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Troubleshooting

Having issues? Find solutions to common problems below.

Preview Not Loading

Preview shows blank screen

Symptoms:

  • White or black screen in the preview
  • Loading spinner that never completes

Solutions:

  1. Check your internet connection
  2. Try refreshing the page (Cmd/Ctrl + R)
  3. Clear browser cache and try again
  4. Disable browser extensions that might block iframes
  5. Try a different browser (Chrome recommended)

Preview shows error

Symptoms:

  • Red error message in preview
  • Error boundary screen

Solutions:

  1. Click the "Ask AI to Fix It" button
  2. Check the error message and describe the issue to AI
  3. Use Undo (Cmd/Ctrl + Z) to revert to working code
  4. Look at the code editor for syntax errors

Preview updates are slow

Symptoms:

  • Changes take a long time to appear
  • Preview seems laggy

Solutions:

  1. This is normal - we debounce updates by 1 second
  2. For complex apps, preview may take 2-3 seconds
  3. Close other browser tabs to free memory

QR Code / Mobile Preview

QR code not scanning

Symptoms:

  • Expo Go can't read the QR code
  • Camera doesn't recognize QR

Solutions:

  1. Make sure Expo Go is installed on your phone
  2. Ensure your phone camera has permission to scan QR codes
  3. Try increasing screen brightness
  4. Move phone closer or further from screen
  5. Use the "Copy URL" button and paste in Expo Go

App doesn't load on phone

Symptoms:

  • Expo Go shows loading but never connects
  • Connection timeout

Solutions:

  1. Ensure phone and computer are on the same WiFi network
  2. Disable VPN on both devices
  3. Check if your firewall is blocking connections
  4. Try restarting Expo Go app

Chat / AI Generation

API key not working

Symptoms:

  • Error: Invalid API key
  • Authentication failed

Solutions:

  1. Verify your API key is correct (starts with "AIza")
  2. Check if you have billing enabled on Google Cloud
  3. Generate a new API key from Google AI Studio
  4. Make sure you're using a Gemini API key, not other Google APIs

AI response is incomplete

Symptoms:

  • Code gets cut off
  • Missing files in generation

Solutions:

  1. Ask the AI to "continue" or "complete the code"
  2. Request a simpler version of the app first
  3. Break down complex features into multiple requests

AI generates broken code

Symptoms:

  • Syntax errors
  • App crashes immediately

Solutions:

  1. Click "Ask AI to Fix It" button in the error boundary
  2. Describe the error to the AI and ask for a fix
  3. Use Undo to revert and try a different prompt
  4. Be more specific about what you want

Export / GitHub

GitHub connection failed

Symptoms:

  • OAuth error
  • Failed to connect to GitHub

Solutions:

  1. Try disconnecting and reconnecting GitHub in Settings
  2. Make sure pop-ups are allowed for GitHub OAuth
  3. Check if you've authorized the ShipMobile app on GitHub
  4. Try in an incognito window

Export failed

Symptoms:

  • Error creating repository
  • Export stuck

Solutions:

  1. Try a different repository name (must be unique)
  2. Check if you have permission to create repos in your account
  3. Ensure you're connected to the internet
  4. Wait a moment and try again

Repository is empty or incomplete

Symptoms:

  • Missing files on GitHub
  • No code in repository

Solutions:

  1. Check if the export completed successfully
  2. Try exporting again to a new repository
  3. Verify the files exist in NativeFlow before exporting

Still stuck?

If you're still experiencing issues, please contact us with:

  • Description of the problem
  • Steps to reproduce
  • Browser and OS version
  • Screenshots if applicable