Layers Not Displaying in QField – “Problem Transforming the Layer's Extent”

[enheduanna]

What is the bug or the crash? What were your expectations and what actually happened?

I am an archaeologist conducting a regional archaeological survey in southern Iraq. For field data collection, I use QField with a project created in QGIS 3.44 on a Mac (2014 model).
Project Setup
The QGIS project is relatively simple and contains a small number of GeoPackage layers. The most important layer is a 50 × 50 m survey grid (GeoPackage) that I overlay on archaeological sites to systematically sample surface material for diagnostic artifacts used to determine occupation dates.
After creating the project in QGIS, I uploaded it to QField Cloud and then downloaded it onto the following Android devices:
• Lenovo M8 FHD (2021)
• Lenovo Tab M10 Plus (10.3" FHD, Octa-Core, 64GB storage, 4GB RAM, ZA5T0300US)
• Lenovo Tab One Purchased 2025 (MediaTek Helio G85 2.00 GHz, 4GB LPDDR4X, 64GB eMMC 5.1, Android 14 or later)
• Samsung Android phone (purchased in Iraq, 2022)
All devices were updated to the latest firmware, and the newest version of QField was installed prior to field deployment.
Problem
The project worked without any issues during testing at home. However, after arriving in the field, at some point the layers stopped displaying in QField on all tablets and the phone.
An error message appeared:
“There was a problem transforming the layer's extent. Layer skipped.”
As a result, the relevant layers (including the survey grid) were no longer visible in QField.
Additional Notes
• The project had functioned properly prior to field deployment.
• No intentional changes were made to the coordinate reference system.
• Devices were operating offline in the field.
• Firmware and QField were up to date.
I subsequently installed QField on several team members’ phones to troubleshoot the issue. We tested the project on three Samsung Android phones (from 2019, 2022, and 2024), a Huawei Android phone, and my iPhone. The project functioned without any issues on all of these devices. In addition, I created the project on a newer Mac 2024 because I had read that using older devices with the newest version of QGIS and QField could also be the source of the issue. What I do not understand is that some of the Samsung phones we then ended up using were older than the one I had and the tablets with a newer version of firmware but did not give me an issue at all. I also tried to download earlier versions of the QField App on the Lenovo tablets but the problem persisted.
I concluded that the issue was related to the devices, however I was not prepared to replace the entire equipment since it is not that old. Any advice?
Best wishes
Stephanie Rost

Steps to reproduce the issue

Update, I re-loaded one of the project onto Iraqi Samsung phone that had also displayed the issue reported above. Now back in the US it seems to work again. I tried it on the Lenovo tablets and the files seems to display fine. I am so confused. I think the only difference is that I used my new Mac to create the projects. No sure if that resolved the issue???

Version

4.0.4

Operating system name

Android

Operating system version

Mac Apple M4 Tahoe 26.2

Reinstall QField

• I have a fresh install of the latest QField version, but the problem persists.
• Problem can be reliably reproduced, doesn't happen randomly.
• Problem happens with all files and projects, not only some files or projects.

Additional context

No response

[nirvn]

@enheduanna , could you share your cloud username and protect name for us to look into it? You can do so by sending me an email at mathieu@opengis.ch .

When you are doing tests in the US, are you zooming into your area of interest in Iraq? I could imagine a scenario in which you have a CRS issue there but you didn't stumble on it when testing around your own position in the USA.

[enheduanna]

Dear Mathieu The cloud username is UmmaSurvey and the projects within. There are several projects and all of them had the issue that I was describing before. I would once in a while download them on the tablet to see if they work and they would work initially and then I would get the message again that the layers were skipped. f there was a CRS issue - would phones handle that better than lets say tablets. However, most of the phones were also offline because they did not have an Iraqi sim card but realied only on Wifi. Thank you so much for looking into this because I am almost thought I had to turn around having brought 7 people to the field and me not beeing able to resolve the issue. Luckily the phones worked and we could do the field season. Best wishes Stephanie

…

On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 7:11 PM Mathieu Pellerin ***@***.***> wrote: *nirvn* left a comment (opengisch/QField#7021) <#7021 (comment)> @enheduanna <https://github.com/enheduanna> , could you share your cloud username and protect name for us to look into it? You can do so by sending me an email at ***@***.*** . When you are doing tests in the US, are you zooming into your area of interest in Iraq? I could imagine a scenario in which you have a CRS issue there but you didn't stumble on it when testing around your own position in the USA. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#7021 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AHTBJ2UNCTSPERZCNMPTHQT4KE2MFAVCNFSM6AAAAACT4LXDMOVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTQNBUGQ4DKMJWGE> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[nirvn]

@enheduanna , can you provide me with a specific project name that is problematic?

[nirvn]

@enheduanna , here's one random project displaying properly using QField 4.0.5:

So we're definitively in need of more details to replicate the circumstances.

[enheduanna]

Dear Mathieu The issue is that all the projects that I have in the cloud had the issue on my Lenovo tablets in Iraq bc I kept checking them randomly on the tablets and devices. But now they work properly and I can reproduce the issue. It’s just so odd. The app should not behave differently in a different country, right? Stephanie

…

On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 8:37 PM Mathieu Pellerin ***@***.***> wrote: *nirvn* left a comment (opengisch/QField#7021) <#7021 (comment)> @enheduanna <https://github.com/enheduanna> , here's one random project displaying properly using QField 4.0.5: image.png (view on web) <https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/039502fa-e01f-438f-98a1-f503486338c5> So we're definitively in need of more details to replicate the circumstances. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#7021 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AHTBJ2THOBIT5D2LVYBGVMT4KFENLAVCNFSM6AAAAACT4LXDMOVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTQNBUG42DKMRWG4> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[nirvn]

@enheduanna , the app shouldn't behave differently when looking at the same spatial extent indeed. I was just thinking about the scenario where your testing layers with CRSes for North America, which would definitively not reproject in Iraq (say within a project with a EPSG:3857 CRS).

The app should not behave differently in a different country, right?

Not for your case no

[enheduanna]

Dear Mathieu

I keep testing the projects and also the once that did not display in the field and skipped layers due to a problem transforimg the layers extent are now working totally fine. Is it possible that something is interferring? We are close to Iran and I wonder if them blocking acces to internet somehow interferred. However, it worked fine on the phones which kind of excludes this possibility. There is one issue that I am seeing which I am wondering if that could be the source of the issue. I have converted former shp into geopacks. These files are a couple years old - one of which is a file that keep editing adding new archaeological sites and information. I am wondering if anything happened in the conversion process that causes this transforming issues.

When I check the assigned coordinate system and open the map icon - the purple cross is not where its supposed to be. I checked and that issue is the case in all my files and wonder if somehow that is the problem
Thank you
Stephanie

[enheduanna]

I left a couple of the lenovo tablets in Iraq and could ask my Iraqi colleague to test them and see if the problem only persists within Iraq.
Best wishes
Stephanie

[nirvn]

@enheduanna , any update on this?

[enheduanna]

@nirvn - I did not have a chance to ask my colleague to check the tablets in Iraq. Let me do that. Just curious - concerning the screen shots that I send you. The fact that the purple cross is at a different location than the bar - that is not an issue - or is it?

[enheduanna]

@nirvn I reached out to my Iraqi Colleague and he is going to test the tablets in Iraq with some of the projects that I have in the cloud. I will report back.

[enheduanna]

Update: We tried the projects on the tables in Iraq and now it seems to work there as well. I cant unfortunately not reproduce the problem.

[nirvn]

@enheduanna , let us know if the problem happens again and you can share a sample project. In the meantime, happy field mapping!