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How To Resolve "Sky Safari Isn't Responding" Error After Upgrade To Android 13? (Answer: Download The Open Beta - Read On!)

[EDIT: I see this is already being worked on, I don't know why my search didn't pick that up.  Feel free to delete this when you've logged my version/hardware details]

For as long as I've been using SkySafari, I've had the following minor annoyance. A few seconds after launching the app, I would get (almost always) an error dialog from Android:

If you choose "wait", the app picks up fine, and the only other time I saw it was sometimes when displaying a long list for the first time, like the list of observing sessions.  I was getting this with two different phones and a tablet, running different versions of Android, so I assumed it was a general behaviour that had not been reported/fixed because it was a minor inconvenience.

However, my tablet has just updated itself to Android 13, and now it definitely is a problem. If you click on "wait", the dialogue disappears, but then reappears about 4 seconds later, and it does this ad infinitum, making the app no longer usable. I don't see this behaviour with any other app, so I don't think the cause is my device being underpowered.

I'm assuming that when the app is communicating with the OS, some timeout threshold is being exceeded, causing the OS to declare the app unresponsive. One answer might be to change the timout value in Android for the SkySafari app (or all apps), but I can find no such setting. So I presume the fix needs to be on the app side.

SkySafari Pro  7.1.8.0
Android 13
Lenovo Tab M10 Plus 3rd Gen

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41 comments

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    Keiron Smith Official comment

    DevOps reference: https://starrynight.unfuddle.com/a#/projects/7965/tickets/by_number/2717

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    Keiron Smith

    Jamie, 

    Delete SS7.

    In the Google Play Store description of SS7 scroll to the bottom.
     
    Choose the option to "Join the beta".
     
    Install the beta version.
     
    We are now offering an OPEN-beta, available through google Play Store, for anyone that wants to join.

    Thanks

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    Jamie Andrews

    OK, I've done this, but when I launch the beta version, I get an error message and the app closes immediately:

    ... but when I try to grant the permission, I can't, because the app doesn't seem to have requested it in the first place:

    Any ideas?

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    Mike Schäfer

    Same here with SS7 Plus on my Samsung A52s with Android 13. Joined the Beta club and installed it but the app won't start at all.

    I hope for some efficient support in the near future.

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    Keiron Smith

    Mike, just to be clear, are you seeing exactly what Jamie is report?  Same error message, and same issue with no storage permission request?

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    Mike Atkins

    @Everyone 

    I have an idea. 

    Find the Permissions Manager in settings. For my Galaxy I go to Apps and touch the 3 dots in th upper right. From there you can manually set some permissions. 

     

    In this list on my device, I have SkySafari permissions enabled for the following only while in use.

    Location 

     

    And the following are enabled all the time 

    Music and Audio 

    Nearby Devices 

    Notifications

    Photos & Videos

     

    See if you can manually turn them on and if so does it allow things to work. 

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    Mike Schäfer

    Hey Keiron, Mike

    yes I saw exactly the same message. After installation I wasn't asked for any permissions for the app. I just uninstalled and reinstalled the app and the next time I was asked for permissions. I agreed and now everything is fine!
    Thanks for you suggestions and support.
    Seems to be somehow unstable installation process anyway.

    BR Mike

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    Jamie Andrews

    I've tried the re-install again, same result, not asking for permissions.

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    Mike Atkins

    @Jamie

    Can you manually grant them?

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    Mike Schäfer

    I think I was too optimistic. Indeed the beta worked fine the first two times after the new installation. Now the app closes again once I press the "Tonight" button. Same as with the standard non-beta version.
    It is a mess because this used to be my primary tool for planning observation nights.
    Hopefully we can find a more reliable solution soon.

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    Jamie Andrews

    Mike Atkins
    Today at 12:23
    @Jamie
    Can you manually grant them?
    -----
    No, it doesn't work like that. The app developer controls which permissions appear in that list. I can't grant a permission that the app hasn't requested, whether in response to a challenge or manually in the app settings.

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    Mike Atkins

    Oh well. It was worth a shot. The Permissions should be requested, just was curious if you could go in and set them.

    Mike, I filed a bug report for the "tonight" issue. It does the same thing if I choose Compass, too.

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    Mike Schäfer

    It gets even weirder. When I switch to German language, SS7 crashes once I press "Tonight", but it gives me a glimpse of the Tonight's list with solar system, Deep Sky and so on. If I force SS7 to English language, I can access "Tonight" but it shows only information on sun and moon. Nothing more, no deep sky objects or calendar events.

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    Mike Atkins

    That is weird. If I choose tonight or compass from the toolbar, the screen freezes for a second and then the app closes.

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    Mike Atkins

    Just updated to 7.1.9.0. Compass and tonight on the toolbar are fixed!

    Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 

    Android 13/OneUI 5 1

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    Keiron Smith

    Mike, you mean 7.1.9.0?  Thanks for the feedback.

    What device and Android version are you running?

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    Mike Atkins

    I'm just fat-fingering everything! LOL

    Edit for clarity

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    Michael Brock

    I'm experiencing the "Sky Safari isn't responding" issue as well but not as frequently as some so I resisted upgrading to the beta. Today however, I started having the issue that when clicking to download the DSS Image the app would simply close.   Restarting the app did not fix the issue.  So I uninstalled and installed the beta version.  However, I was also having the permissions issue.  During installation I was not prompted for permissions and when I attempted to open the app I got the message that access to local storage was needed.     I left it open at that point to start typing this message but a minute or so later I suddenly received the pop-up asking me to grant permissions!  The app is now downloading the additional files.

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    Michael Brock

    I spoke too soon.   The app did download the necessary files and I started setting things back up (I had failed to back up my settings....so lost everything).   Unfortunately, in attempting to download a DSS image the app still closes.  Now when I attempt to re-open the app I get the same error again regarding the permissions despite having already granted it previously.  And the local storage (files & images) is not an option for the app.

    Edit:   I discovered that if I tapped anywhere on the app screen besides the "ok" button when getting the permissions prompt, the prompt would close and a few seconds later SkySafari would run!     I did get a few "the app is not responding" messages though.

    Edit:  Tapping anywhere but the "ok" button does cause SkySafari to load but it take almost five minutes with just the "SkySafari Pro" image showing.  Once it does load I am still receiving the "app not responding" message.  After selecting to "wait" several times it usually stops asking.

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    Keiron Smith

    Thank you, Michael, for all your troubleshooting reports!  Developers are working in it, a new update is imminent.

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    Jamie Andrews

    I just added an update here, clicked "submit" and it's vanished.  This isn't the first time it's happened on this site.

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    Keiron Smith

    Jamie,

    Please provide your feedback again.  Write it up on a local text file, then copy and paste into our support webpage text field.

    Thanks!

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    Jamie Andrews

    I’ll try again.

    Yesterday, I tried the app again and it launched OK, no warnings about local storage, and no timeouts. It had lost all the local catalogues, so I had to download them again. I also had to enter my Live Sky account to get my observing data, and restore my settings from a backup. But that all worked, and the app seemed fine. I checked the version: 7.1.9.1.

    But then I closed the app down and started it again – the repeating “not responding” error returned, and it wouldn’t go. I shut down and started again, but no luck.

    Now today, I’ve just launched it again, and it started fine. I could move around the display without issue, and open up different menu items. However, when I called up my session list, it went wrong again. Now, my list of sessions is quite long, and it takes a while to display. Sometimes (and this was one of those times) it takes long enough to cause the “not responding” error. Before the problems with the recent versions, I would just have seen this message once, and from then on it would have been fine. But now, it goes into the repeating loop until I choose “close app”. In fact this time, I carried on getting the message after I’d chosen to close the app. I had to force close it in Android, and even then I received one further message before it stopped. Is it possible that these errors are being generated and buffered somewhere, and only stop displaying when the store is empty?

    But I’ve since been experimenting some more, and a consistent pattern of behaviour is emerging: when I launch the app, if it doesn’t load fast enough and I get the error, then with this version of the app it will go into the loop until I kill it. But if I manage to launch the app and not get the error at the start, then I can carry on using it – until I do something that takes too long to respond, such as displaying a list of sessions or observations. As soon as that error appears, then it starts looping until I kill it.

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    Keiron Smith

    Jamie, 

    my list of sessions is quite long, and it takes a while to display.

    How long is the list of sessions?

    Please make a screen recording of the app in use.  

    At the beginning of the screen recording, open Android Settings > About phone > Software information (show this)

    Then open SS7 > Help > scroll to the bottom > show the version number

    Then open sessions > show the reproducible "not responding" error.

    Link me to the screen recording using Dropbox or similar service.

    Thanks!

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    Jamie Andrews

    I have around 150 observing sessions.

    The app takes 3 or 4 seconds to load the list the first time, but thereafter it is instant.  So, if it manages to load first time without the "not responding" error, it's not going to object on any subsequent display (until I restart the app). 

    I've put some files here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/frdwg80ktth0eubmne4qk/h?rlkey=zhuii32986p6mx7ayxw6jlml9&dl=0

    I didn't manage to record it all in one go, so there is:

    -  .png screenshot showing the tablet config and software version

    -  .mp4 showing SkySafari displaying version number, then displaying observing lists, then displaying observing sessions (app hesitates, then displays the list, then the error message appears)

    -  .mp4 showing me clearing the error message by clicking "wait", then after a few seconds it reappears, I repeat and then eventually choose to close the app

    Note that the list of observing lists always appears immediately and never causes the "not responding" error, but the list of observing sessions will always have a delay the first time I display it, and usually causes the "not responding" error. Yet they are almost equal in size.

    And just to be clear, with this version I am no longer getting the other problem that I mentioned before (app saying it needs access to the local file system).

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    Keiron Smith

    Thanks, Jamie - developers are reviewing your report.

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    Jamie Andrews

    I hadn't heard anything on this issue for a while (and I'd switched to using SkySafari on my phone, which has an older version of Android). So I just tried launching it on my tablet again, and the problem has gone.
    I've not knowingly updated anything. Android version is the same, and I'm still running the 7.1.9.1 beta SkySafari. It's it possible that the beta code has been updated, but still shows the same version number?

    Anyway, not only has the repeating error message stopped, but I'm not seeing the timeouts even once. All the usual places where the app stuttered before are now faster - startup, displaying the observations list, using the planner to display long lists of objects (even searches that max out at 10,000 are almost instantaneous). I would say that this version performs better than any I've used before.

    So if you have knowingly fixed the problem, then many thanks, and please close the ticket. If you've not changed anything then I'm mystified.

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    Michael Brock

    One issue I thought had been fixed but appears to have regressed (or it wasn't actually fixed and I'm just remembering it poorly):

    When I start a night of observing I create an observing session.  When I create a new observation of an object it automatically creates a  new session and defaults to that new session. I have to then change the session to the current session. And since I am working on several observation lists at once (eg. "Messier" and "Pensack 500") I enter an observation for each list and a new session is created every time.  At the end of the evening, even though I have assigned ever observation to that night's session, I have a lot of empty "Untitled Sessions".   I thought that  this had been fixed so that a new observation was defaulting to the just-created session for the evening but I might be misremebering.    A simple fix might be to only create the observation (and  hence the session) after saving the page to add an observation  rather than before displaying the page.  Even if I had to assign the session every time it would be an improvement over having to delete all of the empty sessions to keep the list from getting out of hand.    As the evening progresses I also have to scroll past all of those "Untitled Session" sessions  to find that night's session. I suppose I could delete them as they are created but the process of deleting sessions has it's own issues.

     

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    Keiron Smith

    Jamie, thanks for the updated report!  Good to know it's running better now.  I will let developers know.

    Michael, please create a NEW post to discuss issues unrelated to the OP.

    SkySafari 7 | Android Apps

    Thanks!

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    Michael Brock

    I'll create a new post. I added it here because the conversation had strayed into discussing observing sessions and you indicated that the developers were looking into it.

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