Jetpack app doesn't sync trashed comments

[alinclamba]

Issue description

A user reported an issue when comments are held for moderation or incorrectly sent to the trash folder, there is a significant delay (ranging from hours to days) before the comments become visible in the Jetpack app.

Expected behavior

Comments held for moderation or sent to the trash folder should appear in the app in real-time or after refreshing the comment section.

Relevant Info and Links

• Reported in Zendesk: 9190343-zd-a8c / Update 9 May 2025: most recent ticket 9738788-zd-a8c
• Discussed on Slack: 9190343-zd-a8c
• JPDB: Pc9OEs-v-p2 (🟢)

The user also reported that comments sent to the trash folder do not generate notifications. However, their primary concern is the significant delay in comment visibility within the app, regardless of tab or refresh attempts.

Steps to reproduce the behavior

I am unable to replicate this but from user, these are the steps:

1. A comment is made on a site with moderation enabled.
2. The comment is either held for moderation or sent to the trash folder due to spam settings.
3. The app does not immediately display the comment, even after refreshing.
4. The comment eventually appears in the "All" tab but only after an unpredictable delay.

Additional Information:

Host: Ionos
App Version: 25.5 (1449)
Devices: Samsung S24 Ultra, Vivo V21 5G

[dangermattic]

Thanks for reporting! 👍

[alinclamba]

Update from user:

I just had a comment left that can be found on my WordPress dashboard in the trash section, but nowhere to be found on your app no matter how many times I refresh. The comment was left six minutes before I checked

Screenshots in the ticket.

[alinclamba]

Slack ping: p1738162942508249/1735047977.296489-slack-C06NXHR5WQ1

[nbradbury]

@alinclamba Apologies for how long this has dragged on. I noticed that when I tried to access this sites XML-RPC endpoint, I received this message:

XML-RPC server accepts POST requests only.

So apparently this user - or their host - has disabled XmlRpc, and I'm wondering if re-enabling it would resolve the problem? @jkmassel Any insight into that?

[alinclamba]

@nbradbury thanks for looking into this. Actually, the message "XML-RPC server accepts POST requests only" shows up when XML-RPC is not blocked. It means the xmlrpc.php file is accessible, and also the Jetpack connection looks good.

[nbradbury]

Actually, the message "XML-RPC server accepts POST requests only" shows up when XML-RPC is not blocked.

🤦

@alinclamba I'm afraid I'm still stumped by this, especially given we're not seeing similar complaints. However, I did notice they have the Antispam Bee plugin installed. This is not a plugin I'm familiar with, and I don't wish to blame it unnecessarily, but I'm wondering if it's somehow involved with this issue?

[alinclamba]

Updates:

So, as a summary, it looks like trashed comments aren’t syncing in the Jetpack app at all for the user. This isn’t just a delay, some comments never show up, even after refreshing, from what the user shared so far.

What we know so far:

• Spam comments sync fine, but trashed ones don’t.
• Refreshing doesn’t force a sync for Trash.
• User found a comment in Trash in the WP dashboard, but it didn’t exist in the app.
• No spam plugin active, so Jetpack itself is likely handling these differently.

What is happening now:

• I've asked user to test if restoring a trashed comment makes it appear in the app instantly.

Next/Questions:

• Is there any way to force sync for all comments, including Trash?
• Are trashed comments intentionally deprioritized in the app’s sync, or is this an unexpected issue?

[alinclamba]

Another update

User responded but is now reporting another issue. Specifically, they’re saying that comments are automatically sent to Trash even though their settings allow previously approved commenters to bypass moderation.

Not sure if this is related to the initial issue, but first, we need to confirm if the Jetpack app is syncing comments differently, since the issue with missing trashed comments is only happening in the app, not in the web view.

Any insights on whether the app treats Trash differently in sync logic?

[nbradbury]

@alinclamba I checked their discussion settings and noticed they have a large number of items in the "Disallowed comments" setting. Any chance this is the source of the problem?

[alinclamba]

WOW! Thank you, @nbradbury! I'm asking the user if that's the cause!

[alinclamba]

Update

Did more testing and confirmed the issue. Here’s what I found:

Steps I followed:

1. Added a test word (e.g., testword123) to Disallowed Comment Keys in WP Admin.
2. Left a comment containing that word.
3. Checked WP Admin → Comments → The comment was correctly sent to Trash (expected behavior).
4. Checked the Jetpack app → The comment was missing (not in Trash or any other section).
5. Restored the comment in WP Admin (moved to Pending).
6. Checked the app again → The comment still didn’t appear in Pending, even after refreshing.

That means the issue the user reported is confirmed - it looks like trashed comments are not synced in the Jetpack mobile app. Is that intentional or a bug?

I tested with:

• Jetpack iOS 25.7.1
• iOS 18.2
• Jetpack 14.4-a.7
• WordPress 6.7.2

I updated the Slack thread where this was discussed and put the ticket on hold for 7 days.

[alinclamba]

Update

User confirmed that Trash sync is not their concern, and trashed comments do appear in the Jetpack app on their site. Their actual issue is moderated (Pending) comments taking hours/days to sync in the Jetpack app, despite email notifications arriving instantly.

I was unable to reproduce the issue—tested multiple times, and Pending comments appeared instantly in the app.
Jetpack sync appears healthy for the site, but I found that they have a large cron backlog, which could be affecting comment updates.

Asked the user to check and manually run overdue cron jobs to see if that resolves the delay (suggested trying the WP Crontrol plugin

Next

• Awaiting user test results.
• If cron jobs aren’t the cause, we’ll need to investigate why Jetpack Mobile sync is delayed only for this site.

[alinclamba]

Update

I’ve tried to reproduce the issue on a test site, but pending comments always sync to the app as expected.

---

Since the last update, I’ve:

• Reviewed the user’s cron jobs — no overdue tasks or signs of background sync delays.
• Confirmed Jetpack sync looks healthy.
• Asked for forwarded moderation email examples tied to comments that didn't appear in the app.
• We now have one real-world case (please check 9539636-zd-a8c for details, especially my internal note from 28 March)
• Comment held for moderation (user received email immediately)
• Comment visible in WP Admin (Pending)
• But not shown in the Jetpack app’s Pending tab at the same time.

Later, it did show up, indicating a sync delay or filtering issue.

---

Based on the symptoms and the one confirmed case, is there anything specific we can look for or log (on the app or Jetpack side)?

[alinclamba]

Update

After further investigation and user feedback, I've observed the following behavior:

• A new comment is submitted and held for moderation.
• The user receives the email notification immediately.
• The comment appears in wp-admin under Pending right away.
• However, the comment does not appear in the Jetpack app — not in Pending or All — until another comment-related action occurs (e.g., moving a different comment to Trash or approving one), which seems to trigger a sync.
• Once that happens, the previously missing comment appears in the app as expected.

The user confirmed they are not interacting with wp-admin during these moments, so the eventual sync must be triggered by some other background activity on the site.

While I can't definitively confirm that this behavior occurs in all cases, my testing indicates that pending comments are not synced to the app until another comment action occurs. This suggests a potential delay in syncing pending comments to the app.

The most recent ticket form user is 9738788-zd-a8c