Common issues
Real problems clinicians run into, with the cause, the fix, and when to escalate. Sign-in, syncing, photos, consent, settings reaching the app, and notifications.
Most issues clinicians raise come down to one of a few things: a patient not signed in, a setting that has not yet reached the app, or a stale build. Each section below follows the same shape so you can jump straight to the fix: what you are seeing, why it happens, what to do, and when to escalate.
Almost every "I changed something and the patient does not see it" question has the same answer. Settings you set on the dashboard ride the patient's profile, which the app refreshes about every 30 seconds and immediately whenever the patient brings the app to the foreground. Ask the patient to open the app and it will pull your change right away.
A patient cannot sign in
What you see. The patient says the app will not let them in, or they are stuck on the sign-in screen.
Why. Pippa requires sign-in to use the app at all, so this is almost always an account issue rather than a Pippa bug: a typo in the email, the wrong sign-in method (Apple vs Google vs email), or an account that has been disabled by a deletion request.
Fix.
Ask which button they tap. An account created with Sign in with Apple cannot be reached with the Google button, and vice versa. Same email, different method, is a different account.
If their row on your roster shows Deleted, their account was disabled by a deletion request and sign-in is intentionally blocked. See Data lifecycle.
You can only see and support a patient who has been added by email and exists as a Pippa account. If they never finished creating an account, there is nothing to sign into yet. See Onboarding a patient.
Escalate to support if the account exists, the method is right, and sign-in still fails, since that points to an auth-service issue rather than anything you can fix from the dashboard.
A log or photo is not showing on the dashboard
What you see. The patient says they logged a meal, but it is not on the Food Log yet.
Why. The app logs locally first and syncs to the cloud in the background. If the patient was offline when they logged, the entry waits on their device until the app has a connection and comes to the foreground.
Fix. Ask the patient to open the app on a good connection and leave it open for a moment. Queued logs sync on foreground. Then refresh the dashboard. Remember the dashboard reads a window of recent entries, so a very old backfilled log may sit outside the default view.
You only see meal logs, photos, and detail once the patient has granted consent to you specifically. If detail is empty across the board, check consent before you chase a sync problem. See The consent model.
Escalate if a fresh log made minutes ago, on a known-good connection, with consent granted, never appears after the app has been foregrounded.
A meal photo will not upload
What you see. A meal shows up but the photo is missing, or the patient says the photo failed.
Why. Photos are larger than a text log and need a real connection to upload. Photos also have their location and camera metadata stripped before upload, which is expected, not a failure. A photo taken offline uploads later, once the app is foregrounded on a connection.
Fix. Ask the patient to reopen the app on Wi-Fi or good signal. The photo uploads in the background and then appears in the Food Log. See The Food Log.
Escalate if the meal itself synced but its photo never arrives after a foregrounded session on a strong connection.
Consent is stuck on "Pending"
What you see. The consent request you sent is not moving to granted.
Why. Consent is one record per patient and clinician, and only the patient (or their guardian, for a minor) can complete it by signing. Until they open the link and sign, it stays pending. A grant to another clinician does not carry over to you, by design.
Fix. Confirm the patient (or guardian) received and opened the consent link and finished signing. For a minor, the guardian signs. Each clinician needs their own grant, so if a colleague already has consent that does not cover you. See The consent model and Minors.
Escalate if the patient says they signed but the status will not move to granted.
A setting you changed is not showing in the patient app
What you see. You set a calorie goal, turned on a check-in, updated the meal plan, or flipped another care-team control, and the patient says they do not see it yet.
Why. Dashboard settings ride the patient's profile down to the app. The app refreshes that profile about every 30 seconds and immediately when the app is brought to the foreground. So there is a short lag by design, not a bug.
Some settings are read at the moment a screen opens, not live. For example, the meal check-in delay and purge follow-up question are read when the check-in opens, so a change applies to the next check-in, not one already on screen. And reminder settings only take effect while the patient is signed in.
Fix. Ask the patient to open the app. Foregrounding pulls your change right away rather than waiting for the next 30-second refresh. If it still is not there after they have foregrounded, confirm you saved the change on the dashboard and that you are looking at the right patient. Relevant pages: Meal plans, The Nutrition tab, Notes and engagement.
Escalate if the change is saved on the dashboard, the patient has foregrounded the app more than a minute ago, and it still has not landed.
The patient is not receiving notifications
What you see. Reminders or check-in nudges are not reaching the patient.
Why. Pippa never schedules a notification while the patient is signed out. This is a deliberate safety rule: signing out cancels everything and clears the badge. Beyond that, each reminder type is its own toggle, so one can be off while another is on, and iOS or Android system notification permission has to be granted at the OS level.
Fix.
No notifications fire while signed out. This is the most common cause. Ask them to open the app and confirm they are signed in.
Pippa cannot deliver anything if notifications are denied for the app in the phone's system settings.
Meal reminders, mood reminders, and post-log encouragement are separate switches. If your care-team control is set to force one on, the patient sees that row locked on. See the Check-in controls card.
Escalate if the patient is signed in, OS permission is granted, and the relevant toggle is on, yet nothing arrives.
"I do not see a new dashboard feature"
What you see. A feature described in these docs or announced to your team is not on your dashboard.
Why. The dashboard is a web app. An old tab can hold a stale version, and some features ship to the backend before the dashboard is redeployed.
Fix. Do a hard refresh of the dashboard tab, then sign out and back in. If you and a colleague are on different versions, the newer one has the current build and yours needs a refresh.
Escalate if a hard refresh and re-login still do not surface a feature that colleagues on the same institution can see.