9 ms·

Aside of the fact that the app displayed an error message at first launch ("Notification error" - "no valid 'aps-environment' entitlement string found for appli

by pilif 15y ago

Aside of the fact that the app displayed an error message at first launch ("Notification error" - "no valid 'aps-environment' entitlement string found for application" - how did this pass review?), it a) doesn't support multiple accounts, b) is very laggy to use when you compare this to, say, the android version and c) feels like another one of these "let's embed the website above a little native toolbar"-apps Because Safari gets to JIT-compile JavaScript and UIWebView embedded into apps can't, this actually feels slower than the website (~0.5 seconds between clicking on a message and seeing it load? really?) I really think I'll move back to using their Exchange-Sync for push together with the standard web shortcut for mail management as this is faster and supports multiple accounts. (edit) On a related note: Doing these "let's add a native toolbar to my website and publish this in the AppStore"-apps feels nearly as stupid as when everybody felt the need to add flash intros to their website. There's next to no additional value (especially with the currently broken push) provided by such a half-assed pseudo-native app. This does nothing but hurt both native development (by leaving a bad impression on what's possible with native apps) and the open web (by making people believe that a website is not good enough)

coob 15y ago
> Because Safari gets to JIT-compile JavaScript and UIWebView embedded into apps can't I'm not sure this is still the case in iOS5.
- pilif 15y ago
  it is. They could only fix it for the homescreen links which also didn't get the JIT before iOS5 Having a JIT requires you to execute writable memory which is a privilege given on a per-process level. So for an embedded webview to be able to do it, your app would need it, but third party apps are never allowed this. It's possible that they changed UIWebView to spawn a background process for the actual rendering, but I guess we would have heard about that (we haven't we only heard about homescreen links now being JITed)
  - xtacy 15y ago
    Would you need executable and writable at the same time? The JIT generates code into a writable+non-executable memory, and then makes it readonly+executable.
    - pilif 15y ago
      That's the point. You don't get segments that you can mark as executable if you are a third-party app. The only code that's executable is the code segment of the compiled binary (that's signed by apple and won't be executed if it has changed since it has been signed). Trying to mark memory as executable will cause your app to be terminated. Jumping into non-executable memory will also cause your app to be terminated. Aside of protecting you (as a user or as a developer) from a big class of security issues, this also ensures that nobody ever gets to run code that's not loaded from the App Store (and thus would generate revenue without giving a share to Apple).
- masklinn 15y ago
  > I'm not sure this is still the case in iOS5. It still is. The JIT was enabled for "pinned" web applications (added to the home screen), but for the JIT to be enabled the whole process needs to be allowed to execute code from writable memory. There's absolutely no way Apple is going to allow arbitrary applications to do that. As pilif notes, a workaround would be to have UIWebView's content exist in a separate, JIT-able process.
mmastrac 15y ago
StackOverflow suggests that they neglected to enable push notifications in their production code-signing certificate: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2452086/no-valid-aps-environment-entitlement-found-for-application http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2452086/no-valid-aps-envi...
- Splines 15y ago
  Isn't this sort of a sanity-level thing you'd check in QA? You know, install the app and boot it?
  - smackfu 15y ago
    Or in the vaunted app review process?
    - JackdawX 15y ago
      This actually is part of the appstore review process (I do this for my job). However, we've had apps slip through before. I'm not sure entirely why this happens, since the checks for missing entitlements or incorrect signing should be automatic, but it does on occasion. This is a problem with Apples review process as much as anything else, since you can't test the properly signed release version of the app until you publish it to the appstore for all to see.
    - angrycoder 15y ago
      The app review process isn't QA.
      - smackfu 15y ago
        OTOH The first two items on the list of app store review guidelines: 2.1 Apps that crash will be rejected 2.2 Apps that exhibit bugs will be rejected
        sbuk 15y ago
ctide 15y ago
Have you used the Google Voice app for the iPhone? It's literally the worst app I've ever seen in my life. Crashed constantly, won't refresh from the server, will close your text box randomly while typing a message (clearing your message), will fail to make calls frequently, and since I upgraded to iOS5 now has signed me out and crashes immediately when trying to sign back in so it's been rendered completely unusable. I can only assume that there's some desire within Google to make sure the iPhone versions of their products are complete dogshit to try and encourage Android adoption.
- avree 15y ago
  Did you update the Google Voice app? These all used to be problems, but their latest release resolved them all for me.
  - ctide 15y ago
    No, I switched to one of the paid apps (GV Mobile+) because it actually worked. EDIT: I don't really know why I'm being downvoted for this. Wouldn't you switch apps too if you relied on google voice for your text messages and you couldn't log into it anymore without it instantly crashing?
  - moxiemk1 15y ago
    This is true - the Google Voice app is now much much better, but it is worth pointing out that there were tons of bugs that weren't fixed for over a year, like: * freezing irrecoverably when opening the app/going to inbox very often * losing all the text you've typed when anything causes the textfield to lose focus * things like gaining network connectivity causing said textfield to lose focus Perhaps this qualifies as ad hominem, but this experience was biblically awful and from a major software company. Seeing how this new Gmail app is a bunch of Web views and needlessly non-standard widgets (=> part of the worst dredge of apps), it makes me start to feel pretty cynical about their iOS strategy. Then again, taken the experience using the Android browser while developing mobile websites, maybe it's an institutional inability to develop polished mobile applications.
- chaz 15y ago
ChrisLTD 15y ago
"There's next to no additional value (especially with the currently broken push) provided by such a half-assed pseudo-native app." There may be no additional value to nerds like you and me, but there are plenty of normal people who want GMail on their homescreen and want to get it from the App Store.
- danudey 15y ago
  Thanks to JSCore's JIT compilation only working in Safari or saved-to-home-screen web apps, they've basically taken three years to actually make a 'native app' version of their e-mail service, which is slower than just using the web app (and feels worse to use).
tejaswiy 15y ago
I really hate how they just build wrappers around an existing mobile website and publish it. What's the point of building native apps then? Just Push notifications? Isn't that supposed to be against the terms of the App Store?

by pilif 15y ago

coob 15y ago

> Because Safari gets to JIT-compile JavaScript and UIWebView embedded into apps can't I'm not sure this is still the case in iOS5.

pilif 15y ago
it is. They could only fix it for the homescreen links which also didn't get the JIT before iOS5 Having a JIT requires you to execute writable memory which is a privilege given on a per-process level. So for an embedded webview to be able to do it, your app would need it, but third party apps are never allowed this. It's possible that they changed UIWebView to spawn a background process for the actual rendering, but I guess we would have heard about that (we haven't we only heard about homescreen links now being JITed)
- xtacy 15y ago
  Would you need executable and writable at the same time? The JIT generates code into a writable+non-executable memory, and then makes it readonly+executable.
  - pilif 15y ago
    That's the point. You don't get segments that you can mark as executable if you are a third-party app. The only code that's executable is the code segment of the compiled binary (that's signed by apple and won't be executed if it has changed since it has been signed). Trying to mark memory as executable will cause your app to be terminated. Jumping into non-executable memory will also cause your app to be terminated. Aside of protecting you (as a user or as a developer) from a big class of security issues, this also ensures that nobody ever gets to run code that's not loaded from the App Store (and thus would generate revenue without giving a share to Apple).
masklinn 15y ago
> I'm not sure this is still the case in iOS5. It still is. The JIT was enabled for "pinned" web applications (added to the home screen), but for the JIT to be enabled the whole process needs to be allowed to execute code from writable memory. There's absolutely no way Apple is going to allow arbitrary applications to do that. As pilif notes, a workaround would be to have UIWebView's content exist in a separate, JIT-able process.

mmastrac 15y ago

StackOverflow suggests that they neglected to enable push notifications in their production code-signing certificate: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2452086/no-valid-aps-environment-entitlement-found-for-application http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2452086/no-valid-aps-envi...

Splines 15y ago
Isn't this sort of a sanity-level thing you'd check in QA? You know, install the app and boot it?
- smackfu 15y ago
  Or in the vaunted app review process?
  - JackdawX 15y ago
    This actually is part of the appstore review process (I do this for my job). However, we've had apps slip through before. I'm not sure entirely why this happens, since the checks for missing entitlements or incorrect signing should be automatic, but it does on occasion. This is a problem with Apples review process as much as anything else, since you can't test the properly signed release version of the app until you publish it to the appstore for all to see.
  - angrycoder 15y ago
    The app review process isn't QA.
    - smackfu 15y ago
      OTOH The first two items on the list of app store review guidelines: 2.1 Apps that crash will be rejected 2.2 Apps that exhibit bugs will be rejected
      - sbuk 15y ago

ctide 15y ago

Have you used the Google Voice app for the iPhone? It's literally the worst app I've ever seen in my life. Crashed constantly, won't refresh from the server, will close your text box randomly while typing a message (clearing your message), will fail to make calls frequently, and since I upgraded to iOS5 now has signed me out and crashes immediately when trying to sign back in so it's been rendered completely unusable. I can only assume that there's some desire within Google to make sure the iPhone versions of their products are complete dogshit to try and encourage Android adoption.

avree 15y ago
Did you update the Google Voice app? These all used to be problems, but their latest release resolved them all for me.
- ctide 15y ago
  No, I switched to one of the paid apps (GV Mobile+) because it actually worked. EDIT: I don't really know why I'm being downvoted for this. Wouldn't you switch apps too if you relied on google voice for your text messages and you couldn't log into it anymore without it instantly crashing?
- moxiemk1 15y ago
  This is true - the Google Voice app is now much much better, but it is worth pointing out that there were tons of bugs that weren't fixed for over a year, like: * freezing irrecoverably when opening the app/going to inbox very often * losing all the text you've typed when anything causes the textfield to lose focus * things like gaining network connectivity causing said textfield to lose focus Perhaps this qualifies as ad hominem, but this experience was biblically awful and from a major software company. Seeing how this new Gmail app is a bunch of Web views and needlessly non-standard widgets (=> part of the worst dredge of apps), it makes me start to feel pretty cynical about their iOS strategy. Then again, taken the experience using the Android browser while developing mobile websites, maybe it's an institutional inability to develop polished mobile applications.
chaz 15y ago

ChrisLTD 15y ago

"There's next to no additional value (especially with the currently broken push) provided by such a half-assed pseudo-native app." There may be no additional value to nerds like you and me, but there are plenty of normal people who want GMail on their homescreen and want to get it from the App Store.

danudey 15y ago
Thanks to JSCore's JIT compilation only working in Safari or saved-to-home-screen web apps, they've basically taken three years to actually make a 'native app' version of their e-mail service, which is slower than just using the web app (and feels worse to use).

tejaswiy 15y ago

I really hate how they just build wrappers around an existing mobile website and publish it. What's the point of building native apps then? Just Push notifications? Isn't that supposed to be against the terms of the App Store?