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Keep trying. Globular cluster M30 is nearby too. Are you star hopping to the target? If you are sure you are pointing at the target then light pollution could be a factor. I said it was not difficult but it is considerably more difficult than 47 Tuc especially to a new observer without a trained eye on detecting the fainter grey patches of light that many DSOs are. I thought it would give you a challenge. There are many fainter and smaller DSOs (galaxies and small planetary nebula) considerably more difficult than the Helix. A dark sky and some experience and you’ll soon be galaxy hopping in Virgo!
Note there is a free version of Sky Safari available for your mobile device. Stellarium for mobile too is available for a small cost. I prefer Sky Safari on mobile for everything except for time functions which the mobile version of Stellarium app does brilliantly. Simply tap the clock and drag the sky around moving forward and backward in time with your thumb. Tap again and it reverts back to dragging the sky around for positioning rather than time. Sky Safari uses the step forward/reverse and play forward/reverse buttons and you control the rate by selecting sec, min, hour, etc. It’s OK and you get used to it.
At the telescope though I prefer good old printed star charts (Sky Atlas 2000 and Uranometria) and a dim red torch (and a magnifying glass these days). I don’t like bright electronic device screens in the dark as it ruins my night vision too much but maybe that’s just me these days as many prefer electronic charts for convenience. (Yes you can make them red and dim them). Not having the phone around though can be a good thing in other ways.
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