AquaMail Forum
English - Android => General Discussion => Topic started by: BlueCam on February 10, 2016, 07:07:09 pm
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Ok so I cannot open PDF attachments on the chromebook version of Aquamail...why? I've used various PDF extensions and apps but still no go. Any idea when this issue will be dealt with?
-Also, how do you add email addresses to the contacts? I don't see any option to do so. I can pull up a contacts tab but there is no option to add any data to it.
So many issues with this version .. ugh
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Yep, "So many issues with this version...ugh",
Too bad... for an app in an experimental OS environment. 8)
> cannot open PDF attachments
Please have a look into and continue with your other thread;
http://www.aqua-mail.com/forum/index.php?topic=4419.msg24408#msg24408
> how to add email addresses to the contacts?
Can you please check the app's settings:
> Menu > Settings > Contacts > scroll down to the very last item and enable the option "Auto-add contacts"
Another setting should be worth to try:
> Menu > Settings > Contacts > disable tbe first item of the section 'Composing and sending": Contact chips
I hope these suggestions could be helpful.
Kind regards
Mikeone
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Re: So many issues with this version .. ugh
If you mean "the AquaMail version running on Chrome OS", then please allow me...
AquaMail is an Android app.
Google made it possible to run Android apps (packaged appropriately) on Chrome and Chrome OS, so I took the opportunity.
However, it's still an Android app. And maybe this "Android inside Chrome OS" doesn't work exactly the same way as "regular" Android does.
For example, to answer your question about contacts:
On Android, you can tap the sender's image in an incoming message to see his/her "quick contact card", and if the address is not in contacts yet, there is a way to add it.
Please try this. Does it work? Yes - great. No - Google has another missing piece of "Android on Chrome OS" to implement.
In addition, AquaMail can "auto-save" the recipients from your messages, as you send them, in Contacts (app settings -> Contacts -> auto-add).
But of course, being an Android app, it saves them as an Android app would -- using Android functions. How do you access those then? A question for Google, really.
Same with PDFs -- on Android, the answer is "just install a PDF viewer and if one doesn't work, try another one, there are many in Play to choose from".
On Chrome OS, can you even install another "Android" app -- "inside the same Android partition" as AquaMail is running in?
Or at all, can you install it separately (let's assume), will "AquaMail for Android running on Chrome OS" be able to interact with "PDF viewer for Android running on same Chrome OS device"? The way they'd be able to interact when both are installed on same Android device?
If not, that's another thing that Google needs to provide, to make "Android inside Chrome OS" work more like "real" Android.
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Ok so what I'm hearing is, that for whatever the reason, the Chromebook version of AquaMail is crapola. Got it.
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Ok so what I'm hearing is, that for whatever the reason, the Chromebook version of AquaMail is crapola. Got it.
Obviously you didn't got it. 8)
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Well if I cannot utilize one of the most basic, primary features (like opening simple PDF attachments) then for me and for many people I presume, would indicate the Chromebook version of AquaMail is crap, plain and simple. Whether it's a Chrome issue or an AquaMail issue.. none of that is relevant to the end-user. They just want an app that works.
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Sorry,but you're on the wrong track.
I'm not sure if you can not understand Kostya's explanations or simply don't want to understand.
If you are really interested in understanding the core of this issue and which party (only) could solve this issue I recommend to reread or rereread carefully Kostya's post.
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I don't give two cents about explanations. I don't care and not interested in them. I need a solution to be implemented so I can download PDFs.
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AquaMail is an Android app, and "magically" (Google's magic) it's possible to run it on a Chrome OS device.
Given that too much here is out of my control (this magical "Android inside Chrome OS") ...
... I made the full version of the app available for free, and I'm sure there are a few people who are grateful.
If it doesn't work for you -- it didn't cost you anything, don't use it, find another app that suits you.
Have a nice day.
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I don't give two cents about explanations. I don't care and not interested in them. I need a solution to be implemented so I can download PDFs.
I'm not really surprised about your attitude That's what I'm calling 'ignoramus'.
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I don't give two cents about explanations. I don't care and not interested in them. I need a solution to be implemented so I can download PDFs.
There is a organ associated with comments like this. You wear it well.
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I'm sure it's fascinating really but I don't have the time to for a full tutorial on the metrics of how and why. I need helpful instructions so I can implement a solution if there is one available. If not, then fine. I just need to know.
I was on the Chromebook forum and was told this issue has already been brought up several times with AquaMail. I was informed the issue and solution lies with AquaMail and not Chrome. So this is what I'm dealing with.. Lots of pointing fingers combined with the natural arrogance that bubbles up with the tech savvy. Why is it so difficult to admit a flaw or lack of a solution? All I get is a tremendous amount of attitude and the cop-out response.. "if you don't like it then don't use it". Can we please temper the smugness and help me? Thanks :)
And btw.. I'm using AquaMail on my Samsung Note4 and two tablets for over a year. And.. I paid for the premium version on those. All I wanted was uniformity on all my devices that's why this issue is important to me. Apparently, AquaMail doesn't really give two cents..
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@BlueCam:
The point is it's not Chrome OS itself, it's not the PDF viewer and it's not AquaMail that needs any "fixes". The issue is outside these parties.
Both apps are running on Android, and Chrome intercepts certain functions and "bridges" them into Chrome itself. So that's pretty much out of the apps hand.
It's simply that "Android inside Chrome" partition / environment needs enhancements to provide a better functionality for interactions between Android apps (AquaMail <> PDF viewer) more like "real" Android. And this could be implemented only by Google's dev team.
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I'm sure it's fascinating really but I don't have the time to for a full tutorial on the metrics of how and why. I need helpful instructions so I can implement a solution if there is one available. If not, then fine. I just need to know.
I was on the Chromebook forum and was told this issue has already been brought up several times with AquaMail. I was informed the issue and solution lies with AquaMail and not Chrome. So this is what I'm dealing with.. Lots of pointing fingers combined with the natural arrogance that bubbles up with the tech savvy. Why is it so difficult to admit a flaw or lack of a solution? All I get is a tremendous amount of attitude and the cop-out response.. "if you don't like it then don't use it". Can we please temper the smugness and help me? Thanks :)
And btw.. I'm using AquaMail on my Samsung Note4 and two tablets for over a year. And.. I paid for the premium version on those. All I wanted was uniformity on all my devices that's why this issue is important to me. Apparently, AquaMail doesn't really give two cents..
Good strategy - keep biting the hands that try to help. Contributors are volunteers who unselfishly share their time and knowledge. They owe you NOTHING. If you want to play the 'paid' card contact the developer and request a refund. I'm sure he will be more than delighted return that huge investment.
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Once again.. more nasty, sarcastic banter from the altruists but with zero solutions.
What was it that I just said about that tech-arrogance? Your reply just personified that. In any case, the few bucks I paid for the paid version is irrelevant. However, when hundreds of people pay a few bucks it sure begins adds up doesn't it? I made it a point because the prior poster emphasized the "FREE" angle. So as long as it's free, don't complain because it's free. Gotcha.. And if I mention that I paid for the premium version, shut up with that too because my few measly dollars are worthless. Can't win with you guys. Pretty sad and tragic IMHO.
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Since there is nothing to fix in the app itself, the developer can't fix anything outside the app.
That's a fact. No more, no less.
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As I wrote above, it's the Android version, the only one there is, and it works as well as this "Android inside Chrome OS" thanks to which it's able to run on Chrome OS to begin with.
I don't even have a Chrome OS device to test on -- the process of "packaging" my Android app as a Chrome OS app lets me run it inside Chrome (the browser) -- but that's all the testing I'm able to do.
The basics seem to work, I'm able to add Internet / Gmail / Exchange accounts, the app does check mail, the message list / message views work, etc.
I'm also able to click on image attachments and they open in Android Gallery app -- I guess Android Gallery is pre-installed inside this "Android inside Chrome" -- but I guess a PDF viewer isn't.
I cannot fix anything in this "Android inside Chrome", even if it missing a preinstalled PDF viewer means that my app has nothing to launch for PDFs.
And as I wrote above, I made the app available for free.
If you find it lacking, and don't wish to contact Google and ask them to fix the issues (with PDF and other missing pieces of this "Android inside Chrome OS), then just move on please.
I don't have the luxury to chase Chrome OS specific issues, or to purchase a Chrome OS device just for this -- and even if I did, don't see how that would change anything.
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ARC on Chrome should be considered "alpha" too.
Yes, they made it available for all apps (after testing with some specific hand picked ones) -- but does it meet all the expectations of an Android developer and/or a Chrome OS user?
Seems that the answer is "no".
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Yeah I been using the AquaMail on my Chromebook since last August. I could never open any PDFs that I received either. Being an insurance adjuster you can imagine how many PDF attachments I would get weekly. I'd find myself constantly toggling over to my regular Gmail to open those attachments, which admittedly, became kind of a pain. But the Gmail app works great.. never had an issue with their "built-in" PDF viewer. I still use AquaMail occasionally, but it's more of a quirky little novelty than anything that I could seriously work with on a daily basis. In Blue's defense, opening a PDF file is a pretty basic feature in any email program. Whether it's a Chrome issue or an AquaMail issue, this app is definitely not ready for prime-time. So in a nutshell, use something else if you need to access PDF files regularly.
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But the Gmail app works great
I'm happy to hear it.
I guess you just flip over to the web browser, as opposed to running GMail for Android on your Chrome OS.
Whether it's a Chrome issue or an AquaMail issue, this app is definitely not ready for prime-time
I released AquaMail "for Chrome OS" as an experiment, very soon after Google made it possible to package Android apps as Chrome OS apps and to publish them in Chrome OS Web Store.
And yes, there are issues -- because as I keep writing, this "Android inside Chrome OS" isn't real Android.
I don't even know at this point if this "ARC" is going to receive more work, or if they just played with it, released "something" and left it alone.
However -- this is clearly a toxic issue, and I'm sad to see discussions over and over about how "the app is this and that and just isn't whatever".
And apparently nobody is interested in asking the right people, which is Google:
"You made it possible to run Android apps on Chrome OS, there are shortcomings, are you going to work on fixing them or not?"
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Yes but why is it only the user's responsibility to contact Google to advocate for this? Shouldn't the developer be working with Google to correct the issue as well? This whole thing about the user "asking the right people" philosophy just doesn't sound right to me IMHO.
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Yes but why is it only the user's responsibility to contact Google to advocate for this? Shouldn't the developer be working with Google to correct the issue as well? This whole thing about the user "asking the right people" philosophy just doesn't sound right to me IMHO.
If you are really interested in knowing how Android supports and ensures interactions between different apps I recommend to read the relevant technical article(s).
Quote from Android's Developer page:
http://developer.android.com/training/basics/intents/sending.html
One of Android's most important features is an app's ability to send the user to another app based on an "action" it would like to perform. For example, if your app has the address of a business that you'd like to show on a map, you don't have to build an activity in your app that shows a map. Instead, you can create a request to view the address using an Intent. The Android system then starts an app that's able to show the address on a map.
Please be aware :
This feature (create a request to view a pdf-file using a PDF Viewer app) is already well implemented in AquaMail.
> please try out how it works within a native Android system like Lollipop or Marshmallow on a mobile device (mobile phone, tablet)
Another part from Android's Developer page:
http://developer.android.com/training/basics/intents/filters.html
Allowing Other Apps to Start Your Activity
If an app (e.g. PDF Viewer app) can perform an action that might be useful to another app (e.g. a mail client like AquaMail), the PDF Viewer app should be prepared to respond to action requests from other apps. For instance, if you build a social app (a PDF Viewer app) that can share messages or photos with the user's friends (that can view PDF files / attachments), it's in your best interest to support the ACTION_SEND intent so users can initiate a "share" action from another app and launch your app to perform the action.
To allow other apps to start your activity, you need to add an <intent-filter> element in your manifest file for the corresponding <activity> element.
the responsibility for this is definitely on the side of the PDF Viewer developer(!)
To summarize in short:
The responsibility to ensure that the PDF-Viewer app will appear in the "App Chooser list" is (just and only) on the side of the 'action' app, in particular in the hands of the PDF Viewer app respectively of their developer(s), or even on the side of Google's dev team "Android inside Chrome OS".
About the "App Chooser":
http://developer.android.com/training/basics/intents/sending.html#AppChooser
Attached you will find a screenshot, which shows available PDF-Viewer apps when I want to open a pdf attachment within AquaMail (provided by Google's Android OS... definitely not by AquaMail itself)
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An AquaMail / Chrome OS user wrote that he had success with this app, called Xodo PDF Viewer & Editor:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/xodo-pdf-viewer-editor/okimpmfnmbjbaciaeaikdiecpobfomfh
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And to answer "why isn't the developer working with Google":
You don't work with Google, Google works with you (if they do).
They picked a few Android apps and worked with their developers back before the ARC technology was made available to everyone.
AquaMail and me were not among those.
I also don't own a Chrome OS device, nor am I going to get one.
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In summary, I've just released this as an experiment, assuming that Google is serious about ARC and that they're going to keep working on it and fix any issues.
I don't know if this assumption is correct, for example:
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=589927
this is labeled as "unconfirmed" and nobody's contacted me to ask for more info.
Now, even if Google isn't doing all they could be -- does this mean I should unpublish this Chrome OS version? or -- let's be bold -- maybe commit suicide?
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Re: why is it only the user's responsibility to contact Google to advocate for this
Because you
1) paid for an own a Chrome OS device, which now, according to Google, can run Android apps
2) seem interesting in running a certain app which takes advantage of this new capability