Apps using Itoo and build after august 17 cause the app to crash

[Marcel]

Hi Kumaraswamy,

@Kumaraswamy

Hi Marcel, I checked your project, you are doing almost everything right except the fact that procedures startBle and stopBle are missing an argument "x" which is meant for the message slot.

startBle() -> startBle(x)
stopBle() -> stopBle(x)

I added the argument to startBle and stopBle as shown

Doesnt make any difference. Both procedures are not called..

[Peter]

I see you are using the BLE extension. Do you have the latest version?

Crash with BluetoothLE and micro:bit on Android 14

Thank you! Not holding you to anything, but do you have any thoughts or estimates around time to resolve? Just want to get a ballpark if possible.

[Marcel]

@Peter

I see you are using the BLE extension. Do you have the latest version?

Hi Peter,
No Im not using the latest BLE extension because of this issue:
Create and send BLE advertisements

Im using the version provided by Ewpatton, which works.

However, the problem is not the BLE version Im using. The problem is that Itoo does not call the procedures startBle and stopBle which should start respectively stop BLE.

[KaKri]

Hello,

thanks for your answer,

The problem with the compagnion is not that Itoo cannot work in this App, the problem is, that in Android 14, after the connection is made

, the mainscreen of the compagnion is frozen!

I tried Version 2.72 and Version 2.72u with Apps with and without Itoo. It works OK befor the last Update of Android 14.

What i also don't understand is, why the same routine with "set label text" in "STEPS" works an not in "ACCEL"?

Greetings

[Kumaraswamy]

@Marcel

Doesnt make any difference. Both procedures are not called..

It is not Itoo's fault. All the procedures are called properly. I discovered this error message while I was debugging your program:

AEvent(ErrorOccurred=null) args [edu.mit.appinventor.ble.BluetoothLE@49fba75, StartAdvertising, 3300, Error 9121 in extension BluetoothLE: More than 31 bytes in advertising packet] listener = xyz.kumaraswamy.itoo.Itoo$1@4329dac

[Kumaraswamy]

Help test Android 14 bugfixes

Hello all, This thread is for tracking bugfixes to the extension loading issue affecting some devices running Android 14. The gist of it is that Android 14 requires that dynamically loaded code (e.g., extensions) to now be read-only. Companion version 2.72 implements this change, however, it seems like it does not work correctly on all phones. Experimental versions of the companion are posted here to offer people affected by this change to test potential fixes. [companion272d3] Testing versio…

[KaKri]

Hallo Marcel,

as you can see, i do not use the bluetooth extension, so why this error?

Greetings

[Marcel]

Hi Kumaraswamy,

@Kumaraswamy

It is not Itoo's fault. All the procedures are called properly. I discovered this error message while I was debugging your program:

AEvent(ErrorOccurred=null) args [edu.mit.appinventor.ble.BluetoothLE@49fba75, StartAdvertising, 3300, Error 9121 in extension BluetoothLE: More than 31 bytes in advertising packet] listener = xyz.kumaraswamy.itoo.Itoo$1@4329dac

I dont think it has anything to do with BLE.

I stripped all BLE and all other non relevant stuff from my app. What is left is basically property and broadcast handling.

"startBle" and "stopBle" now only update the property "state". The "state" is updated on the screen when "Timer" fires (every second). However when pressing "Start Monitoring" or "Stop Monitoring" the screen is not updated..so "state" is not updated...so it looks like "startBle" and "stopBle" are not called. Could you please further investigate? Many thanks in advance!

PhneBuddyV2_0_noBle.aia (287.4 KB)

[Taifun]

Your blocks do not really nake sense
If the app is running in the background, there is no user interface available to display anything
Also how exactly shout these procedures startBle or stopBle be called and by whom?

For a working ble example in the background see here.

Open Source • Background Tasks: Itoo

Here is the screenshot of my blocks that works for a successful foreground process even if app is closed. [Screenshot 2023-04-11 at 3.35.44 PM] [Screenshot 2023-04-11 at 3.35.26 PM]

Taifun

[Kumaraswamy]

@Marcel

I dont think it has anything to do with BLE.

It is something to do with BLE. It errors out in background. Thus making the background operations problematic. Please refer the error I posted.

Edit: I need some time to investigate your new AIA.

[Marcel]

Hi Taifun,
Let me explain.

The UI of the app enables the starting and stopping of BLE advertising running in the background using Itoo. The state "started" or "stopped" is displayed whenever the app is openened. So I will always know what the state is by opening the app. That makes sense doesnt it?

I carries a wearable device with me that just scan for the BLE advertisments. When found everything is ok! When not found, my phone is out of range and the wearable device gives an alarm. I use the rssi value to set the range/sensibility between my phone and wearable device.

This app worked without any problems up to 17th of August. Since that date new builds didnt work anymore. The problem was recognized and Kumaraswamy provided a new version of Itoo.

This new version introduced a new issue for me. As far I was able to do problem determination, it looks like the broadcast fucntionality doesnt work anymore. At least not for me using a Samsung A52 running Android 14.

In the PhneBuddyV2_0_noBle.aia posted above, I stripped all functionality except for the Itoo broadcast handling. Indeed the app doesnt tmake sense anymore, but I hope it would help you to find out what is going on.

Please give it a try and let me know the results!

Many thx in advance!

[Kumaraswamy]

The broadcast functionality is working on Android 13. It seems to be an issue on Android 14. Im researching more.

Edit: I currently lack an Android 14 device. Im unable to test this

[Marcel]

Hi Kumaraswamy,
Let me know if I can be of any help. Collecting logs perhaps? I have ADB running and USB debugging enabled, but might need some guidance from you how to capture the right data.

[Taifun]

@Marcel

Indeed the app doesnt tmake sense anymore,

What about providing a working example app as small as possible then?

Also

@Taifun

how exactly shout these procedures startBle or stopBle be called and by whom?

Taifun

[Kumaraswamy]

Android 14 imposes restrictions on the feature that Itoo uses to exchange messages b/w processes. And there's some technical debt to the project, interfacing the service with the blocks makes it really messy.

Im not sure what to do... Thinking of spiting the message exchange system into a new component (a breaking change), while also allowing more flexibility...

[Kumaraswamy]

Hello all, this update should resolve all the issues.

xyz.kumaraswamy.itoo.aix (81.4 KB)

Let me know how it works. Tested on Android 14.

[HarshVardhanSolanki]

Could you please also update this on the main topic also.

[Kumaraswamy]

No, this should be tested first.

[Marcel]

Hi Kumaraswamy,
I just tested my app. Good news, Broadcasting is working again. Thanks a lot for your support!

Im just wondering, the new version of Itoo introduced the "ForegroundServiceType" property. Could you please explain and/or document the usage of this property?
Many thanks in advance!

[Kumaraswamy]

Hi Marcel, the newer version of Androids require you to specify the foreground type as in what your service does in background.

Basically Android wants you to tell what your service does in background. If there is no exact option, it's better to select one which has closer relevance.