Version 6 Home section - big thumbs down

Discussions around the Android version of the Gospel Library application.
mikenielson
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Version 6 Home section - big thumbs down

#1

Post by mikenielson »

I suppose somebody thought that introducing the new Home section feature would be a good idea but the implementation does not hit the mark. I have always liked to have a named tab open for each book that I am studying. Up until now, I could flip between those tab and be assured the app would remember exactly which verse I was at the last time I visited the tab. This functionality is gone with the introduction of Home in version 6.0.0. Going to a new tab it takes you back to the Home screen. And unless you visited that tab recently, it gives no clue what was last displayed in the that tab. This is super frustrating. Is there a way to turn off Home entirely to revert back to the original tab behavior?
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sbradshaw
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Re: Version 6 Home section - big thumbs down

#2

Post by sbradshaw »

It sounds like you're seeing a bug where screens/tabs aren't remembering their location. Screens shouldn't be resetting to Home on their own. Are you seeing any pattern of when/how screens reset to Home? Does it happen soon after creating a screen, or only for screens that haven't been used for a while? Do you tend to close screens by swiping them out of the recent apps, or do you keep them open?
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
mikenielson
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Re: Version 6 Home section - big thumbs down

#3

Post by mikenielson »

It's pretty random. I like to keep tabs open persistently -- one for each book of scripture. I name the tab accordingly (BofM, for example). The undesired behavior does tend to be worse if I haven't opened the app in a few days. Just now, I (re-)created a D&C tab and then opened D&C through the library. But when I hit the screen switcher, it shows a thumbnail that has nothing to do with D&C.
mikenielson
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Re: Version 6 Home section - big thumbs down

#4

Post by mikenielson »

Here's an update: For a few days following my original post, I made a point to use Library each day to observe the behavior. Surprisingly, it mostly did the right thing. After that, I didn't use the app for 2-3 days. Today I saw behavior that different from what I originally reported but equally frustrating. I had several screens that were created previously, each set to a different book of scripture. Tapping on any one of them took me to the content and location of what I had most recently viewed in different tab. Several tabs behaved this way ... each going back to the same (incorrect) content seen when attempting to open the first tab. I did not see the (unwanted) home screen that I had seen so many times before when switching tabs. But what I did see was equally useless.

As another point of reference, my wife also saw this same behavior today on her Android tablet with only two tabs opened (unlike me, she does not name her tabs). I suspect other users are seeing this as well. Hope it can be fixed soon because it is very annoying.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Version 6 Home section - big thumbs down

#5

Post by sbradshaw »

I think I've been able to reproduce a scenario that causes screen switching not to work – if you use the back button to exit the app, the screens can get into a bad state. Do you regularly use the back button to exit the app, or do you exit the app with the app switcher or home button?

Here are my steps:
1. Clear the open screens to start with a fresh slate.
2. Open the app (screen A). Open the quick link to Come, Follow Me.
3. Open a new screen (screen B). Open the quick link to the latest conference.
4. Switch to screen A.
5. Use "Back" twice. The app should go to Home, then exit.
6. Open the app. Should open to screen A, on Home.
7. Attempt to switch to screen B.

Expected: App should switch to screen B.

Actual: App is stuck on screen A.
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
mikenielson
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Re: Version 6 Home section - big thumbs down

#6

Post by mikenielson »

I rarely use the Android back button to exit the app. Instead, I use Android home or Android app switch to navigate from Library to another app, when the expectation that by re- tapping the Library icon or by using Android app switch it should return me to the same state that was present when I was last there.

I was unable to (quickly) reproduce the "Stuck" behavior using the steps you outlined. But that said, your description "App is stuck on screen A" is exactly the end result that I often experience.

FYI, I have experienced this unwanted behavior ever since 6.0.0. I installed 6.3.0 a few days ago but it is no better.

The attached screenshots show additional evidence of buggy behavior. I currently have two screens: A=Come Follow Me, and B=Isaiah 58. Notice that the screen A thumbnail shows incorrect content no matter how many times I switch back and forth using the Library switch screen function.
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Screenshot_20221003-184854_Gospel Library.jpg
Screenshot_20221003-184928_Gospel Library.jpg
Screenshot_20221003-184909_Gospel Library.jpg
mikenielson
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Re: Version 6 Home section - big thumbs down

#7

Post by mikenielson »

Additional quirky behavior: Same two screens from my reply a few minutes ago. Go to the Android app switcher and swipe away both instances of Gospel Library. Re-launch Library by tapping the icon. Go to Library screen switcher and choose the other screen. It takes you to Library Home and you must tap one of the "Continue Reading" selections to (hopefully) get back to where you were.
jcbell22
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Re: Version 6 Home section - big thumbs down

#8

Post by jcbell22 »

I've been experiencing the exact same problem since V6 - when returning to multiple named screens all either revert to home, or get stuck on the same content open in any one of the screens. The value of multiple screens is completely lost.

If I individually re-navigate to the content of each screen during a session, then I can usually switch between them successfully for that session. However, as soon as I close the app, all bets are off for the next session.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Version 6 Home section - big thumbs down

#9

Post by sbradshaw »

mikenielson wrote: Mon Oct 03, 2022 8:38 pm Additional quirky behavior: Same two screens from my reply a few minutes ago. Go to the Android app switcher and swipe away both instances of Gospel Library. Re-launch Library by tapping the icon. Go to Library screen switcher and choose the other screen. It takes you to Library Home and you must tap one of the "Continue Reading" selections to (hopefully) get back to where you were.
Interesting, I'm not able to reproduce these steps on my device. It does show Home briefly as the app is launching, but then it quickly refreshes to the correct content.
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
litster
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Re: Version 6 Home section - big thumbs down

#10

Post by litster »

This is still an issue for me on my Kindle fire 10. It seems to work on my android phone. In my case, if I don't use the app for a few days, the next time I open it and hit "screens", any screen I choose goes to Home, and I can't get back to where I was. Are there steps I need to take to fix this? Should I clear my app cache or reinstall?
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