How do sync counts work

I have 2 Apps based on the same Google Sheet source, App-2 is still not published.

All my updates on the google sheet come from inside glide in App-1.
There shouldn’t be any sync counts right? The counter will be adds & edits?

When I publish App-2, will every update in App-1 be counted as double? an update + a sync because of App-2 using the same source?

Another question is does Glide sync with the Google Sheet for App-2 or with firebase which would already have a copy of the google sheet tables

Might be a question for @DJP .

1 Like

and how are updates counted for edits of a a text entry field outside a form?

we are 1 day away from a new pricing model that seems to have several unclear points for many users including us.
I hope we can get more clarity on it. Until now our cost could range between 250$ & 1000$ per month with our app. This is an unbelievably big range that is very hard to work with.

I guess its gonna be hard to get answers on this in such short time in the community with all the new Adalo migrators and their questions (due to their new pricing model) :man_facepalming: :joy:

If data needs to synchronize to or from a google sheet to synchronize what’s in the google sheet, and what’s in Glide’s copy of that sheet, then that counts as a sync, regardless of where data was added, edited or deleted. An add, edit, or delete is it’s own count. Whenever that change of data needs to synchronize with a third party database, then that’s also a sync. In some cases, syncs will happen in batches, so they will definitely be less than adds and edits, but it all depends on how quickly data is changing and synchronizing.

Doubt it. Glide doesn’t count reads of data. Just changes and syncs. If app 1 changed data once and it synced to the Google sheet once, then that would count as two updates from app 1. App 2 isn’t changing anything. It’s only reading the data that’s already been updated and synced by app 1, so app 2 shouldn’t be adding to any update counts if it isn’t actually updating anything…unless something changed in the google sheet that had not yet been synced to Glide’s copy of the database.

The apps have no knowledge of the Google sheet. They only communicate with Glide’s firebase copy of the Google sheet data.

I would be curious on this two, but probably depends largely on how fast you type, or if glide only updates once focus on the component is lost. Type 10 letters (one at a time every 10 seconds) then yeah, I could see 10 separate updates. Type them fast, and they may be sent as one update.

3 Likes

If you make 100 apps connected to the same Google Sheet, and you change that Google Sheet once (e.g. you import 1,000 new rows at the end of one of the worksheets), Glide will sync once, count one Sync update, and all 100 apps will show the latest data from your Google Sheet.

6 Likes

I’m still a bit confused with syncs

I got 1478 syncs on 2 apps that are not even published.

looking at the time or reset (in 11 days) i assume this team hasn’t yet been pushed into the new pricing model? but even though, how can the sync count go up with unpublished apps?

First of all, glide has always said that update counts won’t be counted if it’s due to changes being made while in the builder. I’m not sure where they are on making those updates not register.

Second, are the unpublished apps connected to an external database, such as a google sheet? If so, then data is synchronizing between glide and google, meaning there will be syncs. This could be data changes in the google sheet or the glide data editor, or it could be a manual refresh of the data, or you may have extra sync updates turned on.

Yes the apps are connected to a google sheet that is being updated by other apps. I might have misunderstood this but the first line in the Glide Docs says:

What are updates?

Glide’s pricing is based on how many updates your projects use. Updates happen whenever your published project’s data is changed.

When you say other apps, do you mean other Glide apps? Are those apps in the same team folder?

If data is changed in a google sheet, it still has to sync back to glide. Remember, the google sheet is a database, and glide keeps a copy of that sheet data on glide servers. To keep glide’s copy and the google sheet in sync, there has to be synchronization updates.

The other Apps are Glide Apps in a different Team. This team has not published apps.
Yes I fully understand that a sync is happening.
I am just confused with the docs. I thought Glide was not counting syncs when apps are not published.

And even if they did, the number seems quite high for apps that aren’t really being used.

There are other Glide Apps using the same Google Sheet in a way more active way. Syncs count once. I would assume with the active apps not these ones. After that as David mentioned above all apps will see the latest data.

Hey, Rayo!

Thanks for raising this issue. We will make a change to the Docs because there is one instance when you can incur updates even if your projects are not published, which is when you make changes to an external data source that is connected to your unpublished projects (Syncs).

Is there a reason why you have these projects in a separate team? If all your projects were in the same team, you would only incur 1 Sync when you make a change to an external data source.

By connecting the same data source to 2 different teams, both teams will incur Syncs when you make a change to the external data source.

2 Likes

Hello @DJP
Thank you for your reply

for 2 main reasons:

  • initially because we were on a legacy plan and billing was per app, so we purchased a new team plan for some new apps.
  • currently and mainly because of the same reason this thread is open. We don’t feel we have a clear understanding and trust in the new update counting system in general and the sync updates specifically. We are simply afraid to work on new apps in our business account in case that can unexpectedly harm the limits of our main glide app there.

are there 2 different duplicates of the external source (Google Sheet) in Glide firebase database? do they both have to be synced or its just that the 1 sync counted but must be paid by each team.

Can 2 apps have totally different sync counts when they are based on the same Google Sheet (one which is active 20 hours a day is 100± the other one unpublished and untouched in weeks is 1500±)

Please tell me where I am wrong:
We extract orders we get from Shopify into a Google Sheet.
We then use that Google Sheet as a source for our Glide Apps.

  • Whenever a new row is added to a Google Sheet ± the sync updates counter increments. (Approx)
  • The data is then synced in Glides firebase database
  • every update we make in our Glide App on that data is not counted as a sync, even though its synced back to Google Sheets. It is counted as an Edit/Add or delete.
  • During all the above, other glide apps connected to the same source and part of the same team, do not incur any updates right? They didn’t trigger any update and they are already connected with Glide’s duplicate of the data source so they don’t incur syncs.
  • however usually data updates in 1 app take a few seconds to nearly a minute to appear in other apps. I assume (every time interval) the app is active, it makes a call to the Glide database to see what changes have been made, is that counted as a sync? can that be controlled? and why would it do that if its connected to the same Glide firebase database of the other apps making the updates.

Excuse me for the long response and questions and my lack of knowledge or understanding in some points above

Let me send you a DM to investigate further.

General points of clarification

  • If a Google Sheet is synced to projects in 2 different teams, both teams will incur a Sync for every change synced from the Google Sheet to Glide

  • When a change is made to an external data source and synced to Glide, that is one Sync. If many rows are changed at one time in an external data source, it can be one Sync if the changes happen quickly together (e.g., I updated 100 rows at once)

  • When users in your Glide project add, edit, or delete data in your data source, that is one Add, Edit, or Delete

1 Like