” messages keep popping up at different places in the app, making the app development difficult for both the author and coauthor.
Only possible restriction a coauthor may have is the ability to delete the app itself. The very fact that app owner has made someone coauthor means , the app owner believes in the coauthor’s capabilities in all respects.
I will request opinion from other senior community colleagues as well on this aspect.
I can agree with this 100%, if restrictions are required in any way, perhaps original author can control this when setting co-author, again I beleive to create configurable areas for user to choose rather than hardcode these types of things whereby different scenarios require different outcomes..
These co-author restrictions, especially on basic yet critical tasks like adding logos or new data sources, significantly hamper collaboration. In practice, this turns co-authors into limited contributors rather than true collaborators. While I understand the rationale behind preserving app integrity, the current permission model is overly conservative and ends up creating unnecessary bottlenecks.
In many AppSheet development workflows, especially within agencies or distributed teams, the app owner is often a non-technical stakeholder or administrative account, and real development happens through delegated co-authors. When a trusted collaborator cannot even add a table or update the app logo, it forces tedious workarounds or constant back-and-forth with the owner. This defeats the purpose of a low-code platform designed to streamline and empower.
I strongly recommend revisiting these limitations. Co-authors should be granted full editing capabilities, except for deleting or transferring app ownership. This would reflect real-world development needs more accurately and make the platform more scalable for team-based use.
I believe, in other Google Workspace products, once an email ID is given editor rights, there are no restrictions except two ( deletion of the artifact and transfer of ownership.)
When I Googled , the Google sheets definitions of owner and editor, I got the following response (the response at the top from AI .
My request is same. The app delete or transfer of app ownership can be with the app owner only. But the coauthor of the app can do all other editing operations of the app ( adding / deleting tables, columns. templates and so on.)
@zito : May I request your response please or request you to redirect the query to the concerned developer team.
I can confirm that it is a pain. I cannot add an “Email” task type to bots even when I am a co-author. It seems that something has changed, I didn’t notice anything like that in the past. It would help all of us. Those app permissions seem old-fashioned. If AppSheet is now a part of Google Workspace why the flow doesn’t feel similar?
As reported earlier, this issue of limited coauthor permissions really impacts app development.
May I request you to direct it to the concerned developer in your team or suggest a name who can look into it.
This limitation that does not allow addition of templates to the coauthor is really creating issues as app owners who have delegated work to coauthor may need to just log in to add a template. I may mention that I believe a few months ago this was possible.
I request you to take a look at the entire thread and overall response to this thread and please respond.
The coauthor permissions seem to be at least partially resolved now. When tested today, I could add as a coauthor, a GDOC template that was auto created in the app. I could also add another GDOC custom template that I had created.
I will anyway endeavor to post in this post thread how these coauthor permissions are working in other parts of the app. However may I request other contributors in this post thread also to post their findings.
Thank you very much @lizlynch and the developer team for looking into this.
Today I am posting one setting where the Coauthor still cannot add an element in the app. I cannot add a Google Apps Script to an automation bot as a coauthor.
May I request @lizlynch to take it up with the developer team?
May I also request other community colleagues to report their findings where the coauthor permissions work or more importantly still do not work in this post thread?
Request you to look into this thread and take up with the development team. The thread is self explanatory. The fact that the original post has received 14 likes probably indicates that it is a widespread issue.
It could be difficult for the app owner to add templates etc. in the app because app owner is not necessarily the app developer in majority of cases and more importantly not necessarily technically aware of app editor’s nitty-gritties to add such elements.
Please allow exactly equal rights , except for say deleting an app to the coauthor. I believe othe Google Workspace products (Sheets, docs.. etc.) follow the same principle. An editor ( which I believe AppSheet calls coauthor) should be able to perform all configuration in the app.
May I request your attention to this thread? I believe it is self explanatory.
My request is some kind of update if this is no possible or an update about the coauthor permissions in AppSheet are so restrictive in nature compared to other Google WorkSpace products.
I have gone through the whole thread and I’m clear on what is being requested. Let me research on what restrictions are in place for co–authors and ask the what the status is as I saw it was previously escalated.
Your such regular communication is very assuring.