iOS Low Memory Mode

1

Hello,

I am having an issue accessing a Coda doc on iOS. Every time I try to open it from the Coda app, I get a warning that it is in “Low Memory Mode” because the document is too big.

It is able to open in Chrome, but not Safari. When I use the web or an Android device, it is fine.

The document has 1 table with about 700 rows and 1 with about 500.

Has anyone else experienced this?

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2

Yes! It’s happening to me for every doc and when I select “low memory mode” the app simply crashes. It’s making me reconsider using coda.

3

Same. It’s probably the worst experience I’ve had of any platform on mobile in recent memory. Kind of unbelievable given how well the Android app works, honestly.

My experience has actually gotten worse, too. I can’t open the doc on any browser or the app on iOS.

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4

Hey Ty, happy to help you troubleshoot. When you see this error, doc size is generally the culprit. I have a few questions to better understand your scenario:

  1. How many columns are visible in each table? And how many views of each table are there in the doc?
  2. Would you say that a lot, some, or few columns have calculated values (e.g. formulas, Pack columns)?
  3. Do any of your table columns have large media files, e.g. videos?
  4. Are you finding that you can open other docs and just this one is the culprit?

We also have a few Help Center resources you can use to help diagnose and optimize the size and speed of your docs—check them out here:

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5

I don’t really understand how we can simultaneously told to keep as much data in one doc as possible (since cross doc is a mess!) in as few tables as possible w/ lots of views, but then told that if we have lots of columns we will make the doc too slow to function in mobile.

I have loads of extra columns that are:

  • just formula versions of other columns since we can’t lock columns
  • Duplicates for the purpose of displaying columns differently (for example, needing to show a link as a card vs url vs globe symbol or needing to display a short vs long date)

What’s the solution? Either we need lots of views and columns to make docs usable and then they can’t work in mobile or we cut out all the calculations and formulas that are the whole point of coda.

6

A few things I want to unpack

if we have lots of columns we will make the doc too slow to function in mobile.

I think it’s worth clarifying that when a performance issue stems from rendering performance, simply hiding columns to only show the data you need can be helpful. That said, this won’t help with overall doc size-related performance issues, so worth checking all of the articles we linked to determine the root cause.

just formula versions of other columns since we can’t lock columns

These kinds of formulas are fine. Where we often see formula performance issues are those that scan over an entire table for every row, e.g., thisTable.in(thisRow...). Just having a formula with thisRow.column shouldn’t be a big issue (unless thisRow.column is one of those heavy formulas.

Duplicates for the purpose of displaying columns differently (for example, needing to show a link as a card vs url vs globe symbol or needing to display a short vs long date)

This shouldn’t be an issue either :slight_smile:

(since cross doc is a mess!

What makes cross-doc a mess in your opinion?

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7

Hi Brian,

Thanks for helping out.

  1. Table “A” has about 800 rows and 10 columns, all visible and grouped by one of them (a date field).
  2. 3 of them are calculated (parsing a time from a string in 2 and then creating a duration in the 3rd)
  3. Nope
  4. Not sure, I only use this one doc
8

where to begin?

9

you say all of this is fine, but my ios app crashes every time i open a doc.

10

Hey Ty, I wouldn’t expect this to be a rendering performance issue, unless you also have several canvas columns with lots of information that is visible.

I would definitely recommend checking out this article to try some ways to optimize your doc for performance. Let me know how it goes!

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11

Hi @AJM , thanks for working with @Brian_Klein on this. I wanted to drop a note here to let you know that some mobile devices are unable to handle the Coda docs, and the screen you are seeing is expected and it is also recommended to use low memory mode.
​
In addition, we have added your vote for an existing feature request we’re tracking for mobile improvements to handle large docs without using low memory mode.

Thanks again!

12

I have an iPhone 15, so I’m fairly certain this doesn’t have to do with my phone.

13

I was able to get it working for a few more days by removing a couple unused columns and hiding the rest. I also filtered the rows to only show records from the last 3 days.

However, the issue came back about a week later. Same behavior: app and mobile web is unusable on iOS on the page with the largest table. Android app is fine, even on an ancient Pixel 2.

14

I can’t even open docs that have almost nothing going on. Even low memory doesn’t work. The app crashes after I get the notification.

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15

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