Intermittent issues with select_one_from_file dropdowns on mobile browsers

User Support Form Building
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Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing some intermittent issues with select_one_from_file dropdowns in an XLSForm (Enketo webform) with appearence autcomplete , Especifically for Province and Locality fields, and I was hoping to get some guidance.

Context

This is an enrolment form used by participants, many of whom complete it on mobile devices.
On desktop (Chrome), the behaviour is generally correct. However, on mobile browsers we are seeing usability issues that are causing some participants to get stuck and abandon the form.

The issue was initially reported by a field technician, and I have been able to reproduce it myself on mobile (Google Chrome). The technician also reported it happening on Safari mobile.

Observed behaviour (mobile)

  • When tapping on the Province or Locality field, the dropdown does not always open.

  • Sometimes, when the dropdown does open, typing to search does not return any options, even though the value exists in the CSV.

  • In some cases, users type the value manually instead of selecting it from the list. Visually it looks filled, but the field remains invalid and shows “This field is required”.

  • Because of this, some participants get stuck and do not complete the form.

XLSForm structure

Both fields are select_one_from_file with search enabled:

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select_one_from_file provincias.csv   Particip_Provincia   Provincia   Provincia   Provincia   Provincia
  hint: "Search by typing your province and select it"
  required: true

calculate Provincia
  calculation: pulldata('provincias', 'label', 'name', ${Particip_Provincia})


select_one_from_file localidades.csv  Particip_Localidad   Localidad   Localidad   Localidad   Localidad
  hint: "Search by typing your locality and select it"
  required: true
  choice_filter: provincia=${Particip_Provincia}

calculate Localidad
  calculation: pulldata('localidades', 'label', 'name', ${Particip_Localidad})

Key concern

The behaviour seems inconsistent on mobile:

  • sometimes the dropdown opens, sometimes it doesn’t,

  • sometimes search works, sometimes it doesn’t,

  • and typing without selecting leads to validation errors that are not obvious to users.

Questions

  • Is this a known limitation or bug with select_one_from_file on mobile browsers (Safari / Chrome)?

  • Are there recommended best practices to improve reliability on mobile (e.g. limiting list size, avoiding calculate mirrors, using select_one instead, disabling search, etc.)?

Thanks in advance for any insights — happy to share more details if needed.

2

Welcome back to the community, @bdplazo! Have you advised your team to use modern and updated browsers to it’s latest versions like the Chrome, Edge, Firefox? Using modern and updated browsers (to it’s latest version) should solve a lot of browser related issues.

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