Front Mobile App Problems (Android Freezing, Missing Send & Archive): Fixes

Symptom → likely cause, at a glance

1. Android freezing or slowing down after an update

Most common cause: your device is still settling after a recent Android or app update — or the app build and cache are stale. When a major OS update lands, Android spends time rebuilding system files, re-optimizing apps, and re-syncing accounts in the background, which can make every app, Front included, feel sluggish for a day or two. On top of that, an app version built against an older Android release can freeze or crash until it's updated, and a bloated local cache makes it worse. Google's own guidance on a device that freezes or won't respond and on how to speed up a slow Android device points at exactly these levers.

Work through these in order — the first two fix most cases:

1. Update the Front app. Open the Play Store, search Front, and install any pending update. A build made for your current Android version resolves most post-update freezing outright. The listing you're updating from is shown below.
2. Clear the app cache. Android Settings → Apps → Front → Storage → Clear cache. This drops stale temporary data without touching your account or conversations. (Avoid Clear storage unless you're ready to sign in again.)
3. Restart the phone. A reboot clears the background processes left over from the update's re-optimization pass.
4. Free up storage. Front's offline cache and general performance both suffer when the device is nearly full — aim to keep some headroom free.
5. Isolate a bad actor with Safe Mode. If it's still bad, boot into Safe Mode (only system apps run). If Front behaves there, a different third-party app or a background service is the real culprit.

If the freeze coincides with everyone on your team losing access at once, it's probably not your handset — check whether Front is down before you keep troubleshooting a phone that's fine.

2. No "Send & Archive" when Send & Snooze is enabled

Most common cause: you're replying in the quick-reply composer, which only ever fires your default send option. This one trips up a lot of teams and it isn't a bug in your setup. Front's mobile app has two composers: a lightweight quick-reply box for fast text-only replies, and the full composer. Per the Front community thread on no Send & Archive option on mobile when Send & Snooze is enabled, the quick-reply box doesn't show the send menu at all — it just uses whatever default send action you've set — so when Send & Snooze is your default, Send & Archive has nowhere to appear.

There are two fixes, both native:

1. Expand to the full composer for a one-off. Tap the expand button on your draft to open the full mobile composer, then press Send. Now the full send menu appears — Send, Send & Archive, Send Later, and Send & Snooze — and you can pick Send & Archive per message.
2. Turn off quick-reply so the full composer is always used. Open the settings icon in the mobile app and disable the quick-reply composer. Every reply then opens the full composer, so the send options are always one tap away.

If you mostly triage rather than close out on your phone, option 1 is the pragmatic choice; if archiving-on-send is your normal workflow, option 2 saves the extra step every time. Either way, this is a composer behavior, not an account-level setting — nothing in your shared inbox configuration needs changing.

3. Office 365 or Google SSO login error on Android

Most common cause on Android specifically: your browser app and the Front app live in different Android profiles. Front's mobile app supports both Google Sign-In and Office 365 authentication on Android and iOS, but there's a platform quirk. Per Front's mobile app documentation, Android users with a work profile must install their web browser app using the same work profile they used to install the Front app — otherwise the SSO handoff between Front and the browser fails and login errors out. This is an Android profile-security constraint, not a Front account problem.

Fixes, most likely first:

1. Match the profiles (work-profile devices). If Front sits in your Android work profile, install/enable a browser (Chrome or your managed browser) in that same work profile, then retry the sign-in. This resolves the most common corporate-device SSO failure.
2. Clear the SSO redirect cache. For Office 365 sign-ins, clearing the browser/Outlook app cache clears out half-finished auth tokens — Microsoft's own guidance for when you can't sign in to the Outlook mobile app covers the token-refresh path.
3. Confirm the account is enabled in Front first. SSO on mobile only works if that identity provider is turned on for your Front company. That's an admin, desktop-side setting — if Office 365 SSO was never enabled in Company settings → Security on the web app, it won't appear correctly on mobile no matter what you do on the phone.
4. Reinstall as a last resort. If the app itself is in a bad state after an update, uninstalling and reinstalling from the Play Store gives you a clean auth flow.

Honest caveat: steps that touch Company settings → Security or a managed work profile need admin rights and a proper company account — they don't show up on a personal trial device, so if you're evaluating Front solo you may simply not have the SSO option to configure.

When the answer is "use the desktop app"

Some "problems" aren't problems — they're features the mobile app was never meant to carry. Per Front's mobile app documentation, the app is deliberately triage-focused: it supports reading conversations, discussions, viewing and adding tags, multi-select actions, calendar, and push notifications with quick actions, plus offline access to the last 30 days. It does not support onboarding, full personal settings, message templates, tag management, the contact manager, analytics, or sequences. A couple of things are iOS-only too, such as customizing the badge counter and setting Front as your default email client.

So if you're on Android trying to edit a template, restructure your tags, or build a sequence and the option simply isn't there, nothing is broken — those live on the desktop and web apps. Notifications and calendar have their own separate gotchas worth checking if those are your symptom: see Front notifications not working and Front calendar issues and fixes.

Cutting the reason you reach for the phone at all

Most mobile frustration is really about volume: you open the app on the move because replies are piling up and someone has to acknowledge, answer, or archive them. Reduce that backlog and the small mobile papercuts stop mattering as much. That's the seam an AI agent layer fits into — not replacing Front, but handling the routine tickets before they queue. The broader category of AI agents for customer service exists for exactly this.

Macha is one such layer: it runs on top of the Front you already use through the live Macha–Front connector, reading incoming conversations, understanding intent, and drafting or sending grounded replies — pulling a real order or account status through a custom tool that turns your API into something the agent can call. Fewer conversations sitting unanswered means fewer moments you feel you have to fix them one-handed on a train. Macha's credits are consumed per AI action, never per resolution, so you only pay for the work the agent actually does. It doesn't replace your Front mobile app, your inboxes, or your team — it just shrinks the pile they're all working through.

FAQ

Why does the Front Android app freeze or lag after an update? Usually because your device is still rebuilding and re-optimizing after an OS update (which can take a day or two), the app build is outdated, or the local cache is stale. Update the Front app from the Play Store, clear its cache under Settings → Apps → Front → Storage, restart the phone, and free up storage. If it persists, Safe Mode helps isolate whether another app is the cause.

Where is Send & Archive on the Front mobile app? The quick-reply composer only uses your default send option, so when Send & Snooze is your default, Send & Archive isn't shown. Tap the expand button on your draft to open the full composer, then press Send to see Send, Send & Archive, Send Later, and Send & Snooze. Or disable the quick-reply composer in the mobile settings icon so the full composer is always used.

Why do I get an Office 365 SSO error signing in to Front on Android? On Android work-profile devices, your browser must be installed in the same work profile as the Front app, or the SSO handoff fails. Match the profiles, clear the Outlook/browser cache to reset stale auth tokens, and confirm the identity provider is enabled in Company settings → Security on the desktop app.

What can't the Front mobile app do compared to desktop? It's triage-focused. It doesn't support onboarding, full personal settings, message templates, tag management, the contact manager, analytics, or sequences. Some items like badge-counter customization and setting Front as your default email client are iOS-only. For those tasks, use the desktop or web app.

Is it me or is Front down? If several teammates lose access at once, or web and desktop are affected too, it's likely a wider incident rather than your phone. Check whether Front is down before troubleshooting the device further.

Ready to shrink the pile you're triaging on your phone? Start a free trial of Macha and connect it to your Front in minutes.