Combined BUG / regression issues that need attention and response.

[ToddCrimson]

Steps to reproduce

Dear element-android devs. There are some very key critical bugs and regression that have been introduced in your latest builds, reported all over the issues, but there hasn't been a single response from any dev on those issues. I implore you to please provide a response. Any response would be helpful. I see that you are active here, since you just posted a release on 1.6.28, but that post has no mention of addressing the existing regressions.

1. Ver 1.6.20 introduced the Microphone bug, detailed in this issue log many times. Brief summary: If the focus from active app is shifted, the microphone access went away.
2. Ver 1.6.22 introduced the App Crash bug, also detailed many times. Where if you your device is screen locked, and anyone else calls you on element, the app crashes within a second. You may receive half a bell.
3. Ver 1.6.24 fixed the Microphone bug, but kept the device sceen locked, crash bug.
4. Ver 1.6.26 continued with the crash bug when screen locked, but also introduced another regression, where Microphone access will not be given back to OS, even when the call ended.

The crash is causing the app to be very much non-usable in use cases where users are not just chatting but also doing audio / video calls. There are other issues reported as well, which are buggy, but this one is very critical.

Right now, on Android, your latest releases are no usable to receive calls. (We haven't tested it on iOS).
The only way we can make our use case work is to continue to using ver 1.6.18., but that version doesn't have support for authenticated media, so we have to turn that off on our synapse matrix server.

I can see that you have now made release announcement for version 1.6.28, but have no clue what that release is going to address or fix.

I understand that element is busy releasing element X, but that app doesn't yet fully replace element-android functionality and we are dependent on a functioning element-android app.

Could one of you devs (@bmarty , @BillCarsonFr , @ouchadam , @ganfra , @onurays , @Florian14 , @ericdicanin) or any representative of element please provide clarity and an answer?

I know that a lot of us would benefit from clarity, intent and timeline if any.

Thank you.

Outcome

Expect a response and timeline for the regressions that have been introduced.

Your phone model

Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 7 A, Pixel 9

Operating system version

Android 14 and 15

Application version and app store

Element version 1.6.20, 1.6.22, 1.6.24 and 1.6.26

Homeserver

Synapse 1.121.1 (2024-12-11)

Will you send logs?

Yes

Are you willing to provide a PR?

No

[ToddCrimson]

some action on the crashing part here: #8964 (comment)

and a PR here: #8989 (comment)

Thank you @christianrowlands for your efforts on this.

[ToddCrimson]

What's going on here?

[KeithCavill]

This sound fascinating. Has this project been completely abandoned by the original developers?
Looks like for past 6 months all merges to main are failing and the developer(s) neither seem to care nor do they respond officially to any of these bug reports.
I was hoping to start using this project for our work.

[atuctuc]

i just installer the version 1.6.28 from fdroid on my samsung A40 and there is still the same bug. it cashes when in background and an call coms in.

[christianrowlands]

@KeithCavill , I don't think the developers have abandoned this project, I just think they are heavily focused on the replacement app, ElementX. If I understand correctly, that app will replace the old Element Android app, and development on it has been harder than previously expected so it is eating up more developer time (I could be wrong here, but that is my impression). From time to time the developers come back and do small tasks on this app, but overall they are trying to sunset it so that everyone can move to the new ElementX app.

That being said, I am not affiliated with this project, I have just fixed a few small bugs that needed to be addressed, one of them is the incoming call crash bug @atuctuc . Benoit is in the process of reviewing my fix for that bug, so hopefully it comes out in the next release: #8989

[ToddCrimson]

Hi @christianrowlands , I saw your efforts on this, and I think along with me everyone appreciates it. Also, I echo your comment that they (devs) are probably busy with element-x.

Having said that: I do think they have should respond and they should release a working version, since element-x is beta at its best. Missing a lot of functionality which everyone here is used to. Their inaction for last 6 months, does cause concern. This app element-android was a fully functional Matrix client which, works for most use cases. Releasing a non working version for last 5 releases is not the right approach, and then ignoring the submission of critical crash errors is frustrating. So I also echo Keith's concern about perceived abandonment of this project.

Regarding the actual critical bug: I was reading your responses on the pull request with Marty.
Just want to make sure that the use case that you are targeting to solve, will solve all the issues related to that critical bug.

1. If recipient device is locked, and someone else calls the user on that device (video or audio - BOTH), the app rings with half a ring, and then immediately crashes. I believe you discovered, that it might have to do with microphone access. Just pointing out as it happens on both audio and video calls.
2. If recipient device is unlocked, and the app is in front, and it receives an incoming call, it rings properly and you can answer, but after hanging up, the "microphone" access is not released back to the OS. It shows on top with an icon that the microphone access is still being accessed, unless you force stop / kill the app and then restart the app. (this is happening in at least version 1.6.26. I haven't been able to check 1.6.28 as it is not yet on F-Droid.

Once again, thank you for your help on this.

[christianrowlands]

@ToddCrimson , I agree as well. To give confidence in Element Android, as well as ElementX, the maintainers need to address critical bugs as they come up. Given the state of ElementX being half baked, and Element Android having its quality starting to slip, I am starting to lose confidence myself, but I also understand how software development goes when there are limited developer resources. It is challenging to say the least.

As for the items you called out:

1. Yes, I fixed this bug in my PR.
2. I did not specifically fix this bug, but I just tested it on a Pixel 8 Pro running Android 15 and the microphone was released correctly. I am guessing a different commit fixed the issue, but it seems to be resolved now (at least for me)

[ToddCrimson]

@christianrowlands , you are awesome !! Thank you. I wish I knew code development. I think I should start self teaching.
I have the exact same Pixel 8 Pro running Android 15.

So I'm assuming you were able to get an apk with this fix in the PR.
Any chance you can share the apk?
Also, since all our phones (my team here) are non-google Pixel phones, we need the version that comes from F-Droid (which allows background sync). We tried with gplay versions, but they seem to only have GCM in them.

Anyways, if you can share your apk, great, I can atleast test it as well.
if not, no worries, we'll just wait for the fix

[christianrowlands]

Yep, I can share the apk. Message me on Element removed , or Signal removed and I will send the apk.

It takes some effort, but learning to code is not super hard if you have a structured, problem solving mindset. It is worth taking a stab at it if you are interested.

[ToddCrimson]

Thanks, sent you a dm on element

[atuctuc]

could you please post a link to download a functioning apk here?

[ToddCrimson]

@atuctuc , Scroll to the bottom of this page: You'll see three APKs. Choose the one that you need - Gplay vs FDroid.
The FDroid version allows background sync or ntfy, without using Google cloud messaging.

https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/actions/runs/12871671822

[atuctuc]

@atuctuc , Scroll to the bottom of this page: You'll see three APKs. Choose the one that you need - Gplay vs FDroid. The FDroid version allows background sync or ntfy, without using Google cloud messaging.

https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/actions/runs/12871671822

thanks for the link. i see this at the end of the page i see:

but i cant download any apk here?

[atuctuc]

a sorry, i have be logged into github

[ToddCrimson]

Ahh, yes, you must be logged into github :)

[atuctuc]

i tried to install vector-fdroid-arm64-v8a-debug.apk on my samsung A40. the installer runs and then it says:

Element - dbg
App wurde nicht installiert

strange?

[ToddCrimson]

@atuctuc, couple of things:

1. You have to make sure to allow for the source you are installing from. So if it is the file manager, allow from there. If it was direct browser, allow from there.
2. It will be a second app, as Element - dbg, since it is a debug version, not release version.

Can you try installing again, with allowed source, and then check logs? if that continues to happen, try to install over adb via USB debugging from your computer.

[AltruisticRambler]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to chime in and say I agree along with what Todd & Cristian have been saying - I am very excited for Element X to reach a more stable state, but it's not quite there yet! Understandable to focus efforts toward the new thing, but this background crash bug has been around for quite some time and is very impactful to the usability of the app!!

Big thanks to @christianrowlands for the fix (hope it gets merged soon ! 😁🤞). Good luck on your programming journey, @ToddCrimson! 🙂🤘

[ToddCrimson]

@christianrowlands, wanted to give you a quick update.

Installed the debug version from here and installed the build version you provided. (both apk files)

Both of them were the F-Droid version.
With both tried background sync and ntfy.
Both crashed, when device was locked with an incoming call. (audio or video)

Call rings for literally half a second, and then app crashes.
Unlock the phone, open app, brings up the dialog box that app crashed.

So, something is still not working here. I tried this on:

1. Pixel 8 Pro running latest Google Stock - (This is our test phone, we don't use that for day to day things, as we are trying not to use google services)
2. Pixel 7 running latest GrapheneOS
3. Pixel 8 running latest LineageOS

So switched back to 1.6.18, and it is working again.

Wanted to make you aware, that the patched version is still crashing.

[christianrowlands]

Thanks for the update, and thanks for testing it. Strange that it works on my Pixel 8 Pro running Android 15. Must be something I missed. I will DM you for the crash logs.

[AltruisticRambler]

I'd love to test it & send logs too... but despite being logged in, I am not seeing the apk! 🤔 Checked while logged in on mobile & desktop; I just see the same list that atuctuc sent before=

Sorry to be cluttering this thread!

[atuctuc]

on the the A40 i could not install becaus it only allows signed apk's:
adb install vector-fdroid-arm64-v8a-debug.apk
Performing Streamed Install
adb: failed to install vector-fdroid-arm64-v8a-debug.apk: Failure [INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_NO_CERTIFICATES: Failed collecting certificates for /data/app/vmdl1926054728.tmp/base.apk: Failed to collect certificates from /data/app/vmdl1926054728.tmp/base.apk using APK Signature Scheme v2: SHA-256 digest of contents did not verify]

i teste on my rooted xiaomi 11 Lite 5GNE and here it seemes to worke without crahes !!! great thanks!!!

also an annoying old bug seems to be fixed now, on my xiaomi only lock screen appeared on incoming call, now i see the call buttons

[christianrowlands]

@AltruisticRambler Either of the vector-Fdroid-debug or vector-Gplay-debug items should work. Those are zip files that contain multiple APKs in them. Do you see the download link on the right side?

[christianrowlands]

@christianrowlands, wanted to give you a quick update.

Installed the debug version from here and installed the build version you provided. (both apk files)

Both of them were the F-Droid version. With both tried background sync and ntfy. Both crashed, when device was locked with an incoming call. (audio or video)

Call rings for literally half a second, and then app crashes. Unlock the phone, open app, brings up the dialog box that app crashed.

So, something is still not working here. I tried this on:

1. Pixel 8 Pro running latest Google Stock - (This is our test phone, we don't use that for day to day things, as we are trying not to use google services)
2. Pixel 7 running latest GrapheneOS
3. Pixel 8 running latest LineageOS

So switched back to 1.6.18, and it is working again.

Wanted to make you aware, that the patched version is still crashing.

@ToddCrimson and I debugged this and we were able to get it working. Still not 100% sure what was going on, but I sent him a new APK with some extra logging and it worked. I am guessing I built the first APK I sent him incorrectly (maybe from the wrong branch or something). Either way, it is working now.

[ToddCrimson]

@AltruisticRambler, let me know if you can see the download links. Yes you should be logged into github.
Sometimes browser shows on top logged in, but for some reason cookie has expired. I would try logging out of github and logging back in.

If that still doesn't work, come find me on element [at] toddcrimson : matrix dot org and I'll send you the apk directly.

[ToddCrimson]

on the the A40 i could not install becaus it only allows signed apk's: adb install vector-fdroid-arm64-v8a-debug.apk Performing Streamed Install adb: failed to install vector-fdroid-arm64-v8a-debug.apk: Failure [INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_NO_CERTIFICATES: Failed collecting certificates for /data/app/vmdl1926054728.tmp/base.apk: Failed to collect certificates from /data/app/vmdl1926054728.tmp/base.apk using APK Signature Scheme v2: SHA-256 digest of contents did not verify]

i teste on my rooted xiaomi 11 Lite 5GNE and here it seemes to worke without crahes !!! great thanks!!!

also an annoying old bug seems to be fixed now, on my xiaomi only lock screen appeared on incoming call, now i see the call buttons

@atuctuc - Ok so on your A40, maybe try this:

1. Push this specific apk into the downloads folder --- adb push // /sdcard/Download
2. Now go to Google Play store, and somewhere there in Google Play Store is a setting to turn off APP checking. I forget what that option is exactly, but there is an option somewhere in the store which puts that check mark, where the play store is checking every single app installed on your device.
3. Now use your local file manager (try using a third party file manager, just to be sure, instead of google's version, but I think even google's version should be ok, but I'm trying to eliminate if google is causing issues)
4. Then browse to your Downloads folder, and click on that file. It will probably ask, what do you want to use to install the file or may ask that this app is not allowed to install... If former, then use the inbuilt package manager, if latter, allow the app.

If even now it fails, can you share that screenshot. I'll try to help you debug it.

[ToddCrimson]

@christianrowlands, wanted to give you a quick update.
Installed the debug version from here and installed the build version you provided. (both apk files)
Both of them were the F-Droid version. With both tried background sync and ntfy. Both crashed, when device was locked with an incoming call. (audio or video)
Call rings for literally half a second, and then app crashes. Unlock the phone, open app, brings up the dialog box that app crashed.
So, something is still not working here. I tried this on:

1. Pixel 8 Pro running latest Google Stock - (This is our test phone, we don't use that for day to day things, as we are trying not to use google services)
2. Pixel 7 running latest GrapheneOS
3. Pixel 8 running latest LineageOS

So switched back to 1.6.18, and it is working again.
Wanted to make you aware, that the patched version is still crashing.

@ToddCrimson and I debugged this and we were able to get it working. Still not 100% sure what was going on, but I sent him a new APK with some extra logging and it worked. I am guessing I built the first APK I sent him incorrectly (maybe from the wrong branch or something). Either way, it is working now.

@christianrowlands - Confirming that we both tested and debugged both of the latest versions / commits. They are both working - The crash issues is gone now (Again thanks to you for your patience and help) - Tested it on all three of the devices above with different ROMs, including the stock ROM. --- It Works !!!!!!!!!!!

@bmarty, Hoping to see the this merged into the new release version soon.

Also a question for you @bmarty -- Any chance you can (if you don't mind) start placing the F-Droid releases in your releases as well? Not just the gplay versions? As there is a very significant delay before it actually appears on F-Droid side.

Thanks.

[ToddCrimson]

@christianrowlands, just FYI: In the past two days, I've still had a few intermittent crashes on incoming calls. Same Fatal Exception. Attaching for you the logs.

[ToddCrimson]

Element - dbg log - Fatal Exception.txt

[AltruisticRambler]

@AltruisticRambler, let me know if you can see the download links.

Sorry, just saw this! I see - didn't realize the apks are part of the zips. I'll download and start testing now! 🙂👍