[Bug]Connections Manager (No longer the most urgent problem, but still important)
I've been using the Jolla phone since day one. I'm very enthusiastic about the company, the OS, and the device. I even ordered the tablet yesterday...
There are many areas where the phone and the OS need to be improved in order to make it a really competitive product. Some of those have been tackled, others are still awaiting a resolution. The most important of these, in my experience, is the way connections are handled. Let me explain what I mean:
- The device seems unable to follow an easy logic to automatically connect in the proper order: known Wi-Fi first, then the 3g or 4g network of your provider
- It really gets confused when one or more available connections are weak
- The WiFi indicator icon is unclear about the signal strength, and does not appear to be a real time indicator. Please just use the standard type indicators (concentric curved bars)
- 'Connection error' should only appear if there is no working connection, otherwise just switch to the other option.
- Don't give me an option to choose between Wi-Fi and 4g just connect! This is especially annoying if it happens every other minute...
- When I enable Wi-Fi, just connect. Why is there even a pulley option 'Connect to the Internet'? Just connect!
Finally, Wi-Fi seems to have stopped working, but I think that's something else (it worked before).
There was a new opt-in Connman in update 7, which was then rolled out in update 8. unfortunately, this has solved none of the above issues. Update 9 has some Connman related fixes, but none that seem to describe the above issues. Also, it is only available as a high risk opt-in, so I stay away from it until it is released as a normal update.
I'm amazed that the search didn't return a single topic on what is in my mind the single most important issue to fix in a smartphone: handling the connections effectively and without hassle.
I also have a HTC one m8 for work, and honestly, I couldn't keep using the Jolla if it were my only device. Mostly because of the poor connections.
So, please Jolla, fix this issue soon!
ADDITION: So, I found another incomprehensible 'feature' of the connman. I have disabled wifi (since it seems to be broken). Still, I regularly get the prompt to choose between mobile data and Wi-Fi!
UPDATE: So, I read through links provided by cquence below. It strikes me as odd that:
- Often, some kind of work around is proposed (reboot the device, turn on Airplane mode, then turn it off again). This is clearly not the way this important issue should be solved.
- Some of the questions have been closed as answered, whereas the problems have clearly not been solved
- In one of the questions, a sailor replied: "The autoconnect/switch is a known issue and we are working on fixing it, as is the bridged AP problem." This was posted on JAN 3 2014, almost 11 months ago! The autoconnect/switch issue has clearly not been solved yet, but the question was closed.
- In the release notes for the latest (opt-in) update, I don't see any indication that the connman stack is going to be properly fixed by this update.
UPDATE 2: Wi-Fi is working again. It turns out that the Carbon TOH from Funky Other Halves somehow blocked the signal. Strange, however, that mobile data continued to function.
Anyway, the issue with the Connman remains.
UPDATE 3: CHANGED THE TITLE TO 'NO LONGER THE MOST URGENT PROBLEM' So, after using 1.1.1.27 for some time, I conclude that the improvements made in the connections manager are significant. The frequency of the irritating pop-ups has decreased dramatically, and connections seem more stable. Switching from Wi-Fi to cell and back is also more seamless than before. Kudo's for that! There are still some issues, though: such as the symbols on the lock screen not showing the correct connection status.
Since it has already been announced that the connman will see more improvements in the next update, I feel the title of this thread (Most Urgent Problem) is no longer valid. Especially since there is a new kid on the block that genuinely deserves that title: the OOM-killer:
https://together.jolla.com/question/72016/browser-and-oom-handling-with-update-10/
I have to say I completely agree with the points stated by the TO. Connections are handled very weird by the Jolla phone and this makes life quite hard, if you are using your Jolla as your only device. (which I do)
laubblaeser ( 2014-11-21 02:30:33 +0200 )editrelated to: https://together.jolla.com/question/39400/10821-network-connection-just-stops-working-daily-basis/
dsilveira ( 2014-11-21 03:56:28 +0200 )editI don't know about update 9's connman fixes since I haven't opted in but there is something very irritating for me that you didn't mention: when you use the share-over-wifi-internet-connection, the phone uses more battery which is normal but once you disable the wifi/connection sharing, it keeps draining battery like hell. Every time I use connection sharing, I reboot my phone after I finished using it and it's quite annoying. I think it's because some pieces of hardware aren't shut down properly. Please fix!
Elioty ( 2014-11-21 11:21:17 +0200 )editthat indeed is the biggest showstopper since the beginning, which in turn creates problems with applications and the end user not knowing if there are no notifications/emails etc for real or because the device has actually lost connection in the background and the applications are unaware of this etc. I have also tried to describe some of this problems here:
https://together.jolla.com/question/45026/hotfix-opt-in-hotfix-for-connectivity-in-upcoming-update-7/#post-id-47390
I am not that worried with the indicator and if it uses an industry standard with bars etc; I actually like to differentiate. The important bit is that it works!!Let's hope that this question will get a large number of votes, it should be up there along with the offline maps availability as it is a really basic problem with the phone operation: Unreliable data connection!
cquence ( 2014-11-21 11:35:23 +0200 )editSometimes when you disable mobile data then go to change the system from 3g to 2g mobile data becomes enabled again.
alloj ( 2014-11-21 16:30:01 +0200 )edit