I hope you’re all doing well. I have a question regarding how data is retrieved from Airtable in Thunkable.
My app is performing very well, and I’m currently working on reducing the number of API calls to Airtable as much as possible.
However, I’ve noticed that when using certain blocks (like the one shown), the value returned is not always the most up-to-date. This makes me wonder whether Thunkable caches the Airtable data when the app starts, instead of making a fresh API call every time.
So my question is:
Does this block trigger a new API call to Airtable each time it is used, or does it retrieve data from a locally cached version (possibly managed by Thunkable) that was previously fetched?
I hope my question is clear. I look forward to your feedback.
@maurizio.polverini89
I believe there is some amount of caching that is done. I need to double-check with our engineering team on the exact details.
I would highly recommend having caching within your own app, regardless. It does highly depends on what you are trying to build. I can give a better reccomendation if you can tell me what you are trying to do.
I’ll have an answer on Wednesday when I speak with them, the engineer that I talk with was unfortunately out sick.
In the meantime, I would personally use their api so I can manage the amount of calls going in and out. Since the database is designed to be as simple to use as possible, it means that it can’t be optimized in every use case.
Depending on the kind of app you want to build/feature, it might also be worth looking at other db options. Off the top of my head, Xano and Baserow are some nice alternatives.
I wish i was at that stage @brianl , but thank you for your help.
I’m not in the position right now to change root features, i do have already paying clients and the reliability of the app cant be placed in discussion with such big changes.
Please let me know what your team say, i look forward this info,
So I talked with the engineer, and basically, there isn’t any caching anymore from the backend. Every time you use the blocks to get information from Airtable, it makes a new api call, so it should be the most up-to-date information.
