Android version 3.5

problem
#1

Thanks for the update! However, I’m having problems with it on both my devices (one Jellybean, one Kitkat):

  1. After reading all articles in a feed/folder, returning to its screen (via the back button or “breadcrumb”) results in a blank screen save for an unending “Loading…” message

  2. Text view seems to be working much more inconsistently. Sometimes attempting to use it results in nothing happening at all, other times I end up with a completely blank screen (and a need to manually kill the app).

I’ve had to return to using 3.0.1 for now.

15 Likes
#2

In full agreement, I’m not a fan of the latest version of the Android app at all. Old version worked perfectly, at least for me.

#3

Similar to as reported, when I get to the next to last unread article the screen app goes blank and I can not advance to the next item in the feed; if I try to return via swipe to the previous it loads the listing of unread articles, namely the last in the original list. As a result of this, I am unable to read the next to last item in my unread feed until I show all items and locate the one I hadn’t yet read.

#4

What sucks is that CES kicks off in just a few days. This new version is a *serious* downgrade. Pinging Samuel.

#5

I’ve noticed the same issue as Rick.

“when I get to the next to last unread article the screen app goes blank and I can not advance to the next item in the feed; if I try to return via swipe to the previous it loads the listing of unread articles, namely the last in the original list. As a result of this, I am unable to read the next to last item in my unread feed until I show all items and locate the one I hadn’t yet read.”

#6

+1 to all issues in OP. Bonus: if you hit the three-dot-menu button when the screen blanks, then the app will crash out.

#7

We’re working on getting this issue addressed. We need reproducible steps and so far we can’t make the above happen with any regularity. But we’ll get a fix out on Monday after working on it today and tomorrow.

#8

I can send a screen recording of this happening if it would help you isolate or identify the problem.

#9

Add me to this.

#10

Same here. It happens almost every time I open the last item in a feed with the read filter set to “Unread Only.”

#11

Also here.

#12

Just this morning, same thing again, but this time, when I was near the end of a folder, the dreaded “Loading” screen appeared and then everything was somehow marked as read.

Officially giving up using NewsBlur on my Android phone until this gets fixed. At least the website is bulletproof.

Can you “downgrade” the version of NewsBlur in the Play Store to version 3? That worked beautifully.

#13

I think the problem is due to the reading list being refreshed while the user is reading an article. The article is marked as read, removed from the reading list and immediately goes to a blank page (as the horizontal scroller doesn’t have a correct position any more). If I’m right in this, an easy fix would be not to modify the current reading list while the user is viewing an article.

#14

Whatever it is, I’m pulling my hair out. Sometimes I can read 50+ article in one go before the app goes bonkers on me, sometimes it takes just three articles. Replicating the bug is hard, and I’m sorry I can’t help you out, Samuel, but man, version 3.5 really is a horrific regression from version 3.0.

#15

Exactly the same for me. If I noticed a pattern I’d post the steps I took, but as of now I’m afraid to use the app because it will auto-mark everything as read.

#16

There are several issues we’ve found and are working on correcting. Part of this is due to a massive rewrite of the network stack. But part of this is because we move so fast and have so few resources that we just expect to release and patch bugs immediately afterwards. I should have released this as a controlled beta, but after not catching any bugs in testing, I figured the bugs were marginalized.

As far as I can tell, it’s only the All Site Stories view that’s clearly messed up. The other folders and feeds are more subtly broken. All of it will be fixed tomorrow when I release 3.5.1. And anything lingering will be fixed a couple days after that with 3.5.2.

If I had to choose between fast releases and slow releases, I’ll take the fast strategy, especially as it means that new features and improvements are constantly coming out. It’s a trade off and sometimes it bites us in the butt like it did today, but most of the time you get improvements and bug fixes out in a matter of hours or days.

#17

Appreciate the update, Samuel. Thanks for the explanation and look forward to the release.

#18

happy for the fast releases if they’re followed up with fast fixes as you’re doing here.

Keep up the good work.

#19

Looking forward to the release as well, it’s just *super* bad timing for this buggy release to go out with CES and all. At least it’ll be fixed before MWC.

#20

OK, I just uploaded v3.5.1, which addresses a couple of the issues. Unfortunately, the swiping issue is not yet fixed and won’t be until about Wednesday. I’ll try to get fixes out earlier, but Wednesday is the earliest I can get out a rewrite for that part of the stack.

If 3.5.1 doesn’t address enough of the issues, I’ll downgrade the released version to 3.0.1 while we work out the kinks.