Keeps crashing on start up.

benjin — Wed, 09/10/2008 - 10:59

[DEVELOPER'S NOTE]: All issues discussed in this thread have been resolved in version 1.2.0. Take note of the dates of the posts in this thread. Most of them are very old.[/DEVELOPER'S NOTE]

Hi guys,I just bought a copy of the time logger software from iTunes and the first time I install and open it, it works fine. However the next time I open the program it gets to the loading data screen then crashes. If I reinstall it from iTunes the same thing happens... First time good, then crashes every time. Help!

Technical Support

More info abour crashes

costmo — Tue, 09/23/2008 - 17:47

There are a very few people (3 have reported it so far) out of the many, many users of TimeLogger that have reported the issue of crashing on startup after the first use.

It's definitely a real issue, that fortunately only affects a very small fraction of a percent of users, but unfortunately for those who have it - they've still got an issue.

Regardless of the small number of people who have the issue, we are determined to resolve it ASAP.

From what we can tell, it appears to affect people who have unlocked iPhones.

We're digging through any code that could possibly be related, and are in the meantime in contact with Apple Developer Technical Support in search of a definitive solution.

We'll keep you posted.

Also crashing

Anonymous — Tue, 09/23/2008 - 16:06

Hi,
I have the same problem, program crashing on startup. I tried your steps and got up to #5. After closing program, I can't start it again, it always crash on startup. I have old iPhone with 2.1.

Radek

RE: Also crashing

costmo — Tue, 09/23/2008 - 17:27

Hello,

By any chance, are you using an unlocked phone (or are you in a country where Apple cannot lock the phone to a particular carrier)?

What country are you in, and what International settings and keyboard do you use?

I have a hunch that the common thread between the few of you who are having this issue is related to unlocked devices, but I need confirmation.

If you prefer, you may carry on this discussion privately by sending a message to chris@costmosoft.com

Thanks.

RE: Keeps crashing on start up.

costmo — Mon, 09/22/2008 - 23:36

By any chance, is your phone unlocked (officially or unofficially) or jailbroken?

What keyboard and other International settings are you using?

Thanks.

RE: Keeps crashing on start up

costmo — Sun, 09/21/2008 - 17:25

Hello,

When it crashes, is it before or after the information screen?

Will you do me a favor and delete the application from your phone, reinstall it. Open the program, and then close the program without entering any data. Open the program again. Do you have the same symptoms?

Let me know what you get with these steps and we'll go from there.

Thanks.

RE: Keeps crashing on start up

costmo — Sun, 09/21/2008 - 17:27

Also,

If it crashes after restoring your data (as indicated previously), I would like to have a copy of your backup file for testing.

Thanks.

Same problem here

Anonymous — Sat, 09/20/2008 - 22:54

Hi there,

I have an iPhone 3G 2.1 and after buying TimeLogger, I have exactly the same problem here. The first time after installing the app, it works fine but every subsequent launch ends up in a crash.

I did reinstall twice but to no avail.

Anything I can supply to help solve this (annoying) issue ?

My email is [email address removed for privacy].

Best regards,

RE: Same problem here

costmo — Mon, 09/22/2008 - 22:26

Hello,

I will reply to you by email.

iPhone 3G and OS 2.1 are the exact match to what I use as my primary device. We have not been able to duplicate this behavior under any circumstances on any of our testing devices or on any version of the iPhone/iPod OS, so we would love to do whatever we can to be able to replicate the problem so that we can come to a solution.

Thanks.

RE: Keeps crashing on start up.

costmo — Wed, 09/10/2008 - 12:03

This is a known bug in iPhone/iPod OS that is supposed to be addressed in the 2.1 firmware release this Friday.

Try rebooting (power cylce) your iPhone/iPod. Hold down the power button until you get the power off slider, and then slide it. Wait a few seconds and turn the device back on.

This isn't a TimeLogger-specific issue, it just happened to hit you with that app.

Here's more reading about the issue:

http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2008/08/19/jobs-fix-for-iphone-apps-crashing-in-september/

and:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/08/19/steve_jobs_vows_iphone_app_crash_fix_for_september.html

In yesterday's announcement from Apple, Steve Jobs claimed that firmware version 2.1 (expected on Friday) will fix it with this comment, "This is a big update, it fixes lots of bugs. Fewer dropped calls, big battery life improvements. No crashes with Apps. Backing up is faster."

I'm pretty sure that this (the power cycle temporarily, the firmware update permanently) will fix the problem you are having. Please let us know if you have any other problems or concerns.

RE: Keeps crashing on start up.

costmo — Wed, 09/10/2008 - 12:53

A quick update...

People are reporting that the already released iPod Touch 2.1 firmware fixes the "App Crashing" issues that people are having with third party apps:

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/09/10/ipod-touch-2-1-firmware-features-and-availability/

It is reasonably safe to assume that this will apply to iPhone users as well.

Crashings...

benjin — Wed, 09/10/2008 - 13:34

Thanks for the heads up about the firmware fix. The power down thing doesn't work. If it's possible to post info like that on the app store I would recommend it. I like the idea of the app and would love to use it but probably would not have bought it now if I had known that there were issues with it until later in the week/ month. I know that it's a long process to get updates onto the store but I had just updated my phone to 2.02 a couple of weeks ago to make sure that any fixes would have been addressed . I know that you can't control Apple but it seems like you've had a few users come back with this issue. You should keep those posts on the forums so that if some one researches the application a little they can see what's currently a problem and judge their need/desire to take the chance. If it was freeware I'd say forget about it and just let come what may but once you start to charge for a program a little disclosure of KNOWN problems is appropriate. Looked like a good program from what I could see though. And...I just read the forum posts you were talking about. Wow. That's silly. It sucks. The thing that throws me is that all the other apps I have have been working just fine. At one point I did have the issue laid out in the forum description and did delete all the apps from my phone and re sync them. That worked like a champ. Even time logger! And then I tried editing time logger. That's when it starts to crash on start up. ONLY after I customize the database. I even can back up the database to my .mac account. I just can't edit it.

RE: Crashings...

costmo — Wed, 09/10/2008 - 15:02

Actually, there has only been one user other than yourself that compained about a crash, and his was fixed by rebooting. That one user delivered the message by email, not through the forums. We have only EVER removed a single post from the web site, and it was a feature request that we're keeping under wraps because we don't want someone else to implement the feature ahead of us. If someone had complained about a bug through the forums, you would see it. There was a mention of someone who has submitted multiple bug reports on our contact page, but his reports were either interface related (not bugs, but requests) or were related to the single known issue in TimeLogger (which is non-critical - see below) that is being fixed in the 1.1.0 release. Furthermore, we have finally contacted that gentleman through email (he wasn't responding to our email messages before, which is why we posted to the Contact form), so there is no longer a need to ask for his attention on the top of our Contact form.

It would be unethical for us to remove negative feedback or bug reports from our web site, and we would not do so unless the post was abusive in some manner.

This is most definitely NOT an issue that affects other TimeLogger users. The "known" issue that we mention on our web site that will be fixed in revision 1.1.0 is not a crash - it is an issue where notes, although present, sometimes do not immediately appear in the edit view.

I know for absoultely certain that this is not a problem that others are experiencing - at least nobody has reported it to us. TimeLogger has been selling very well, and I am sure that we would have heard about it had their been widespread problems.

Would you be so kind as to help us troubleshoot it with you?

Please try these steps:

Delete TimeLogger from the device by holding the icon, waiting for the icons to wiggle, pressing "x" and then accepting the confirmation. Press the Home button to get out of Delete Mode.
Power cycle your device.
When the device has rebooted, connect to iTunes and sync. Verify that TimeLogger gets reinstalled.
Open TimeLogger, but DO NOT sync your existing data.
Try to start and stop a couple of timers. Provide fairly quick and simple data for testing purposes.
Close TimeLogger, reopen it and try to modify those entries. Does it crash? Let us know either way. If so, I'll want to provide some other steps. If not, proceed to step 7.
Try to restore your existing data from your .mac account.
Try to edit that data. Does it crash now? If not, something in the application map (part of the device, not the application itself) got corrupted and deleting, rebooting and reinstalling replaced it. If it is, there maybe something in your data that is triggering a bug that we had not discovered. In this case, would you mind downloading the TimeLogger_backup.sql file from your .mac iDisk and emailing it to me at chris@costmosoft.com?
Prior to your next submission of information, please open TimeLogger, click "About," scroll to the bottom and let us know what it tells you for the Application Version and the Database Version. If you cannot get to the "About" screen, let us know.

I can assure you that this is NOT a problem that is the result of a known bug in TimeLogger. If there were a problem this serious, we wouldn't have the app posted, or if it was already posted and something that affected everyone in this manner existed, we would pull it off of the App Store until it was resolved - even if it were Apple's problem. In other words, even if their was a crash that happened every time it launched and it was the fault of Apple's firmware, we would pull the app instead of letting people buy it. We're smart enough to know that a lot of negative feedback will kill an app, so if it meant pulling our app for a couple of weeks to avoid it, we would do so - even if the problem is with Apple.

We are eager to help you get this worked out as soon as possible.

Thanks.

Crashings

Anonymous — Mon, 09/22/2008 - 17:36

Hi,
I have the same problem, program crashing on startup. I tried your steps and got up to #5. After closing program, I can't start it again, it always crash on startup. I have old iPhone with 2.1.

Radek

Crashing...

benjin — Wed, 09/10/2008 - 15:55

OK, This has nothing to do with the fixing. Thanks for being so thorough with the instructions on trouble shooting this. I was wrong in thinking that you had removed stuff from the forums. The original post was part frustration and part taken aback that the app was crashing so completely. I'll let you know how it goes.

RE: Crashing...

costmo — Wed, 09/10/2008 - 17:23

I completely understand your frustration. I probably would feel the same if I were in your shoes.

We've all had bad experiences with bad companies, which is why we're both empathetic, and also adamant about making sure that our users have a good experience with our products whenever we possibly can.

Please do let us know what the results of your troubleshooting are when it's convenient for you.

Thanks.

Navigation

Search

User login

Recent blog posts