Android app using Meteor and Cordova not connecting to server

I have a Meteor app (meteor version 3.4). It is working as expected with no issues.

After a bunch of fiddling i have got it to run as an android app as per the documentation here

https://docs.meteor.com/about/cordova.html#android

When i run it using the development environment (using android studio emulator) it works perfectly with no issues.

meteor run android

But when I try to use the production environment it does not connect to the server so i cant make any api calls (which seem to just be ignored when i look at them with chrome://inspect).

meteor run android --mobile-server https://myapp.co.nz

OR

meteor run android --mobile-server <server ip>:3000

ive done everything i can think of and scoured the internet for an answer but i seem to be missing something that allows the server to communicate with the phone while in production.