OpenCPN for Android Beta test 4.1.818
Hello testers...
The 4.1.818 Beta Test release of OpenCPN for Android is available for download now.
DropBox
Changelog:
38. Implement sound support, as per OCPN desktop.
39. Improve Bluetooth connection state machine reliability.
40. Various platform specific display problems resolved.
41. Various Dialog layouts improved.
42. Chart Downloader PlugIn is integrated and available.
43. Adjust Action Bar layout to eliminate persistent MOB icon.
44. Minimize default expert toolbar icon layout.
Release Notes:
The focus here is more tweaking and refinement of the UI.
Also, some platform specific display and operational bugs have been addressed.
The bigger news is the inclusion of Pavel's chart downloader PlugIn in OA.
Please exercise this feature aggressively. It is important to the new-user experience that this works, and works well. You will find it under Expert Settings->Charts.
There are still troubles with some platforms on file access permissions, especially with recent Android releases. Android security policies are generally the culprit. OA runs in clean user-space, and can do nothing beyond that which the system O/S will allow. Sometimes even rooting of the device is ineffective at fully opening the file system to user-space applications.
And then there are the seemingly arbitrary naming differences for accessible file system locations, differing by device and memory card configuration. OA uses the generic Android recommended methods to identify these locations, which is supposed to eliminate the platform dependencies at the application level. But sometimes they don't produce the expected results.
Specifically, when it comes to interfaces like GPS import/export and chart file locations, you may find that some experimentation may be necessary on your device to find some directory paths that will work reliably. OA does no filtering on this type of path specification, but simply passes your selection on to the underlying O/S. So if your selection does not work, try to find one that does, and let us know the details.
All this is not exactly an OA "problem" per-se. We could simply blame the device manufacturer, or the Google API. However, this is not exactly a satisfying response to frustrated users. But that is what we have to work with. Ultimately, we do need to develop some knowledge base of what works on which devices, and what does not, as we go forward.
FWIW, I have always found a workable solution on each of my zoo members, so I think it can always be configured to work properly with a little bit of thought.
As always, feedback is appreciated.
Thanks
Dave
Good morning testers...
The Beta upgrade crash issue relates to cache coherency on the Android libraries. We upgraded to Qt Version 5.5 for this Beta, and I think this is the problem.
Workaround: Uninstall any previous version before installing 4.1.818.
Your charts/configs will be retained.
This is not a serious problem, since it affects the highly resourceful Beta testers only.
Thanks
Dave