Mobile App Announcements and Testing

[Dark Tangent]

The android version is in the Play Store by now, and we are waiting for iOS to be approved and published in the app store.

[Dark Tangent]

🔊 Announcing new Mobile App 2.5 Availability

The updated Android and iOS forums mobile apps have been submitted and we are awaiting them being published in the Play and App stores.

What's new, just before DEF CON Safe Mode? Quite a bit:

Features & Improvements

• Display user's signature in posts
• Add the ability to allow users to select a Language.
• Add Like button
• Allow Copy/Paste in Forum Posts/Blogs/Articles
• Add pop-up dialog to allow users to rate app.
• Mismatched passwords will show an error pop-up
• Missing phrases available for translations
• Updated Quick Reply phrases

Resolved Bugs

• Sharing a Forum Topic or Blog Entry sends an invalid link.
• Login/Registration/DOB roller input is invisible when using iPhone Dark Mode
• Updated iOS launch screens to fit Apple's API Requirements.
• Attached files do not show if View Attached Images Inline is set to fullsize.
• Forums - Tapping on a picture can display the wrong image.
• Unable to copy longer messages
• Notifications - Closing a report does not decrease the notification count for Flag Reports by one
• Messages --> Default folders created for new users
• Search tool --> Some Search results are inconsistent
• Missing password error phrases
• Allow Likes to be removed
• Notifications Page - Opening the Inbox a second time displays a blank page
• Search - Tabs under search bar duplicated

[number6]

qumqats: I don't expect this to fix the issues you are seeing, but try upgrading to the DEF CON Forum app for android version 2.4.1 which should be in Google Play,

[Dark Tangent]

New Mobile Application 4.2.1 has been submitted to the two app stores.

New Changes are:
Improved Right To Left (RTL) language support
Various bug fixes

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...tin.build_6962
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/def-co...s/id1472107132

[number6]

I just tried a "clear data" again and it grays out the "clear cache". When I try to start up the DEF CON Forums app I get asked "Allow DEF CON to access photos, media, and files on your device? Deny Allow" I've tried both and get same result of the Initial Configuration error.

No notifications are turned on
I originally had Storage on, so turned it off, but no success, same result.
yes
yes
yes
yes
everything matches except for Storage, but making that match didn't fix it

correct, no login possible

yes

don't know, how would I tell?



I just successfully logged into the forum and read some postings. It's painful on such a small screen, but works. I've done this in years past during DC since the App didn't work.

no, not using any of those

default language not changed, so yes, English

no

Thanks for all of the details and answers!

The crypto details your provide implies your OS and apps are able to use TLS/1.2 and support Cipher suites the web server supports.
You being able to login using a web browser on the same device also supports this: the device's crypto libraries support the encryption the server offers.
(Thanks for testing a web browser for login. I agree, web browsers on mobile for forums are harder to read than the mobile version.)
I'll assume this means it is not a crypto library issue. (big assumption, but best choice we have.)

I've searched for other people with this issue, and only found one, and they said they were able to fix it, but no details on how.
I've asked that user if they can explain what they did to fix this.
If I could duplicate this issue, I'd have a very good chance at diagnosing this (comparing client and server sessions, look for errors and see if I can find causes.)

If you are willing, would you send me a forum "Private Message / Direct Message" and let me know the source IP address you might use for a test?
If so, then, again, clear app data, force stop the app, and slide the app off the list of running apps if still present.
PM me the time (GMT and specify GMT or if not GMT your local time and time zone) when you start the app. Feel free to wait ~10 second and change whatever options you want in the app and then try to launch it again. Run with as many variations as you want.
Let me know when you finish (time / date.)
I can then look at the logs on the server from your IP at or after that stated time and see if I can find any clues as to what is failing.
I can compare it to another device running an Android OS and version 2.4.0 and see if the flow for session conversation is different between working and not-working.

I understand if you prefer not to share the IP address you will be using when you test.
If you need me to demonstrate I am really an Admin here (and not just setting my user description to claim "Admin") I can do something admin-like on the forums to show it: setup static web page on the forums which demonstrates I have write access to the Web Root for example.)

Sorry the app is not working for you; we do try to test the apps (iOS and Android) but can't fix problems we don't experience. :-/

Another question: were you in the early beta or alpha tests of this app? If so, do you have 2 copies of this app installed? I don't recall the name of the earlier versions of the test app, but they may not start with "DEF CON".

[qumqats]

I've not seen this error before. I've not bee able to duplicate it.
The latest version published in 2.4.0 (a 2.4.1 should be coming soon, but the items claimed fixed between 2.4.0 and 2.4.1 do not mention this as an issue.)
Is the version you have installed reporting it is version 2.4,0 ?
You've mentioned clearing app data, uninstalling and reinstalling, so I could assume that means you have 2.4.0, but I would like to get explicit confirmation of this.

When you "cleared app data" was that a "clear cache" and "clear data" , or did your OS do the expected thing when you "clear data" and also "clear cache" for you?

I just tried a "clear data" again and it grays out the "clear cache". When I try to start up the DEF CON Forums app I get asked "Allow DEF CON to access photos, media, and files on your device? Deny Allow" I've tried both and get same result of the Initial Configuration error.

Looking at app info:
* App notification : is this set to be on and allow notifications?
* Permissions : (I am right now testing with no extra permissions granted: no camera, no location, no phone, no storage)
* Open by default : nothing set: empty.
* Draw over other apps : Not allowed
* App details: app installed from Google Play ?
* Version: 2.4.0 ?

Does you app info look something like that?

No notifications are turned on
I originally had Storage on, so turned it off, but no success, same result.
yes
yes
yes
yes
everything matches except for Storage, but making that match didn't fix it

When you see this error, it is before you are able to even enter in credentials to login? (It sounds like no login possible if popup over login screen, but trying to not make assumptions)

correct, no login possible

Would you be using the same forum account you used to post this message? (I may not need this if you don't even get to enter your credentials)

yes

According to URL1=https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/view...on=7.0&key=139 :
It looks like Android 7.0 supports TLS/1.2 , but does not support TLS/1.3 : the present forums supports both. Do you know if your Android 7.0 device supports TLS 1.2?

don't know, how would I tell?

Same document says Android 7.0 supports the same ciphers as the forums for TLS/1.2:
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384

Would you be willing to use a web browser on your phone (like Chrome, FireFox, which do their own crypto, but not web browsers like "OperaMini" which offload crypto to a cluster of servers) would you try checking to see that your device support at least TLS/1.2 and at least the two cipher suites mentioned above?

URL2=https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/viewMyClient.html

Are you able to use a web browser app on your phone to browse to the forums directly (no need to login with a mobile app web browser if this error appears before you can login using the forum app.) The assumption here is, if your other app browsers are able to browse to forums with https, then they probably use the same system crypto libs are the forum app, and if their crypto works, then forum app probably should work : big assumption.)

I just successfully logged into the forum and read some postings. It's painful on such a small screen, but works. I've done this in years past during DC since the App didn't work.

Are you using any kind of Tor or VPN (OpenVPN, IPSec) tunnel? If you are able to safely disable it temporarily, does the problem happen when not on Tor/VPN?

no, not using any of those

Is your mobile device's primary/default language set to be English or some other language? If not English, then what language?

default language not changed, so yes, English

Is this app running in a protected container which has no access to send or receive GPN ("Google Push Notification")?

no

It looks like the vendor's version 2.0 mentioned minimum version of Android supported was 5.0, and none of the releases since (2.1.0, 2.2.0, 2.3.0, 2.4.0) mention any change to minimum android version supported.


Thanks for any other information you can provide.

[number6]

The Android mobile app hasn't worked for me for a year or two. I just tried again and still not working.

Phone: LG Stylo 3
Droid version: 7.0 with the latest updates released by LG for this phone, Jan 1 2019

Symptom: I start up the app, the login screen appears and a popup is on top of it with "Initial Configuration An error occurred while installing application with server Exit app Retry"

I've cleared the app data, no change, uninstalled and reinstalled the app, no change.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

I've not seen this error before. I've not bee able to duplicate it.
The latest version published in 2.4.0 (a 2.4.1 should be coming soon, but the items claimed fixed between 2.4.0 and 2.4.1 do not mention this as an issue.)
Is the version you have installed reporting it is version 2.4,0 ?
You've mentioned clearing app data, uninstalling and reinstalling, so I could assume that means you have 2.4.0, but I would like to get explicit confirmation of this.

When you "cleared app data" was that a "clear cache" and "clear data" , or did your OS do the expected thing when you "clear data" and also "clear cache" for you?

Looking at app info:
* App notification : is this set to be on and allow notifications?
* Permissions : (I am right now testing with no extra permissions granted: no camera, no location, no phone, no storage)
* Open by default : nothing set: empty.
* Draw over other apps : Not allowed
* App details: app installed from Google Play ?
* Version: 2.4.0 ?

Does you app info look something like that?

When you see this error, it is before you are able to even enter in credentials to login? (It sounds like no login possible if popup over login screen, but trying to not make assumptions)

Would you be using the same forum account you used to post this message? (I may not need this if you don't even get to enter your credentials)

According to URL1=https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/view...on=7.0&key=139 :
It looks like Android 7.0 supports TLS/1.2 , but does not support TLS/1.3 : the present forums supports both. Do you know if your Android 7.0 device supports TLS 1.2?
Same document says Android 7.0 supports the same ciphers as the forums for TLS/1.2:
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384

Would you be willing to use a web browser on your phone (like Chrome, FireFox, which do their own crypto, but not web browsers like "OperaMini" which offload crypto to a cluster of servers) would you try checking to see that your device support at least TLS/1.2 and at least the two cipher suites mentioned above?

URL2=https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/viewMyClient.html

Are you able to use a web browser app on your phone to browse to the forums directly (no need to login with a mobile app web browser if this error appears before you can login using the forum app.) The assumption here is, if your other app browsers are able to browse to forums with https, then they probably use the same system crypto libs are the forum app, and if their crypto works, then forum app probably should work : big assumption.)

Are you using any kind of Tor or VPN (OpenVPN, IPSec) tunnel? If you are able to safely disable it temporarily, does the problem happen when not on Tor/VPN?

Is your mobile device's primary/default language set to be English or some other language? If not English, then what language?

Is this app running in a protected container which has no access to send or receive GPN ("Google Push Notification")?

It looks like the vendor's version 2.0 mentioned minimum version of Android supported was 5.0, and none of the releases since (2.1.0, 2.2.0, 2.3.0, 2.4.0) mention any change to minimum android version supported.


Thanks for any other information you can provide.

[qumqats]

The Android mobile app hasn't worked for me for a year or two. I just tried again and still not working.

Phone: LG Stylo 3
Droid version: 7.0 with the latest updates released by LG for this phone, Jan 1 2019

Symptom: I start up the app, the login screen appears and a popup is on top of it with "Initial Configuration An error occurred while installing application with server Exit app Retry"

I've cleared the app data, no change, uninstalled and reinstalled the app, no change.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

[Dark Tangent]

Both iOS and Android mobile apps have been update to version 2.4 from 2.3

This release is mostly a big bug fix release:

From https://forum.vbulletin.com/forum/vb...-now-available

The following improvements have been added to the Mobile Suite Apps.

• Add Ukrainian translations
• When opening a push notification it sometimes doesn't reduce the subscription count
• Notifications do not reload automatically
• Hide Create Account button if registration is not allowed
• Android 10 compatibility

Bugs Resolved

The following bugs have been resolved in the Mobile Suite Apps.

• Blogs Page - Blog entries are missing the creation time
• Messages Page - Forwarding a Message with BBCode forwards it as plain text
• Articles Page - Editing an existing article title deletes the existing title
• Search Page - There is a blank space at the beginning of the title
• RTL texts become LTR alignment if the device language is using LTR
• Notifications - Reading an unread subscription doesn't decrease the notification count for Subscriptions.
• Article with embedded link fails to open on Android
• Password length requirement failed when creating a new user
• Resolved an issue where the keyboard cannot be displayed
• Password number, uppercase, special characters requirement failed
• App gets stuck with the push notification post
• Notifications Page - Requests do not have the users avatar
• Read count is always 0 if reply count is more than 0
• The Content Editor can crash the app

[Dark Tangent]

Both iOS and Android mobile apps have been update to version 2.3 from 2.2

This release is mostly a big bugfix release:
From https://forum.vbulletin.com/forum/vb...-now-available

Improvements

• Display popup crash message when app crash
• Forums > Copy/Move Page - Replace checkboxes by radio buttons
• Add a "Privacy Policy" item to the main navigation menu
• Hide Date of Birth field in registration if not required

Bugs Resolved

• Blogs -> Edit Article failed.
• Correct login credentials in COPPA's parent email
• Facebook login stuck at login screen on subsequent attemps
• Facebook Connect is not hidden if FB app credentials were not setup
• Fix Download Attachment folders
• Forums Page - Pagination for Page 1 does not work
• Articles -> Comments -> Clicking the comment author's name does not redirect to user profile.
• Articles Page - Selecting the Categories Tab makes the Front Page/Popular tabs to be blank
• Blogs Page - Tapping on the Avatar picture does not open the user's profile
• Add Thread/Main Forum/Forum - Unrealized changes when select prefix
• Log In Page - Log In error remains after logging out
• New Thread/Blog/Article Page - Descenders are being cut on Title
• Forums Page - Copying/Moving a Post leaves the destination selected
• New Thread/Blog/Article Page - Emojis card background gets cut at the bottom corners
• Forums Page -Separation lines are not consistently being drawn
• Activity Page - Posts separation lines are not drawn all the way across the page
• Forums Page - Copy/Move CTA pop up elements spacing its not even
• Articles Page - Creating a second article has the previous option selected

Translations

If the Mobile Suite is not available in your language, you can help by providing translations. In order to do this, please see this topic in the vBulletin Support forums.

[number6]

A new version of the DEF CON Forums App (version 2.2.0) is now available for Android and is expected to be available for iPhone soon*. (*= within the next week; it depends on how long it takes Apple to approve it, and not find problems with it.)
General Feature Updates

• Added better support for RTL languages.
• Parent/Guardian Support for COPPA has been added.
• Added support for Firebase Analytics.
• The Main menu can always be accessed by swiping left from the screen.
• Accessible features are now displayed in the Main Menu according to the user's permissions.
• The App Version will now display on the Login screen.

General Bug Fixes

• Forums Page - Posting a reply to a thread displays a blank screen
• Posting a reply through reply icon within a post crashes the app.
• Activity content details should parse HTML entities
• Back arrow from registration screen crashes app
• Article comment is displaying wrong creation date
• Notifications -> Subscriptions -> Notifications present characters out of context
• Articles -> Comments -> Edit option is not visible.
• Forum/Subforum title should render HTML entities
• Back Chevrons tap area is too small for iPad
• Tags - Unexpected error catched when using common words
• Registration Page - Creating an account with an image throws message
• Creation date in Articles tab is not displayed correctly
• Notifications Page - Opening/Closing a Flag Report triggers a loading buffer
• Log In Page - Credentials remain typed after user logs out
• Log In Page - Password field gets selected after user logs out
• Post Page - Some BBCode tags are not parsed correctly
• Post Page - Undeleting Post does not update Post status
• Article Page - Comment status is not updated immediately after change
• Messages Post Page - Message when Recipient is missing is not intuitive
• "postfloodcheck" Error message is not handled
• Misaligned check boxes in registration screen

As before, for Android the app may claim it needs access to extra stuff:
* LOCATION/ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION : I can't imagine it won't work with access to this disabled. Assuming your Android OS supports it, you can probably be safe with choosing to accept the request but in the security permission per app, "Deny" it for this app. Testing with this disabled works fine so for for me.
* SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW : I suspect this is required to have push-notification on things like: New PM, Reply to subscribed-thread, (or other notifications) result in a system-notice (top-left corner in many android devices, and same notices on lock-screen when device is locked) when this app is back-grounded, to let you know the running forum app has received push notices you might be interested in receiving. If you don't want these system notices, then this can probably be accepted on upgrade, then set to "Deny" in the app permissions for this app without breaking the rest of the app function.
* CAMERA : You can deny access to camera. It looks like it is only needed if you want to take pictures and attach images to a forum post. If you do not want to do these things, you should be able to deny this app access to the camera. It works fine so far for me.
* PHONE : You can disable access to phone; I've never allowed it. Maybe it wants that for access to address book for contacts when posting?

[number6]

I read your entire thread and want to know, I have an iPhone 5, I have got some issue while updating the latest version which is compatible with phone, Suddenly apple mobile device failed to start I didn't understand, what should I apply now to configure it.

That does not appear to be correlated with an iPhone error.
Official Apple comments are correlated with "iTunes" installed on MS Windows, with solutions from Apple:
* https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5838371 : Upon trying to install iTunes, I get a messge that says: "Service 'Apple Mobil Device' (Apple Mobil Device) failed to start.Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services" What can I do about this?
* https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4091321 : Service ‘Apple Mobile Device’ (Apple Mobile Device) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services.

And then from microsoft:
* https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/apple-mobile-device-dfailed-to-start/6ee41288-6572-4a66-90a9-42be9a66916a : Apple Mobile Device d\failed to start

This issue appears to be beyond support for the app running on iPhone and is something we have not seen on any of our iPhone or systems running iTunes when connected to an iPhone.

[Dark Tangent]

The new iOS version 2.1.1 just got approved on the app store, I’m posting this message with it. Besides the fixed graphics it seems faster and more stable.

Please provide any feedback here.

[number6]

The Android upgraded app version 2.1.1 has 2 more permissions as "required" compared to the previous version 2.0.1:
* ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION : I can't imagine it won't work with access to this disabled. Assuming your Android OS supports it, you can probably be safe with choosing to accept the request but in the security permission per app, "Deny" it for this app.
* SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW : I suspect this is required to have push-notification on things like: New PM, Reply to subscribed-thread, (or other notifications) result in a system-notice (top-left corner in many android devices, and same notices on lock-screen when device is locked) when this app is back-grounded, to let you know the running forum app has received push notices you might be interested in receiving. If you don't want these system notices, then this can probably be accepted on upgrade, then set to "Deny" in the app permissions for this app without breaking the rest of the app function.

Please let us know how these work for you, and if setting these to "deny" causes the app to not run and work for you.

[Dark Tangent]

2.1 Changes

Android

• Image attachments should be handled better.
• Push Notifications work again.

iOS

• New Private Messages will properly append to the existing topic.
• The word delete is misspelled.

General Feature Updates

• Added forgot password feature on the login page.
• Improved registration on sites with paid subscriptions. (We don't use this)
• Tags are now displayed on topic starters.
• Fixed Facebook login config (We don't use this)
• Added Push notification support for Facebook Logins. (We don't use this)
• Added Privacy consent for Facebook Logins. (We don't use this)
• Users can now update their Avatars on their profile page.
• The option to send a private message should now appear on the profile page.
• Social Media Share options are available across the app.

General Bug Fixes

• Messages - Empty folder should display a message
• 0 Flag Reports in Notifications
• Login fails to redirect if site has no category
• Hide Blogs, Articles, Friends from Main Menu if they are disabled
• Firebase get Device token crashes for some devices
• Cannot direct to detail topic from Flag report
• App unable to copy text in private messages
• App unable to scroll to view longer messages
• Topics with many posts no longer jump to 2nd page upon opening
• Ignore feature stuck at Unignore
• Upgrade popup feature for Android
• "text_body" color is not being used
• User cannot return to the previous page by clicking the back button
• Crash due to unhandled youtube exception
• Crash due to undefined variable
• Remove version number
• Registration Page - Incorrect message when trying to register
• Write a Forum Page - Error when max allowed chars in Content
• Write a Forum Page - Error when min allowed chars in Tags
• Post Page - Error when max allowed chars in Quick Reply
• Post Page - App crashes when attempting to post a reply
• Incorrect spelling for flag report notifications
• Message Post Page - Error when sending 2 consecutive messages to same user
• Message Post Page - Error when max allowed chars in Private Message
• Log In Page - App has an infinite buffer at log in
• Registration shouldn't always require Date of Birth
• Activity Stream - Created Blogs do not have the correct label
• Activity Stream - Created Articles do not have the correct label
• UI/UX - Icons of Content in Blog/Article need padding
• Sending a Friend request should display confirmation message
• Multiple image attachment picked at one
• Increase the grey level of Unread messages
• Update Firebase library
• New message shouldn't require semicolon in the To field to proceed
• Calendar title doesn't render HTML characters correctly