Problem with WebViewer and Android 4.4.2 and not with Android 4.3

[fishingjr]

I have a issue with an app locking up using Android 4.4.2.  The app works great on Android 4.3.

I made another test app "WebViewerTest.apk" to test for the lockup.  

It works great on my wife's Samsung Galaxy S3 running 4.3.  Locks up on my Samsung Galaxy S3 running 4.4.2 and locks up on my daughters S4 running 4.4.2.

I didn't have these lockups until I upgraded to 4.4.2.  I have tried the stock 4.4.2 ROM and now I am running Wicked 7.0 (4.4.2) ROM.  Both have the lockup issues.

If you take a look at this test app, it's very simple...  Three buttons: Show a website, back,  forward buttons and an ExitNotifier for the device back key.

If you press the show a website, it's a US radar Image.  Press anywhere on the image and show a looping radar image.  Press anywhere on the looping radar and see a regional radar image.

You can scroll left, right, up, and down.

You can force the problem/issue if you try to zoom!!!  On 4.3 I can zoom and still scroll left,right, up, down.  On 4.4.2 the app locks up as soon as I zoom and then try to scroll or do anything else.  Even the ExitNotifier (from pressing the device back key) is a very delayed response or locked up.

In my full app (not this test one)  the issue will show after a little while, when you go to different websites and switch horizontal/vertical or one of my work websites when I try to enter dates into date fields. So it's not just the zooming that causes the issue.

Thanks 

 

EDIT: I removed the old WebViewerTest.aia from this message and added a new WebViewerTest.aia to a message father down....

[fishingjr]

WebViewer also locks up on my work server after I upgraded to Android 4.2.2.  

This is really a pain.... May try to go back to Android 4.3.

Hopefully someone can test this out and figure out what is wrong, because as more people upgrade it's going to be a bigger issue.

[Taifun]

on my Nexus 5 running Android 4.4.3 the app also gets unresponsive after a while

you could use logcat and try to find out, what's going on...

http://ai2.appinventor.mit.edu/reference/other/testing.html

you have some html files uploaded as assets and each of them displays an animated gif from a server...

did you try to put your html files onto a web server instead?

Taifun

[fishingjr]

This is not an app I use...

I made this real quick as a test app to prove the difference with WebViewer on Android 4.3 and Android 4.4.2.  

I have two apps that use WebViewer and both apps lock or get very slow after I upgraded from 4.3 to 4.4.2.

Never used Logcat before... and it's probably over my head...

[fishingjr]

I posted this as issue number 2783...

 

http://code.google.com/p/app-inventor-for-android/issues/detail?id=2783

 

 

How long does it usually take for someone to look at it?  Maybe someone will have a suggestion...

 

Thanks

[Hal Abelson]

I tried your apk in 4.4.3 and got the same result as Taifun.  Haven't tried the other OS's.   As suggested above, look at the Android System log file with "adb logcat". 
Search on the web for info about how to use this.

One thing I noticed is that there is a bug in one of your html files, because you get the error (see logcat)

E/AndroidProtocolHandler(23291): Unable to open asset URL: file:///android_asset/myl.html

That's a minor issue, I think.

 I suspect that real problem is that Android has only recently started supporting gif animations, so I would not be surprised
if there were differences among 4.3 and 4.4.2 and 4.4.3 and that all three system have quirks.     Maybe you can do some research on this on the web.
In any case, there's nothing I can see App Inventor do about this.

You can experiment more by with 4.4.2 by looking at logcat.  But I'm guessing that you won't see much.


== Hal

[fishingjr]

Thanks Hal for looking into this... I can only hope you guys will look a little farther into WebViewer being the issue.

 

I have a website that has each of these same links(images) from this test app.  All of the links work great and no lockups in the default Android Internet browser and Dolphin browser. 

 

If you would like I can send you privately a link to my website....???

 

Also,  sorry when I made this test file I missed placing the myl.html file in assets...  Your right, that was minor and just a simple misstep.  I have now added that html file and have attached a new WebViewerTest.aia file. However that will not make a change as to the lockups

 

Also, another reason I believe this is a WebViewer issue.   I have a work server I have to log into regularly.  Webviewer will also lock up on my work server with no animated gifs.  WebViewer locks up when I try to enter a date into a date dropdown box.  This work website also does not lockup in default Internet or Dolphin browsers.  Again the lockups only happen for me when using WebViewer on Android version 4.4.2.

 

Thanks you for looking into this issue.  I will do some more research with LogCat but I'm not sure I could do anything with the findings.

 

Thanks again!!!

 

(I went back and deleted the original test file in the first post)

 

New file attached...

 

[Hal Abelson]

I took a look at your latest WebViewerTest and mostly got confused.

It would help if you could try an experiment:

Rewrite the app to store the HTML file on the SD card, say in a directory called Temp, rather than in assets.  Does that work?

NB: You can use Android File Transfer to move files from your computer to the SD card directory and then access them as

file:///scard/Temp/theFileName.html

== Hal

[fishingjr]

OK, I made the test app again.  I did like you wanted...

 

There is now only one html file in assets  --- sat.html

 

I copied sat.html to sdcard/temp folder. (had to use file:///mnt/sdcard/temp/sat.html)

 

In app inventer, I set webviewer with 3 buttons:

 

Button 1. to file:///android_asset/sat.html

 

Button 2. to file:///mnt/sdcard/temp/sat.html

 

Button 3. to http://images.intellicast.com/WxImages/RadarLoop/sat_None_anim.gif

 

The sat.html (in button 1 and 2) goes to the same web location as Button 3.

 

 

WebViewer locks up when opening the html in Assets, on the sdcard, and WebViewer still locks up going straight to the website.

 

Scrolling the image (left/right/up/down) of the website will eventually lockup but if you zoom in the image WebViewer will lockup faster.

 

Again I use another app from AppInventor that is not going to Animated gifs... (my work server)  WebViewer locks up when I try to enter a date in a date dropdown box from the work server (without zooming).

 

Thanks again...

 

<copy "sat.html" to your sdcard/temp folder>

 

 

 

[Hal Abelson]

Thanks.  I will be at a lab retreat till Wednesday, so I can't look until then.

But, so I can test this, would you explain what you mean by "locks up"?

Also, how are you trying to zoom (multitouch, something else)? 

And when you say "Webviewer still locks up going straight to the Web site" what do you mean?  Is there a URL on the web that I can try to open Webviewer to, to see a problem?

Also, when you scroll and things "eventually lock up" are you scrolling with the scrollbars?

If you want me to also look at the other app (with no gid animations)  let me know, and send it.

Is it possible to show any of these problems just by opening WebViewer to some URL on the Web and trying some things?  That would make testing simpler.   

[fishingjr]

locks up = unresponsive

 

zoom - by multi-touch or by using the + on the display

 

This is in button 3  -  http://images.intellicast.com/WxImages/RadarLoop/sat_None_anim.gif 

 

(button 1 & 2 in the app are both html that go to the above link - button1 in assets , and button2 on sdcard)

 

Scrolling by using finger on screen and moving it up ,down, left, right....

 

Use WebViewer and open http://images.intellicast.com/WxImages/RadarLoop/sat_None_anim.gif

 

The other app requires a login to a corporate server... you would not be able to login to see.

 

 

[Hal Abelson]

Thanks.   I just tried the following:

I built a trvial app with only a webviewer and set its URL to

 http://images.intellicast.com/WxImages/RadarLoop/sat_None_anim.gif

It seems to work and I see the gif animations.

Scrolling doesn't work well if I set the webviewer height to automatic  or fill parent, but it does work fine (also zooming with multitouch or the +/- button) if I set the height to something fixed, like 300.

I also tried simply opening URL in Chrome (beta) running on the phone and get the same behavior as when I use the webviewer with a fixed heght.

Do you see anything different on your 4.4.2 phone?   Or your wife's 4.3? 

== Hal