But, USC columns actually are synced to the server. They are stored internally in Glide’s database. They are not stored locally on the device. There is a gray area if the user is not signed in, but it’s my understanding that even if a user is not signed in, the USC columns are still communicating with the database, so it still causes updates.
Think of USC columns like an invisible table that contains a Row ID, Email, and the stored Value. When you create a USC column, glide is essentially creating a sort of relation to this invisible table, using RowID and Email as the key, and creating a lookup to return that value specific to a user. But it’s all packaged up nicely as a simple USC column instead of having to create extra tables, multiple computed columns, and set column actions to set the value. If you export your data sometime, I believe you will see all of that USC data as a separate table in the export.
So, I think the problem for glide right now is that USC columns DO cause updates just like any other column that stores a value. Someone could really exploit that loophole if glide allowed updates to ignore USC columns. Someone would try to circumvent updates to store all permanent data in USC columns intead if only custom filters or custom form data.
Long story short, and to answer your question…USC columns are still just basic columns that store values in Glide’s database. They just work a little differently in where they are stored in that database and how they are retrieved and displayed.
Glide has mentioned that they should build more functionality for filtering, but I still think something like a session variable, or a value that’s always only local to the device, would provide the best flexibility in the long term.