Android Question Anyone recognize this situation regarding mobile not connected to the Internet?

[Sandman]

Important note: The quotes in this post are translated to English so they will most likely not match exactly what's displayed on an English Android mobile.

I have a brand new user with a somewhat unusual mobile (CAT S62 Pro), and when he install my app and try to run it, it instantly crashes. The OS shows one of those "The app X keeps on crashing" dialogs.

At some point the mobile also displays this:

Google Legal

Your mobile isn't connected to a data service. Visit https://tools.google.com/userfeedback/external/android/tos.html from a computer connected to the Internet if you want to show the information now.

CANCEL ACCEPT

(Remember: This is my translation to English, it will most likely not match the real text in English Android.)

My app absolutely uses Internet, but if it's not available to connect to my server it will display a user-friendly "Network Issues" message, it won't crash. If it did, I would have many users letting me know about it.

Looking at the Google Legal-message above, it would make sense to assume he simply doesn't have any data traffic on his SIM card. But that's just not very likely. He also did send me a screenshot, and while I can't see an icon with 4G up top, I can see a functional WIFI connection and something called VoLTE, which I assume is some sort of data service. Here's the top of his screen:

Could this be a situation where he got a brand new mobile and (unknowingly) declined some part of the initial setup and so the phone won't let him access the Internet?

Sorry, I don't have any more information at the moment. I have a support session scheduled with him tomorrow, I just wanted to post this to see if anyone here recognized the situation and could clue me in to what's happening.

 

[JohnC]

Maybe there are two different situations:

1) No signal - thus no internet.
2) Mobile Data turned off.

And maybe your code properly detects the no signal/internet situation, but not the mobile data disabled.

What is the method you are using to detect "no internet"?

Maybe you will need to expand your method to also detect the Mobile data disabled/not supported condition.

On a few Samsung phones I have there is a "Mobile Data" quick setting icon that I can turn it on and off. Maybe he doesn't know he has it off. Or better yet, is he having problems with other internet-based apps on his phone?

BTW, VoLTE = "Voice over LTE" - basically means voice calls are done using data instead of the older voice network.

 

[JohnC]

Also, I see what looks like a Telsa icon in the status bar (third icon from the left).

Maybe his phone is connected to the wifi hotspot of his tesla car, but there is a problem with internet on that connection.

 

[Sandman]

Hi @JohnC, thanks for helping, appreciated.

And maybe your code properly detects the no signal/internet situation, but not the mobile data disabled.

I've verified that it works fine: I force closed my app, turned off WIFI and Mobile Data, cleared app data so it's like newly installed, and then started the app - no crash.

What is the method you are using to detect "no internet"?

Failure to reach my server using https only, so I'm not trying to be smart in any way.

VoLTE = "Voice over LTE" - basically means voice calls are done using data instead of the older voice network

So it would be somewhat safe to assume he's got mobile data on his mobile subscription?

Maybe his phone is connected to the wifi hotspot of his tesla car, but there is a problem with internet on that connection

That's interesting, that's something I know nothing about. Does the Tesla car have a wifi hotspot? And if the mobile is connected to it, is it meant to actually provide Internet access?

I don't have many ideas on what to ask him tomorrow, but here's the list so far:

• From the phone, can you surf to my company website? Please verify now.
  (To establish whether he can actually access the net, and my server)
  
  
• Is the phone brand new?
  (Perhaps he also has other issues with it that he hasn't found yet)
  
  
• If you turn off WIFI and only use Mobile Data, does it work then?
  (To check whether he's in a weird captive WIFI portal)
  
  
• What does the Tesla Icon mean?
  (To better understand what it's about)

 

[mc73]

Why are you suspecting internet connectivity? From what I see, the crash could be anywhere during start up, and even random.
You have the logs from firebase?

 

[Sandman]

Why are you suspecting internet connectivity?

Only because of the error message that he sent me. (That I translated in the first post.) I don't know exactly when it pops up, but it's close enough to when he starts my app for him to think it's relevant. It might not be, but that's the reasoning from me at the moment, at least.

From what I see, the crash could be anywhere during start up, and even random.

Yeah, sure. And it is an unusual phone, but it's kind of weird as I don't have any other crash reports. And the nature of my app is such that if users had issues with crashing they would absolutely let me know about it.

You have the logs from firebase?

No, I don't have any logging there. And Google Play Console have no recorded crashes for today. Which might mean that they just haven't processed that information yet, and that it will perhaps be available tomorrow - I don't know.

 

[JohnC]

No, I don't have any logging there. And Google Play Console have no recorded crashes for today. Which might mean that they just haven't processed that information yet, and that it will perhaps be available tomorrow - I don't know.

If you did implement Firebase analytics into this app, you should be able to log into firebase directly (https://firebase.google.com/) and see any real-time error messages.

 

[mc73]

JohnC is right in firebase logging, it comes at once.
I remember once, a user was reporting crashes, only to find out that he was using a phone with no known entry in google system for this phone (it was showing as unknown device in the rating system). Then, after some talk, we found out that it was a strange antivirus/firewall he had, causing the crash.

 

[JohnC]

That's interesting, that's something I know nothing about. Does the Tesla car have a wifi hotspot? And if the mobile is connected to it, is it meant to actually provide Internet access?

Yes, and I'm also pretty sure it's optional and that the car owner needs to pay a monthly fee to use it.

 

[Sandman]

Yeah, ok, you've sold me on it - I'll add that logging to next version of the app.

But, sorry to say, I don't have it at the moment.

 

[Sandman]

Yes, and I'm also pretty sure it's optional and that the car owner needs to pay a monthly fee to use it.

That's really interesting. Seems to be a candidate for what goes wrong, perhaps.

 

[Sandman]

a strange antivirus/firewall

That's something to also ask him about, good point.

 

[Sandman]

Yes, and I'm also pretty sure it's optional and that the car owner needs to pay a monthly fee to use it.

For support reasons I was researching if the hotspot had a standard name, so I could ask him of the name of his connected wifi.

I came across this page, which claim Tesla doesn't have a hotspot.

Can You Use Your Tesla as a WiFi Hotspot? - enrg.io

Is there such a thing as a Tesla wifi hotspot? A user going by the name “tmxninja” on the Tesla Motors Club forum recently posed...

enrg.io

It's a year old, and I wasn't able to find anything newer - is the hotspot thing perhaps a new feature? And if so, do you know the name of the wifi network?

 

[JohnC]

I could be mistaken (because every other car maker is now offering a hotspot), but you could ask the user to simply turn off wifi and force it to use thee device's mobile data instead of the hotspot (if it is connected to one).