Support: Knots 3D – Bad State

On December 5, 2013, in Frequently Asked Questions, by Administrator

Since the release of iOS 7, we have seen an increase of reports, particularly on older devices (iPad 1 and iPad 2) where Knots 3D (v3.3.x) gets into a bad state.  Reports show this happening occasionally on the Language Selection screen.  We think we have isolated the problem and a fix will be available in the next release due out within the next few weeks.  In the meantime, the following instructions should resolve this and similar issues should they occur:

“Kill” the app and restart it, the problem will go away and most likely you won’t ever see it again.

If you are unsure how to “kill” an app, it is as follows:

iOS6:
– Press the physical home button once to exit Knots 3D
– Press the physical home button twice to see a list (across the bottom of the screen) of apps in memory
– Hold your finger down on the Knots 3D icon until it starts to “jump”
– Press the “-” sign.  This stops the app from running (removes it from memory but does not remove it from your device).  You might want to stop other apps you are no longer using while you are at it.
– Restart Knots 3D in the usual way

iOS7:
– Press the physical home button once to exit Knots 3D
– Press the physical home button twice to see thumbnail views of apps in memory
– “Flick” (swipe up) the Knots 3D view up with your finger to remove it from memory (This stops the app from running e.g. removes it from memory but does not remove it from your device.  You might want to stop other apps you are no longer using at the moment while you are at it.)
– Restart Knots 3D in the usual way

Android:

Follow the instructions on this site:  How To Geek: How to force kill android applications without a task manager

Please contact us if this does not resolve the problem.

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UPDATE (10/25/12):  Last night we pushed v2.9.7 to Google Play which resolves the issues from v2.9.5 and 2.9.6.  Knots 3D is now again available on Google Play for download and update.

ORIGINAL POST:

Last night we pushed out the v2.9.5 update to Google Play which had a bug fix and a minor UI change. Unfortunately, users who upgraded had package signing errors and were unable to update. It turns out that the process used to remove the un-needed permissions and libraries is no longer working and resulted in an invalid apk file. See extensive post and discussion regarding the CoronaSDK bundled permissions here and here.

The Google Play developer console does not allow developers to revert back to a previous version so the only way to fix the above was to release a new version of Knots 3D, v2.9.6, without removing the Corona Bundled permissions. This was released several hours after v2.9.5 last night. After receiving emails and negative reviews regarding the permissions, I have decided to pull Knots 3D completely from Google Play. I understand the concerns over privacy and do not want to alienate those users for which this is an issue. Hopefully we can again figure out how to get the apk package properly built without the default Corona permissions and return Knots 3D to the Google Play store.

Our apologies for the inconvenience and confusion.

– Knots 3D Team

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There have been several reports that Knots 3D will not install on some older Samsung devices due to cache limitations on these devices. The devices I am aware of are Samsung Captivate and Samsung Galaxy S. The Samsung Captivate is AT&T’s version of the Samsung Galaxy S.

Other Variants of Samsung Galaxy S (Released Early 2010):

  • Samsung Captivate (ATT)
  • Samsung Epic 4G (Sprint)
  • Samsung Fascinate (Verizon)
  • Samsung Vibrant (T-Mobile)

The error message some people are getting: “Error Downloading Insufficient space on device”

This error comes despite plenty of free space on both external and internal storage ie > 1GB. Since Knots 3D is around 33MB at present, why this error message? Well, it turns out that the memory the error message is referring to is the cache partition. The cache size limit on these Samsung devices is 30MB. This means any app, including ours, larger than 30MB, is more than likely seeing this issue. This is a device specific environment thing and completely outside the control of Knots 3D, Google Play, Amazon, etc. There is nothing we can do although a possible workaround (try at your own risk) is mentioned in a link below. If the free version (13MB) of Knots 3D is installing successfully, then that also confirms this might be the cause of the problem.

Some links discussing the issue:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4850889/people-cant-download-our-specific-product-in-android-market
http://androidforums.com/captivate-support-troubleshooting/419535-2-3-3-gb-cache-limit.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1006268

Possible work around found here (try at your own risk):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=17889343&postcount=2011

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We received an email from Google Play yesterday indicating that certain apps on certain devices were failing to launch due to an issue within Google Play.  Google has resolved the issue but requires all of the affected apps to be re-released with an incremented version number.  A copy of the Service Notification has been pasted below.  This is strictly a Google Play issue and does not affect the other app stores (iTunes, Amazon, BN).

We have updated both Knots 3D (v2.8.1) and Knots 3D – Free Knot Edition (v1.1.1) on Google Play and they should be available shortly.

Subject: Google Play Service Notification: APK update required for your apps

Dear Google Play developer,

We have identified one or more of your applications as being affected by a recent issue in Google Play that prevents some users from launching your app. To resolve the issue, you need to publish an update as soon as possible. This will cause your users to receive an update, which will fix the issue.

The underlying cause was an error in the Google Play update logic that resulted in native libraries being incorrectly installed during updates of affected applications for users running Android 4.1 (Jellybean), who installed an update of your application between August 1 to August 5. This affects a small minority of applications, specifically non-forward-locked paid applications that use the NDK and native libraries.

No change to your application is required. Simply increment your versionCode in your Android manifest file, generate a new APK, and publish it through Google Play.

We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and your users. The underlying cause has now been rectified, and steps have been taken to ensure similar issues don’t arise in the future.

Sincerely,
The Google Play team

© 2012 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043

You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about important issues regarding your Google Play publisher account and published applications.

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We are happy to announce that we have found a way to remove the unused and unnecessary third party libraries (discussed in this earlier post) from Knots 3D! Hurray! Using a tool outside of the Corona framework, we were able to remove the offending libraries from the app and also remove the internet permissions some of those libraries required. Both the paid (v2.8) and free (v1.1) versions of Knots 3D have recently been published to Google Play and and Barnes and Noble and should be available in the Amazon App Store as soon as it is approved. Hopefully this addresses some(all?) of the concerns some folks on the Amazon app store voiced when Knots 3D was the free app of the day. We personally hate ads and made a decision not to have them in even the free version of Knots 3D — so it was with much chagrin we were accused of adware! 🙂

Thanks so much to Darren at Ludicrous Software for taking the time to detail the steps in his blog.

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Android Permissions and Concerns

On July 18, 2012, in Frequently Asked Questions, General, by Administrator

UPDATE (8/7/12): Third Party Modules and permissions have been removed from Knots 3D.  See details in this post.

We are often asked why Knots 3D requires the following permissions on the Android platform:

  • Full Internet access
  • Read phone state and identity

Knots 3D actually does not use the Internet for anything once it is installed. The reason for the permissions is actually due to the underlying development framework. Knots 3D was developed using Corona SDK which was made by Ansca Mobile and is now known as Corona Labs. These permissions are included by default when the app is compiled and there is currently no easy way to remove them!

So why are they there at all? Good question. The programming framework (Corona SDK) sends statistics on usage (analytics) back to a server (coronalabs.com). I have disabled the calls but the permissions are still included when the app is built. Many developers in the Corona community have requested that these be optional and only included if the app actually uses the internet for something. Corona Labs has indicated they are looking at this issue (granted they have been looking at it for some time now).

Some other concerns are that the app is somehow “spying” on you and is what is known as spyware. This perception is due to packages included in Corona that report on statistics ie Flurry Analytics or are api’s into third party ecosystems such as the Facebook social network or Open Feint social gaming platform. Yes, these API’s exist in Corona but in the case of Knots 3D they are not used for anything — the libraries are simply included in the compiled binary. Let me state again — THEY ARE NOT USED! It is unfortunate that Corona includes these in the build of all apps using the Corona framework. If nothing else, it adds unnecessary bloat to the app size. Obviously it gives pause to those that wonder “what are these libraries and why should a knot app need access to the internet.”  Rest assured, there is no nefarious plan to steal your data or give any information to marketers. In the next release (due out next month) I’ll add clarification to the app description regarding the permissions and modules. I think the app is unique and useful, but understand perceived privacy concerns and understand if someone doesn’t want to keep/download the app for that reason.

CoronaLabs.com discussion links regarding this issue:

http://developer.coronalabs.com/forum/2012/04/22/default-android-permissions

If you have further concerns regarding Permissions, privacy and spyware not addressed above, please let us know on our support page: http://nynix.com/support/

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