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Changelog

Updates, changes, and improvements at Retool.

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Retool released a new version of the List View component in December 2023. The previous version has continued to be available as the Legacy List View component. You can continue to use the Legacy List View component in existing apps but we recommend you switch to using the newer List View component. The newer version of List View is much more performant, has more features, and will receive updates.

Feature comparison​

Learn more about the differences between Legacy List View and List View.

FeatureLegacy List ViewList View
Number of instancesSet the instances property value.Automatically generated for each array item in data.
Instance valuesReference nested values using the item index (e.g., textInput1[3].value).Nested components cannot be referenced outside of List View. For form inputs, use instanceValues instead.
Instance keysItem keys.Primary keys.
Auto-heightAutomatically grows with content.Requires a suitable maxHeight value.
Show borderYesNest the List View component within a container and use it to set the border.
Show drop shadowYesNest the List View component within a container and use it to set the drop shadow.
Styles and nested stylesYesNest a container within List View to apply styles and nested styles.

Instance keys and values​

Retool recommends using primary keys, a unique identifier, to track and restore instances within the List View.

List View is virtualized and only evaluates and renders items currently visible. This significantly improves performance. However, this also means that you can no longer directly reference nested items as they may not have been evaluated yet. Instead, you can reference instance values for forms and input components.

Appearance settings​

List View supports all of the same appearance settings as Legacy List View, with the following exceptions:

  • List View does not support border or drop shadow styles. Instead, nest a container within List View and configure it with a border and drop shadow.
  • A List View with a heightType of auto requires a suitable maxHeight value to maintain performance. The default is 100vh and you can specify a different value to use. You should consider using the container in which List View is nested to avoid unexpected scrollbars.

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The Stack component is a container with Flexbox-like layout controls. Instead of following the standard 12-column grid layout, Stack automatically arranges nested components horizontally or vertically. You can then control the alignment and distribution of nested components and precisely adjust component size.

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Multipage apps contain pages to combine functionality and use cases. Standard Retool apps operate as single-page applications where all code and components is continually evaluated. Multipage apps are also supported by Retool Mobile where each screen functions as a separate page.

With multipage apps, Retool only evaluates the code and components of the page currently in view. The benefits of multipage apps include:

  • Greater performance of large and complex apps. Since Retool only evaluates code and components for the current page, multipage apps are 30-40% faster than a single-page app.
  • Seamless navigation between pages. Retool loads the complete app state whenever a user navigates to a single-page app. With multipage apps, navigation between pages is seamless and more responsive.
  • Improved app management. Multipage apps can replace multiple apps in your organization, such as a team's frequently used apps. This reduces the number of apps to maintain and allows for easier permission management.
  • Reduced module dependency. Modules are commonly used to create shared navigation menus across multiple single-page apps. With multipage apps, you can eliminate the need for additional modules and the complexities with maintaining them.

Each multipage app uses global and page scopes to separate pages. Globally scoped code, and Header and Sidebar frames, are available for use across every page, while each page has its own page-scoped code and components.

You can request access to the multipage app beta and explore the docs to learn more.

Request accessMultipage mobile apps docs

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Retool is currently working on a new layout architecture, WidgetGrid, that significantly improves the performance of the canvas. Placement and arrangement of components, such as dragging to reposition, is up to 50% more responsive.

Enable or disable WidgetGrid from the status bar.

WidgetGrid is currently rolling out to cloud-hosted organizations as an opt-in beta and will be available in the next Edge release of self-hosted Retool. You can enable WidgetGrid from the status bar when viewing or editing an app. You can disable WidgetGrid at any time and provide feedback about any issues you experienced.

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Browsers now load static .js files from the following locations:

  • Custom component libraries: /libs/custom-component-collections.${hash}.umd.js
  • Legacy custom components: /libs/custom-components.${hash}.umd.js
  • Workflows sandbox: /libs/sandbox.${hash}.umd.js

This change will not disrupt most self-hosted organizations. However, if you have additional infrastructure that sits between your user's browser and your Retool instance, such as a load balancer, you might need to update your infrastructure configuration.

The reason for this is because these files are requested from an iframe, and so regular browser cookies will be missing from those requests for these files. If you have a load balancer that requires additional cookies be present (such as for SSO), it may block requests to these files from an iframe.

If you need to account for this, the recommend solution is to allow-list requests to these file paths in your infrastructure so that they don't require any additional authentication to access.

Perform these tests if you want to confirm that your Retool instance is correctly serving these files:

  1. Edit any app.
  2. View an app with a custom component (and the legacy version of custom components if you use it).
  3. Edit any workflow (if you use the workflows product).

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Multiplayer provides real-time collaborative editing that allows users to see what each other is working on and reflect changes as soon as they're made. It's best suited for development teams who work on different areas of an app independently.

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