XMPP as a protocol is pretty much dead on Android with all the battery optimisations in the newer versions. You can't get a decent user experience unless you integrate it with Firebase.
Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
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Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#22XMPP as a protocol is pretty much dead on Android with all the battery optimisations in the newer versions. You can't get a decent user experience unless you integrate it with Firebase.
Pardon for a tangent!
I've been so full of missing and delayed notifications I just bought an iPhone, which has zero issues with it, with zero configuration.
Still, as I made a few really small android apps in the past, this has been a sticking point for me for years.
Is it possible to write an app that can notify at ANY time? Let's say I want to monitor my self-hosted infrastructure. On an iPhone I get e-mail alerts right away. On Android, some ring exactly at the time I pick up the cursed phone.
I checked for every possible consumer facing configuration option (deep sleep exclusion, background service allowed, etc.) and I found zero reliable options.
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hear you, but not a magic solution: "Apple drops PWA support on iOS for EU users" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39299007
which makes it very clear that the only reason PWA where still allowed by apple was to try to avoid monopoly marked regulations the fact that they seem to remove them without any warning make it clear how much they care about they users (i.e. not at all, it's all about money, which should be obvious but needs to be said in case of apple as they managed to convince people otherwise)
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Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#24This has been happening to a bunch of XMPP apps recently, and as a maintainer of another one (which closely based on Conversations) I'm fearing the worst next time I submit an update. The worst part is the lack of communication from Google about what they think the problem is. There are plenty of apps that do actually upload contact lists to servers (hi WhatsApp, etc.), and they are still listed on the store. Many XM…
Then I'd argue that the actual problem is only having a permission to access the contacts, and not limiting what the app can do with them. Of course, limiting what an app can do with data that it already has access to is an interesting technical problem (and AFAIK not one Android is currently set up to handle)...
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#25XMPP as a protocol is pretty much dead on Android with all the battery optimisations in the newer versions. You can't get a decent user experience unless you integrate it with Firebase.
Conversations has supported Google push notifications since 2016, long before Android started getting more aggressive about battery optimizations.
It's been a standard feature of XMPP mobile apps for as long as it's been necessary.
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#26I use an open source SPAM call blocker (Yet another call blocker), which works fairly OK by querying a local spam phone number database. Recently Google Play decided to display a permanent notification prompting me to uninstall that "dangerous" app because it could "damage" my device. It's impossible to disable this notification. This app hasn't been updated in years. It has no ads. The only network request it makes…
Check out the Aurora store, it's a drop in replacement for the play store withot the Google nonsense.
I started using it after Google refused to let me install watch faces, because the apps hadn't been updated for foldable phones.
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#27This has been happening to a bunch of XMPP apps recently, and as a maintainer of another one (which closely based on Conversations) I'm fearing the worst next time I submit an update. The worst part is the lack of communication from Google about what they think the problem is. There are plenty of apps that do actually upload contact lists to servers (hi WhatsApp, etc.), and they are still listed on the store. Many XM…
Especially tiktok is still live, and there it's super obvious they upload the contact list. First: they ask you.
More importantly though: you don't even need to search for someone or someone's phone. You open the app and get 3 people suggested you never even knew had a tiktok account.
Really really creepy when you just exchanged numbers with someone and you can see all their 50 tiktoks. Happened to me with a girl I matched online - funny for me to see her videos, for her it was super creepy.
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#28XMPP as a protocol is pretty much dead on Android with all the battery optimisations in the newer versions. You can't get a decent user experience unless you integrate it with Firebase.
Pardon for a tangent! I've been so full of missing and delayed notifications I just bought an iPhone, which has zero issues with it, with zero configuration. Still, as I made a few really small android apps in the past, this has been a sticking point for me for years. Is it possible to write an app that can notify at ANY time? Let's say I want to monitor my self-hosted infrastructure. On an iPhone I get e-mail alerts…
Ntfy.sh seems to work perfectly on stock Android without firebase/GSF. I do have "unrestricted" enabled in app settings but it doesn't seem to impact battery life in a noticeable way. I never missed any notifications.
Once you leave AOSP-land it can be more tricky, https://dontkillmyapp.com/ has more info if you're interested.
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#29Developer: "Google has just removed #Conversations_im from the Play Store because they think we are uploading the user’s contact list. We don’t." and "To be clear: They didn’t just reject an update. They outright removed the app entirely. Otherwise my plan B would have been to remove the contacts permission which is used to display the name and profile picture locally if the XMPP address matches an entry in the users…
Talk with Google, usually this stuff can be resolved. Their bots flag stuff because of reasons. Yes, sometimes it's BS, but often there's something that you have missed to clarify.
Re: Google has removed Conversations_im from the Play Store
#30I use an open source SPAM call blocker (Yet another call blocker), which works fairly OK by querying a local spam phone number database. Recently Google Play decided to display a permanent notification prompting me to uninstall that "dangerous" app because it could "damage" my device. It's impossible to disable this notification. This app hasn't been updated in years. It has no ads. The only network request it makes…
Check out the Aurora store, it's a drop in replacement for the play store withot the Google nonsense. I started using it after Google refused to let me install watch faces, because the apps hadn't been updated for foldable phones.
fdroid is ok too