Wistify.app
Introduction
Wistify.app is a mobile application developed by My Pharmacist House and its team.
- It allows users to seamlessly convert existing spreadsheets into functional mobile applications without writing any code.
The free basic package includes
- A limit of 2 wists (apps).
- A maximum of 1800 data rows.
- 1 GB of monthly data download bandwidth.
- 1 GB of storage for the File Manager feature, paired with 10 GB of monthly transfer bandwidth.
How to Start Creating
NOTE: Enabling the Custom Sort option in the Apps Design menu ensures your data displays according to the sequence in your data grid. If disabled, the application will automatically sort and display data alphabetically based on the header names.
Pros
Overall, Wistify. app offers several noteworthy features:
- Freemium model: A permanent free plan with standard, accessible features.
- Ease of use.
- Progressive Web App (PWA) support: Allows for offline app installation directly onto user devices
- Automatic database update notifications.
- Basic password protection for privacy.
- Notice board integration.
- File manager upload for images and PDFs.
Cons
- Users must manually save Excel files as CSV format prior to import.
- Because CSV files are strictly plain text, all original Excel styling - including font styles, colors, cell borders, and conditional formatting - will be stripped upon conversion.
Moreover, the app offers a basic, uniform data display template.
- Headers remain visible on the user interface even if the corresponding cell fields are entirely blank.
- The platform lacks support for multi-page architecture, interactive calculations, embedded clickable URLs, and advanced user-interaction elements.
Plus, the app utilizes client-side access controls.
- While the password screen prevents casual browsing, it should not be treated as a high-security firewall.
- Please refrain from uploading or storing high-risk, confidential assets here, as front-end locks cannot completely obfuscate underlying application data from advanced users.
Troubleshooting Google Sheets Synchronization Issues
While Google Sheets synchronization is available, the following conditions must be strictly met to prevent integration errors:
- Native Google Sheets Only: The sync URL must come from a native Google Sheet, not an uploaded Microsoft Excel file (identifiable by a .xls or .xlsx extension in Google Drive).
- Public Link Sharing: The Google Sheet's sharing settings must be set to "Anyone with the link can view" before copying the URL.
- Column Limitations: The spreadsheet must contain fewer than 65 columns.
- Clean Headers: The first row (the header row) must not be empty. Furthermore, header names must be completely unique (no duplication) and cannot contain special characters (such as $, #, [, ], /, or .).
Remember, real-time, automatic data synchronization with Google Sheets is not supported.
- To pull updated information, creators must manually trigger the sync process and republish the database within the Wistify dashboard.
Summary
When using Wistify.app to display spreadsheet data, it is critical to understand the platform's technical and security limitations.
- Because the application utilizes client-side access controls rather than robust server-side encryption, the password protection feature is only a basic barrier against casual browsing.
- To prevent unauthorized access or potential data exposure, never upload confidential, sensitive, or proprietary information to the platform.
- Only use Wistify for public or low-risk data.
Hello, I've recently taken over the portfolio of maintaining our hospital formulary app made using Wistify. Previously the creator has synced the google sheet to Wistify and there were no problems displaying and updating. However, now despite pasting the URL to manually sync, the button will still remain as 'start sync' after loading. I tried closing the pop-up window and tried to save and publish, but was not able to. Would you happen to know to circumvent this issue? Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteThe first step is to make sure the URL link is shared from a Google Sheet, NOT an Excel file (which may be titled with a ".xls" extension in Google Drive). If the file is already in Google Sheet, then may download the spreadsheet as .csv file and manually upload the file to detect any further issues.
DeleteThank you for replying!
DeleteI did copy the URL link from a Google Sheet, so that didn't work.
I downloaded as .csv file and uploaded it without doing any edits. The existing data immediately went blank and was replaced by the words 'An error occurred.', along with 3 pop ups on the bottom right screen corner:
'Overwrite data, kindly proceed with Apps Design Tab after save'
'No id field detected, Creating id field'
'Difference column detected, kindly remap your application'
The upper right screen corner now has an orange button 'Setup Apps Design'. Not sure if I should proceed as I fear losing the existing data. For now if I refresh the page the original data is still there.
Please advise and thank you so much for your time
Based on the response, it seems there may be an addition or deletion of columns from the pre-existing spreadsheet. I can see your hesitation to proceed with apps design due to the fear to lose all the existing data. Hence, I suggest you to create a new personal wistify account and proceed with a new formulary app creation. Only after successful completed it, then you will be brave and competent enough to make changes to the official app. If needed, may drop a message at my facebook page for further assistance.
Delete