I know 4.1 just came out a few weeks ago but we’ve been continuing to iterate on our update UI and @michaelryap and I are super excited to introduce a totally brand-new onboarding & setup process for new users. We reimagined the entire experience from the ground-up to make it faster and simpler!
Here is a short screen capture of the NEW setup process (for those of you who aren’t going to be onboarding/creating new Mesh app accounts anytime soon). CLICK HERE
The 4.2 release also includes various bug fixes and improvements — many based on feedback you have been sharing with us here. Here are some of the major fixes in this release:
iOS
The app always shares your most up-to-date location when using Auto-location sharing and Location Tethering
Your imported phone contacts are complete (no missing digits!)
Recorded trips show all relevant information
Fixed chat screen UI issues
Android
Resolved Bluetooth pairing issues during setup & onboarding
Fixed chat screen UI issues
Improved stability on certain Android phones
Thanks for your help and let us know what you think!
P.S. Here is a brief list of known issues in 4.2 just in case you run into them — we are aware of them and are working on them presently:
iOS
Minor UI chat scree issues.
Android
On newer Android phones running Oreo (8.0 or higher), the OS may terminate the goTenna app in the background. This issue is because of battery optimizations introduced in this version of Android. We are exploring a work-around.
This is a great update! The new UI for opt-in and explaning Gotenna Plus is great.
For future on boarding update please consider two changes regarding privacy and offline maps:
Explain the privacy considerations between a random ID and Phone # that gets broadcast unencrypted over public RF with every Shout message. A simple “Use a random ID instead of your phone number to protect privacy, but you will have to add contacts manually” or something. When I setup a group of phones at once, I use a random ID and send a "Hi from " shout message and use the tap and hold feature to add each as a contact. This process can easily be automated with “Pair with nearby friends now!” button that auto adds random IDs as contacts and auto-opens a private chat message when the other user taps a similar button in the app (double opt-in). I would venture a guess that the majority of the time, people are setting up more than one phone and want to pair with each as quickly/simply as possible.
Allow setup without a device, so you can download maps before having a device to pair with. I’ve had people download the app then meet me in places with no cell data service, that would have appreciated being able to download maps before the trip. (Choose your Gotenna below, or click “Pair Later” and add a screen about where to find the Pair feature later, then go straight to map download selection).
These are small potatoes compared to some other things - THANK YOU for fixing the iPhone auto location bug, that was a big deal to enable easier range testing!
For iOS location, how often does location data update for auto-response? I have an iPhone 4s running 9.3.5 that I’d like to use as a tracker, but I’m still having issues getting the location to update automatically.
If I send location from the 4s, it is up to date, but requesting location from another device still doesn’t update it.
Yes, running 4.2. Installed the update this morning. I also updated the firmware on the iPhone’s paired mesh unit.
I tried closing the app in multitasking and did hard reset of the phone, as well as deleting the pins from the map. When I send a location request, it keeps the same updated time from when I manually sent my location.
@MrTSolar If you don’t mind losing your saved pins and contacts, I would consider logging out of the app, deleting the app, reinstalling it from the App Store, and restarting an account in case the bug is “saved” in your instance of the app (in spite of updating to 4.2). Otherwise @Rahul_Subramany might have some other ideas.
It kinda works on my 5s. I requested location with the phone in sleep mode, and received an out-of-date pin. I woke the phone up and switch to the map, and the next request was up to date. It seems to only update once per wake cycle.
Unless I’m doing this wrong and it only updates when the location changes. I should be able to do some roaming testing tonight to see if I can narrow it down.
I have always experienced this, even on older Android devices. My current OS level is 7.1.1 and that still happens. Normally it’s not an issue other than missing some notifications. However, if I’m recording a trip, it gets completely cancelled out.
Have you ever resolved this issue? I’m having the same problem with my iphone 6s. I just received my goTenna’s last month so everything is the latest version.
I haven’t noticed this as an issue, but I could have missed it. I regularly use a iP5 and iP6 when testing by leaving one here and using the other in the Meshmobile to send back to it.
However, I don’t think you generally want the GPS running in Sleep mode or the battery will drain, but you probably want it as an option in some cases? Am I recalling right that GPS is manually selectable in settings somewhere (although can’t find it right now)?
5.0 will be the Real.O Thing. Engineering attention is likely focused there right now and pretty much done with 4.anything unless it’s a fatal flaw. I suspect our patience will be rewarded soon.
Thanks for answering. I tried mine again this morning with no luck. I did receive a message this time that asked me to check my settings to let goTenna use the location services on my iphone. I checked it again and it was still set to allow it. I may just uninstall and reinstall the goTenna app.
Respectfully, I’m with latest 4.2 on several devices (iOS and Android)… and it sure seems to disconnect an awful lot. Have changed power save settings as best as I can (on all several devices) but it still seems kinda wonky and prone to disconnect and not notify me (of disconnection or subsequent messages… and the buffer memory in the device doesn’t seem to re-deliver attempt once reconnected to phone). So there seems to be a lot of messages lost. Is there any chance of an updated 5.0 or beta that we could pump out asap to first responders or sophisticated users in hurricane zones? Not only that, but the increase from 2 intermediate hops would REALLY help with spreading the news in a hurricane situation. Dynamic maps (to any degree) would be really helpful too. (Opt-in of course).
While the sentiment here is great, I think offering beta apps and firmware, which are prone to be buggy and certainly need multiple updates, is actually more trouble than you’d want first responders to encounter. Luckily, 5.0 is only moments away from release. We’re addressing both the disconnect issues and increasing hops. I think one stable update to 5.0 will severely help those using Mesh in hurricane zones.
