Android apps keep closing themselves

REPRODUCIBILITY (% or how often): 100%
BUILD ID: 3.3.0.16
HARDWARE (Jolla1, Tablet, XA2,…): X10
UI LANGUAGE: ENglish
REGRESSION: (compared to previous public release: Yes, No, ?): ?

DESCRIPTION:

Various Android apps keep “closing” after starting: 2 to 4 seconds after opening the android app you automatically go back to the “app overview” screen while the android app is still in the list. As such you can never actually use the android app.

This is the same behavior when you swipe from right to left to go from an app to the overview screen.

Deleting all data of the app doesn’t seem to help.

PRECONDITIONS:

Have an android app installed that has this issue.
Examples:

  • Google maps
  • Leage of runeterra
  • Soundcloud
  • Buienradar

Apps without the issue:

  • Whatsapp
  • Here Go!

STEPS TO REPRODUCE:

  1. Start the app

EXPECTED RESULT:

The app starts and is usable

ACTUAL RESULT:

The app starts and goes to overview screen

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

(Please ALWAYS attach relevant data such as logs, screenshots, etc…)

1 Like

I’ve seen this show up in TJC a few times. Seems lije people usually have made a connection to network setup as the cause, but they’re all old threads, so maybe not the same issue. Also, there used to be issues with aliendalvik cache, but again not sure how it applies now… Search TJC for “Android Crash”

1 Like

Apps from google require google play services and few other component to be present. The plain vanilla android layer does not have them.
With such installation I have three kinds of applications:

  1. Those which don’t care and work, like whatsapp.
  2. Those which complain about it, but do work after you dismiss the nagging dialog (Cardu, yle-areena)
  3. Those which don’t work at all, they might not even complain about the missing google components. These usually just die away.

You could try to install google play services, there are instructions somewhere, like this: https://www.toolbox.com/tech/how-to/blogs/howto-google-playstore-on-sailfish-x-102517/

2 Likes

I think @Lupin gave the right answer.

It sounds like the old problem = Google play services are missing. Whatsapp and Here don’t need them. Google Maps only works in a very old version (6.14.5) with SFOS X … and only partially. Some features are not available.

4 cases:
a) The app cannot be installed because the test for the play services and other dependencies fails.
b) The app is installed and searches for the missing dependencies after the start and dies.
c) The app can be used, but some functions fail or the app dies when the missing function is executed.
d) The app reports “Google Play not installed” at startup and some functions.

I choose b).

You can try installing Google Play Services or microG, but there is no guarantee of success. It is also a serious intrusion into the Android subsystem and stability. You do this at your own risk. If you absolutely need Android apps, you won’t get that with Android support from Jolla.

2 Likes