I’ve noticed some weird stuff happening with spilled arrays in Google Sheets. It’s like the mobile app and the desktop version are playing by different rules.
First off, I tried to make two sequence arrays cross each other. On my phone, it was cool with it. The newer array just wrote over the older one. But on my computer? No dice. The horizontal one blocked the vertical one, and I got a #REF! error.
Then I messed around with checkboxes. On my computer, if I tried to spill an array onto a checkbox, I got a #REF! error, but the checkbox got stuck. Couldn’t change it anymore. But when I did the same thing on my phone app, the checkbox kept working like normal, even though I still saw that #REF! error.
I asked some friends to try it out, and they saw the same thing. It’s pretty confusing. Anyone know if there’s a way to let Google know about this kind of stuff? It seems like a pretty big deal if their app and browser versions are acting so different.
Here’s some example code to show what I mean:
=SEQUENCE(5,1,1,1) // This works differently on mobile vs desktop
=IF(A1:A5, TRUE, FALSE) // This affects checkboxes differently too
Any ideas what’s going on here?
I’ve run into this exact problem, and it’s been driving me nuts! The inconsistency between mobile and desktop is a real headache, especially when you’re trying to collaborate on complex spreadsheets.
In my case, I was working on a project management sheet that heavily relied on spilled arrays for task allocation. Everything looked perfect on my laptop, but when I checked it on my phone during a meeting, half the formulas were broken. Talk about embarrassing!
From what I’ve gathered, it seems like the mobile app is running on a different engine or something. It’s not just a version thing - the behavior is fundamentally different.
As for reporting it, I’ve tried the feedback option, but it feels like shouting into the void. Maybe if enough of us make noise about it, Google will finally take notice. In the meantime, I’ve started adding a disclaimer to my shared sheets warning about potential mobile viewing issues. It’s not ideal, but it saves some headaches down the line.
This inconsistency between mobile and desktop versions of Google Sheets is indeed perplexing. I’ve encountered similar issues, particularly with spilled arrays behaving differently across platforms. It’s frustrating when you’re trying to maintain consistency in your spreadsheets.
From my experience, these discrepancies often stem from the mobile app running on a slightly older version of Sheets. Google tends to roll out updates to the web version first, then gradually to mobile platforms. This can lead to temporary differences in functionality.
Regarding reporting this to Google, I’ve found their ‘Send feedback’ option in the Help menu to be somewhat effective. You might also consider posting on the Google Workspace Help Community forums, where both users and Google staff sometimes respond.
In the meantime, it’s advisable to double-check critical spreadsheets on both platforms if you’re collaborating with others who might be using different devices. This inconsistency is definitely an issue Google should address for a seamless cross-platform experience.
ya this is a real pain. i’ve had similar probs with sheets on my phone vs laptop. it’s like they’re two different apps sometimes! Google needs to get their act together fr. have u tried clearing cache or updating the app? sometimes that helps but not always. maybe we should all spam their feedback thing til they fix it lol