Hello,
I would like to report what appears to be a bug in the Power Apps mobile player affecting Dataverse table and column resolution on mobile devices.
We have been developing a Canvas App that saves inspection data and photos directly into Dataverse. After extensive troubleshooting over the last couple of days, we have isolated the issue to the Power Apps mobile player rather than the app logic, Dataverse schema, or environment configuration.
Summary of the issue
The app works correctly in:
The same published app fails only in:
The failures in the mobile player present as Patch errors reporting that tables or columns do not exist, even though they do exist and can be used successfully from browser and desktop.
Symptoms observed in the Power Apps mobile player
We received errors such as:
-
table has no column named acs_startedon
-
table has no column named acs_completiondatetime
-
table has no column named acs_mobiledebug
-
table has no column named acs_inspectionname
-
entity with entity set name acs_qc_completedsections not found in offline metadata
-
generic “Network error when using Patch function. An error occurred on the server.”
These errors occurred even for:
-
newly created Dataverse tables
-
newly created text columns
-
very simple Patch statements against a blank table
-
testing from different screens, including LoginScreen
Testing performed
Over the last couple of days, we performed the following troubleshooting:
-
Initial image/file save design
-
We originally used Power Automate with Dataverse file handling.
-
After repeated failures and complexity, we replaced this with a Dataverse Image column.
-
Direct Patch to Dataverse Image column worked successfully in browser and desktop.
-
Patch formula validation
-
We simplified the formula to basic Patch operations with only text fields.
-
We tested with and without image fields.
-
We tested separate Patch statements per table.
-
We used IfError, FirstError.Message, Refresh(), and Errors() to capture more detail.
-
Table and schema checks
-
We refreshed data sources in the app.
-
We removed and re-added Dataverse tables to the app.
-
We republished the app multiple times.
-
We published table customizations in Dataverse.
-
We created a completely new Dataverse table for testing.
-
We created new columns such as MobileDebug for isolated tests.
-
We verified that the columns physically exist in Dataverse and are visible in the table designer.
-
Client/device testing
-
Tested on laptop in Studio: works
-
Tested in mobile browser: works
-
Tested in Power Apps mobile player on phone: fails
-
Similar behavior observed across mobile player testing on Android and Apple devices
-
Minimal reproduction
A very simple test like the below works on laptop and mobile browser, but fails in the Power Apps mobile player:
Set(varDbgResult, Blank());
Set(varDbgError, Blank());
IfError(
Set(
varDbgResult,
Patch(
QC_CompletedSections,
Defaults(QC_CompletedSections),
{
InspectionName: "PHONE_TEST_" & Text(Now(), "yyyymmdd_hhmmss"),
MobileDebug: "PHONE_" & Text(Now(), "yyyymmdd_hhmmss")
}
)
),
Set(varDbgError, FirstError.Message)
);
Refresh(QC_CompletedSections);
Notify(
"Result blank? " & Text(IsBlank(varDbgResult)) &
" | Error: " & Coalesce(varDbgError, "none") &
" | Errors(): " & Coalesce(First(Errors(QC_CompletedSections)).Message, "none"),
NotificationType.Information,
8000
);
Conclusion from our testing
Because:
-
the same app and same Patch logic work in desktop and mobile browser
-
the Dataverse tables and columns are confirmed to exist
-
newly created tables and columns also fail only in the mobile player
-
the mobile player reports “offline metadata” style errors
we believe this is a bug or stale metadata/cache issue in the Power Apps mobile player rather than an application or Dataverse design issue.
Request
Could you please investigate whether there is a known issue with the current Power Apps mobile player related to:
Please also advise whether there is any supported way to fully clear or rebuild the mobile player’s Dataverse metadata cache beyond standard reinstall/sign-out/reopen steps.
If needed, I can provide:
-
screenshots of the exact errors
-
table/column logical names
-
app version details
-
device details
-
additional reproduction steps
Kind regards,
