Preview your app
The preview renders the same screens your app will show, reading from your connected site. Use it to check your work before spending a build — builds are metered, and the preview is not.
Opening it
Section titled “Opening it”The preview is a tab on the canvas. You can also dock it to a rail on the right of the builder, where it stays visible while you edit navigation and settings. Docked, it takes about a third of the width; the Preview canvas tab disappears while it is docked, because it would be showing the same thing twice.
What it is faithful about
Section titled “What it is faithful about”- Your content. Members, posts, products and messages come from your site over the same API the built app uses.
- Your navigation. Bars, ordering, icons and titles match what you placed.
- Your appearance. Colours, typography, wrapper padding and border widths are the ones the app will compile with.
- Your restrictions. A tab limited to a role is hidden when the previewed session does not have it.
What it is not
Section titled “What it is not”The preview is a web rendering of the app, not the app. Some things only exist once compiled:
- Push notifications.
- The camera roll and the camera.
- Native share sheets.
- The splash screen’s real timing.
- Anything that depends on the device, such as location accuracy.
Treat it as a check on structure, content and styling. Treat the build as the check on device behaviour.
Using the docked device preview while editing navigation
record → src/assets/media/device-preview.mp4
Previewing without a connected site
Section titled “Previewing without a connected site”Before a site is connected, every screen renders with sample data — plausible members, posts and products, so you can judge layout and colour. This is also what you see if the connection fails, which is worth knowing: sample content where you expected your own means the app could not reach your site.
Your own content appearing is the clearest confirmation that the connection, the endpoints and the form visibility switches are all correct.
Dark mode
Section titled “Dark mode”The preview honours the app’s own Default Mode setting — light, dark or follow the device. That is a separate setting from the light and dark mode of the Memberside builder itself, and from this documentation site. Changing the builder’s theme does not change your app’s.
When it does not work
Section titled “When it does not work”| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Sample members and posts instead of your own | The site is not connected, or the connection failed | Connect your site |
| One screen is empty, the rest are fine | That feature’s endpoint group is off | Enable endpoints |
| The directory shows nothing and has no picker | No member directory has opted into the API | Forms and directories |
| Colours look wrong | You are looking at the builder’s theme, not the app’s | Check Settings → Appearance → Default Mode |