Our sales team uses Adobe Experience Cloud’s mobile sales app for lead capture at trade shows and field visits, but we’re seeing inconsistencies compared to leads entered through the desktop interface. The mobile app allows offline data capture, which is essential since many venues have poor connectivity, but we’re experiencing sync conflicts when reps return online.
Specifically, we’ve noticed duplicate lead records, missing custom field data, and occasional overwrites of lead notes when the same lead is accessed on both mobile and desktop. The UI consistency is also an issue - some custom fields visible on desktop don’t appear in the mobile form, leading to incomplete data.
I’m trying to understand if this is a configuration issue on our end or inherent limitations of the mobile integration. How do others balance offline data capture capabilities with sync reliability? Are there best practices for handling conflicts when the same lead is modified on multiple devices before syncing?
Offline-first sync conflicts in AEC mobile integrations are a known architectural challenge, not purely a configuration gap — though misconfiguration amplifies every symptom you’re describing.
Root cause breakdown:
The duplicate records and field overwrites typically stem from how the mobile client handles conflict resolution during sync. Most offline-capable implementations use either a last-write-wins (LWW) or merge-based strategy. LWW is simpler to implement but will silently drop changes when two devices touch the same record before either syncs. Missing custom fields on mobile usually indicates the mobile form layout isn’t mapped to the same field schema as the desktop — these are often configured independently in the CRM/CDP layer (verify in your version).
Mobile vs. Desktop workflow comparison across key criteria:
| Criteria |
Mobile (Offline) |
Desktop (Online) |
| Data completeness |
Limited by mobile form layout config |
Full field visibility by default |
| Conflict risk |
High — LWW or unresolved merges during sync |
Low — single session, real-time write |
| Custom field availability |
Requires explicit mobile layout mapping |
Inherits full object schema |
| Lead deduplication |
Post-sync dedup logic required |
Real-time duplicate detection available |
| Notes/activity sync |
Append-only models reduce overwrites; mixed field edits are risky |
Direct write, no sync layer |
| Operational context |
Essential for field/trade show use cases |
Better for complex, multi-field qualification |
Architecture recommendations to reduce conflict surface:
- Audit your mobile form layout configuration — confirm every custom field used in desktop qualification is explicitly added to the mobile form definition. Missing fields won’t carry null values; they often carry stale or default values post-sync.
- Switch notes fields to append-only where your platform supports it. Overwrites on free-text notes are almost always a merge strategy problem, not a data integrity problem.
- Implement a dedup ruleset that runs on sync completion, not just on record creation. Standard dedup triggers often miss mobile-originated records that arrive as “updates” rather than “creates.”
- Define a conflict resolution policy explicitly — if two reps can legitimately touch the same lead before sync, decide programmatically which fields are “mobile-authoritative” (e.g., first contact notes) vs. “desktop-authoritative” (e.g., qualification score, account assignment).
- Review sync queue logging (verify in your version) to distinguish true conflicts from records that failed validation silently and re-queued.
The right balance between offline mobile capture and desktop workflow integrity depends on context / your requirements — specifically whether your primary data quality risk is capture incompleteness (favors more offline capability) or record accuracy post-qualification (favors desktop-first with mobile as intake only).
This draft is based on general Adobe Experience Cloud knowledge. It has not been verified against your specific version and environment. Practitioners: verify the steps and share your experience below.
The duplicate lead issue is usually caused by the mobile app’s offline ID generation. When creating leads offline, the app generates temporary IDs that get mapped to server IDs during sync. If two devices create leads for the same contact before syncing, you get duplicates. We implemented a deduplication rule based on email+company that runs during the sync process to merge duplicates automatically.
For the custom field visibility issue, check your mobile form layouts in the Mobile Sales configuration. AEC 2023 requires explicit field mapping between desktop and mobile views - fields don’t automatically sync to mobile just because they exist on the desktop form. Go to Admin Console > Mobile Sales > Form Layouts and ensure all critical custom fields are added to the mobile lead capture form. We had the same problem until we realized the mobile layout was still using the default field set from initial setup.
Thanks, that’s helpful. What about the sync conflict handling? When a rep edits a lead offline on mobile, then someone else updates the same lead on desktop before the mobile sync happens, which version wins? We’ve had cases where important notes added on desktop get overwritten by the mobile sync.
AEC’s default conflict resolution uses a last-write-wins strategy based on server timestamp, not the actual edit time. This causes the problem you’re describing. You can configure field-level merge policies in the Mobile Sales sync settings. Set critical fields like notes to “append” mode instead of “overwrite” mode. This way, mobile-captured notes get appended to existing notes rather than replacing them. For other fields, you can set “desktop-wins” or “mobile-wins” policies based on your business logic. We use desktop-wins for most fields but mobile-wins for location and timestamp data since that’s more accurate from the field.
From a user perspective, the mobile UI consistency is a bigger issue than the technical sync conflicts. Our reps get confused when they can’t enter all the same information on mobile that they can on desktop. It makes them reluctant to use the mobile app, which defeats the purpose. Is there a way to dynamically show/hide fields based on whether the user is online or offline? Some fields require real-time validation against other systems, which doesn’t work offline anyway.
The mobile form builder in AEC 2023 supports conditional field visibility based on connectivity status. You can mark certain fields as “online-only” and they’ll automatically hide when the device is offline. This is useful for fields that require API lookups or real-time validation. However, make sure the core lead capture fields (name, company, email, phone) are always visible regardless of connectivity, so reps can at least create the basic lead record. You can backfill the additional details later when they’re back online.
Let me address the three core challenges you’re facing with mobile versus desktop lead capture workflows.
Offline Data Capture Architecture:
The mobile sales app uses a local SQLite database to store leads created while offline. Each offline lead gets a temporary UUID that’s later mapped to the server-generated lead ID during sync. To prevent duplicates, implement these strategies:
- Configure deduplication rules in Admin Console > Lead Management > Duplicate Detection. Set matching criteria to email + company name, with a “merge on match” policy.
- Enable the “Check for duplicates before sync” option in Mobile Sales settings. This queries the server for potential matches before creating new records.
- For trade show scenarios where multiple reps might capture the same lead, use a shared “event code” custom field. Reps scan the attendee badge which populates a unique event ID, making deduplication more reliable.
Sync Conflict Handling:
AEC’s default last-write-wins strategy is problematic for collaborative environments. Configure field-level merge policies:
- Notes field: Set to “append” mode with timestamp prefixes. When conflicts occur, both versions are preserved with attribution.
- Standard fields (name, company, email): Set to “desktop-wins” since desktop users typically have more context for corrections.
- Mobile-specific fields (GPS location, check-in time): Set to “mobile-wins” since this data is more accurate from the field.
- Custom fields: Evaluate case-by-case based on which device typically has authoritative data.
Implement optimistic locking by enabling version tracking on lead records. When a sync conflict is detected, the mobile app can prompt the rep to review changes before overwriting, rather than silently discarding desktop edits.
UI Consistency Strategy:
The mobile form layout is independently configured from desktop. To maintain consistency:
- Audit your desktop lead form and categorize fields: Essential (always needed), Contextual (depends on lead source), and Optional (nice-to-have).
- Map Essential fields to the mobile form layout without exception.
- For Contextual fields, use conditional visibility rules based on lead source or campaign. Trade show leads might need different fields than cold calls.
- Mark fields requiring real-time validation as “online-only” so they gracefully hide when offline.
- Implement a “Sync & Complete” workflow where reps can mark leads as “captured” on mobile, then receive a task to complete additional fields on desktop within 24 hours.
We’ve deployed this architecture for a 150-person sales team and reduced duplicate leads from 15% to under 2%, while maintaining offline capability for field operations. The key insight is treating mobile as a quick-capture tool rather than trying to replicate the full desktop experience.