Sorry, I do not like these kinds of comments, but you really need to get your house in order.
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Posted 2 years ago
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Ryan Sherrett, Official Rep
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I’m sorry you’re having so many issues with the Android app. I realize this is a rather small consolation, if any at all, but we’re not happy with it either.
I thought I’d take a few minutes to explain why it has the problems it does. I’m not generally a fan of passing the buck on problems. Frankly, I know most of you don’t really want to hear it...I know I wouldn’t either. However, I felt you would appreciate a slightly more technical explanation.
First, applications like ours use the Accessibility feature that Google makes available in the Android OS to monitor and/or block certain applications and websites on the device. This feature was popular and was used by many other apps, such as LastPass. However, to save on battery, the operating system began to shut down the Accessibility service periodically, randomly interfering with our service. In addition, in late November, Google informed us (along with everyone else in the Android Play Store that uses Accessibility) that we were no longer going to be allowed to use that feature for what we were doing.
So, we’re rebuilding it to monitor in a very different way. We’ve recently completed this work and this new version is being tested by a very small, controlled beta. The good news is we’re wrapping up that first beta phase and are getting ready to open it to a public beta in the next two weeks.
Stay tuned for that announcement and more details about that beta. Thank you for your patience with us through this process and thank you for your engagement.
Ryan Sherrett
Product Development Manager
Covenant Eyes for Android
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Looking forward to the beta
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Robert B, Official Rep
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We'd be glad to take a closer look. Please submit some feedback via the app, or email us at support@covenanteyes.com. As you know, the beta is, essentially, a rebuild of the app. If we made a glaring mistake, we need to know.
Thank you,
Robert
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Ryan, does it seem like this is an isolated thing or are others having similar issues? Will this new beta be able to solve such issues?
Thanks
Ryan Sherrett, Official Rep
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The advantage of doing our monitoring in a completely different way is that we will no longer be reliant on accessibility. Thus, specific problems such as this, which stem from that dependency, will also go away.
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Ryan Sherrett, Official Rep
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The upgrade to the beta should be seamless...at least it has been in testing thus far. Manufacturer specific implementations of the Android OS, and the variety of different devices that, can make this surprisingly "finicky". Certainly that is a goal and one we'll be specifically evaluating in the beta process.
The specifics of what will be in this first new beta are still up in the air a bit, so I don't want to speak to soon. It should probably be pointed out that in this case, there are likely to be multiple beta versions as we rebuild different pieces and try to get each of them tested (rather than muddying up the water testing a bunch of things at once). So this first beta may not have all the functionality this redesign is likely to have once it goes to production. Keep an eye out here and on our blog (Latest News area). The beta release and the details of it's feature set will be announced those places, as soon as we have more specifics.
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Ryan Sherrett, Official Rep
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The beta has not yet been shipped to the production Play Store. We're hoping to do that soon, though. If you downloaded from the main Play Store, you did not get the beta, you are still on the older legacy version which does have some performance issues.
If you would like to join the beta, however, you certainly can. You can sign up here and get access to the beta from the link on that page.
If you already have downloaded the beta, can you please contact our Customer Support team so they can log an official bug report and we can get some details to troubleshoot, because that definitely should not be the case with the new beta.
Thanks,
Ryan
Ryan Sherrett, Official Rep
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I mentioned previously to keep an eye out on the blog for the upcoming beta, but also mentioned I would post something here when we had more details. Well, we're really happy to announce we now do have our first beta of the new Android app available to the general public. You can get more details about this initial beta here as well as signup to participate in the beta testing and download the new app.
The app has a built-in feedback option, so please feel free to give any and all feedback through there.
Thanks everyone,
Ryan
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I installed the Beta version last night and have been using it ever since. I'm liking what I'm seeing so far, and applaud the use of a VPN.
Robert B, Official Rep
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The number of people trying out the beta is growing, and we're glad to see that. As a reminder - ALL feedback is helpful. If you come across anything weird, cool, or unusual, we want to hear about it. You can comment here or use the beta's built-in feedback option. Thx!
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I'm not certain the 'one size fits all' approach on the YouTube restricted mode is a good idea. I understand the thought behind it, and that this is a beta, but I think that needs to be something each user can set. Many things I watch on YouTube end up being labeled restricted, more because of YouTube's political opinions being forced on content creators, rather than on the basis of the content.
Robert B, Official Rep
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Thanks for pitching in, and that makes sense. I don't know much about the political angle of YouTube, but you're right about 'one size fits all'. In real life, one size rarely fits all.
We ended up leaving it this way in CE iOS, and it's been well-received. But, as you alluded to, we have no control over what YouTube considers worthy of being restricted. The use of their Restricted mode is something we have to keep an eye on. And comments like yours help us know it's worth watching.
Thanks again for providing some feedback!
Robert
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AND posting your videos to Vimeo (which has porn on it) is completely unacceptable! You should simply post them directly onto your site. MAJOR FOUL!
Robert B, Official Rep
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I'm sorry to find out about your frustration, but I'm glad you let us know.
Have you been able to submit feedback via the app? If that doesn't work, then please call us at 989-720-8000. The Customer Service Team is almost done for today, but will be in Monday at 8 am (EST).
As far as the change to Vimeo, I'll share your concern with the Marketing Team. I believe they did that in order to avoid the Up Next and Suggested videos that Youtube was pushing. While both video sites contain objectionable content, at Vimeo less, if any, of that stuff is forced into someone's viewing.
Robert
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Robert B, Official Rep
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I'm glad you let us know! Please share some details, so we can take a look at what's going on. We want this rebuilt version of CE for Android to be operational and satisfactory as soon as possible. And all the feedback helps us.
You can a) submit feedback in the app, or b) email support@covenanteyes.com, or c) call us at 989-720-8000. The Customer Service Team is almost done for today, but will be in Monday at 8 am (EST).
Thank you,
Robert
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Here are my takeaways from those conversations and my experience with the beta so far:
1) The accountability report doesn't work with the Beta version. It's been completely empty.
2) The beta doesn't track web searches
3) The beta doesn't track many sites I've looked at today.
4) There are hundreds of entries in the detailed browsing log, but almost all of them appear to be system background processes. They aren't giving me an accurate picture of what has been looked at.
Tracking Android activity is my #1 priority for my family.
I've held out hope that the beta would work, but it's not. Since the new beta isn't working, and on certain phones the old version didn't work either, I will have to look for another option.
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Robert B, Official Rep
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I'm glad you found something that works for you. May you enjoy the freedom that good accountability can deliver.
Robert
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Robert B, Official Rep
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I appreciate all of the points you made! Please be sure to send feedback via the app or by email to support@covenanteyes.com.
As you know, the Android OS changed. CE, like many other companies, is working hard to get it's app back on track. I'm hoping that this whole thing turns out to be the kind of forced change that results in better-than-we-all-imagined results.
We can't do it without your honest and detailed feedback. It is important to us! Thank you for bearing with us.
Robert
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Robert B, Official Rep
- 547 Posts
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I need to apologize for not being as helpful as I could have been in my previous responses.
With the beta (4.0.0.9), the in-app option to 'Show URL logs' is not available. If you are seeing that option in the Covenant Eyes app, then you need to uninstall that older version and get the beta.
A regular Accountability Report will not reveal the wide scope of the beta's monitoring ability.
In order to verify that the beta is capturing URLs, you can go to 'View Reports' and select 'Detailed Browsing Log'. With the use of VPN technology, there should many URLs listed in each 15-minute segment.
If you're going to verify that way, let me give a caveat -- check a day last week. Why? There are times when the Detailed Browsing Log (DBL) takes time to fill in. I have seen both immediate reporting and delayed reporting, when I test that function. As a general rule, the best policy is waiting 24 hours from the time of browsing before checking the DBL.
If the DBL is empty, then something is wrong. If you are willing to talk about it, then please contact us at 989-720-8000.
Again, I apologize for not being as helpful as I could have been with my earlier replies.
Robert
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