iPad App Problems

Support
#1

Hi there,

Just wanted to flag issues I’m facing with the iPad app. I will make the disclaimer that I am running the Beta iPad OS, which could explain some, but not all, of these issues. This after a clean un-install and re-install, but when I did this I noticed that the app has not had an App Store update in a year?

  • Consistent (nearly constant) freezing. If I check my email and come back to the app, it has frozen. If I leave a document to open a new one, it freezes or won’t open it. This requires the next step
  • Constantly having to force close and re-start the app.
  • Not working in landscape mode. One minute, it was fine. The next, I can’t turn the app around. I even locked the screen in landscape mode and it wouldn’t turn the right way
  • Sync issues and slow download speeds.

I LOVE Paperpile, but lately this has been incredibly frustrating. I now know that I need to force restart the app whenever I leave the app or lock my iPad but it used to work much more efficiently. Being able to reference manage AND take notes AND have an iPad app is a gamechanger for my brain, I just wish it weren’t so hard sometimes…

#2

@Kayla_Morgan thank you for making us aware of the problems you are having with the mobile app, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience. We haven’t received similar reports recently, but I’ve passed your message onto the team. As a small independent company our resources are limited, and the team’s efforts are focused on the beta web app and extension right now, which is why mobile hasn’t been prioritized recently. But consistent freezing is understandably a massive source of frustration, and it will be investigated.

#3

@Kayla_Morgan The team has looked at the logs, but they didn’t see anything in them that indicates the issues you mention. To help them investigate further, if it is not too much trouble, do you mind making a video illustrating the issues? Can you try and move to a folder or label a few papers that were on screen at the time of the freezes, and see if the same happens when you then go into that folder? It would also be helpful to us if you were to share an annotated PDF that leads to a freeze. You can share the PDF or video here, or contact support via chat or email support@paperpile.com.

#4

Hi,

I am also experiencing similar issues as Kayla.

  • Sync and Downloading issues: I will add a new citation on the app and when I go to download the PDF, it will get to 100%, then “Saving…”, then after a few minutes, this will change to “Network Error” and the PDF will not be accessible. Here is what I have done to remedy the issue yet none have worked:

  • Changing wifi networks

  • Connecting to my phone cellular connection

  • Force closing & restarting the app

  • Adding the paper to my library through the chrome extension and then downloading it to my iPad

  • Downloading and attaching the PDF through the web browser, synced the library, then downloaded onto my iPad

  • Updating to 1.3.5

Somehow my library is able to sync, but I cannot download the PDF onto my iPad. (Is there a way to attach a PDF through the iPad app?) I can send a screen recording of this issue.

  • Slow download speeds: It will take over 5 minutes to download a 9 MB file? My iPad doesn’t experience slow speeds on other applications, only Paperpile. (Still slow downloads in 1.3.5 update)
  • Not working in landscape mode: I have also experienced this. I will go from portrait mode to landscape with a PDF open and somehow it will get stuck in portrait mode and the paper will be cut-off. I usually just force close and restart the app. (Have not seen in 1.3.5 update yet)
  • Freezing: Similar to Kayla, if I go to another app and come back, it will not be responsive/frozen for ~30 seconds. Sometimes I have to force close & reopen. (Have not seen in 1.3.5 update yet)

I 100% agree with Kayla. I really love the Paperpile app, which is why I am okay with paying the yearly subscription but this needs to work better and I should not worry about losing for my PDFs/notes for a paid service.

Here’s additional information in case it is helpful:
Model: iPad Pro (11 in 3rd gen, 256GB )
OS: 16.3.1
Storage: 83% storage available
I don’t use a VPN
App version: 1.3.5

#5

@Jasmine_Esparza Welcome to the forum, and thank you for providing detailed information on the issues you’ve been having. To download the PDF of a reference to your iPad, you should be able to tap the gray arrow and it will turn green once the PDF is downloaded, but it sounds like this is not working for you.

Regarding sync and downloading issues, two things could be happening. One possibility is that there’s a network issue, as you mention that a 9MB file takes 5 minutes to download, which shouldn’t happen. To investigate if that is the case, you would need to contact support via chat or email support@paperpile.com and share your connection from your mobile device and the team can try downloading the file as a test.

Alternatively, the issue could be on our end - the crawler may be returning a URL that is likely to be a PDF but this is not always guaranteed, so it tries to download the file, but if it’s not actually a PDF, or it takes too long to download, Paperpile stops the process. In either case, please contact support so that the team can investigate further.

#6

I will reach out to get some help! I will post an update with the solution. Thank you!

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