2.2.10 very slow to launch and get to useable state

Description – Trying to launch app and look up Bible passage for a Bible Study
App Info – Bible
Device Info – Samsung Galaxy S : SGH-I896
Android Version – 2.2

Initially takes several minutes to sign in and launch so that the most recently used page is displayed.

The app is them extremely slow to respond to user commands, 35-45 seconds to display my Library book list before any change to the display of the most recently used page (avoiding touching the screen more than once to allow the app time to respond).
Initially any subsequent command would make the app unresponsive and I would get the pop up... "Sorry"... and have to "force close."

Multiple attempts to launch and use the app resulted in similar crashes.

After about a half hour I was able to launch and use the app to navigate to a particular Bible Passage (long after the meeting for the Bible Study in which I had attempted to use the app). Apparent reason - the app was too busy checking for and downloading updates (auto initiated, I had not asked it to do this nor did I want it done at this tiome) - in this case a Lexham English Bible update and an NRSV update.

We need a way to avoid the app spending its priority on looking for and downloading updates before becoming useable after launch - we need to be able to go quickly from launch to a new Bible Passage - avoiding bringing up the most recently displayed page on previous useage and most definitely avoiding background internet access attempts to search for and download updates - even with high speed wireless internet this is taking far too long and is disabling the app until it is completed. The current modus operandi might work OK on systems with multi-core processors but for those of us still stuck in contracts on two year old single processor systems we need a quick way to do a bible study with an already downloaded bible version. The current design can only seem to do this later; after it has finished checking for and downloading updates.

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Comments

Randy W. Sims

I've been curious about this. It really shouldn't happen. Android, and *nix in general, don't do well at multi-threading. I'm wondering at the architecture of the app. If it is using multi-threading that would explain the slow downs. Ideally, it should be multiple processes. Say, a library service running checking for updates, downloading them, and sending notifications when a chunk that has been "checked-out" has new updates; and then a user process that requests data from the library as needed, in chunks. Eg. request a chuck of a resource, display it and then request a of notes to go with it, etc.

It really shouldn't stumble along so much if it's using a multi-process architecture. I can tell the Bible app to download a bunch of resources and then switch over to a quick few levels of Granny Smith without much stumbling at all, so it's not a limitation of the hardware or the OS. It seems to be an implementation issue. I would love to learn more about this.

David Schwegler (Faithlife)

The app is them extremely slow to respond to user commands, 35-45 seconds to display my Library book list....

Hi David/Randy,

The most recent update includes some dramatic performance improvements to the way the library works, but also some feature improvements that make some aspects behave much slower in certain situations.

The biggest feature change has to do with what information the library downloads when it updates. Previously, the library update downloaded information about resources (title, description, etc) in your library a few at a time, and resources were unavailable to your library (i.e. couldn't be opened at all) before the update got to those resources. For users with a single-core, older device, this process could take a very long time to complete, if it ever finished at all. Users would often feel like the app did not work, since they could not see or download many of the resources they had purchased.

Now, the library update downloads the full list of resource titles up front, then fills in the additional information (authors, descriptions, etc) a few at a time afterward as it used to (we also will download that additional information when you look at the Book Info dialog if you view it before the update has made it that far). This means that users will now see and be able to open all their resources, download them, etc within moments of logging into the app.

However, this also has its downsides -- it means that users suddenly now have all their resources in their library, and unfortunately, those with particularly large libraries (such as yourself) have much worse performance than small ones. The initial app startup be slower until all that extra metadata has finished downloading, and scrolling in the library can have very poor performance. We will try to address both these issues in the next release.

We still have a number of improvements than can be made, and we particularly do not want users who have invested in a large library to have a bad experience with our app. This was a good first step at making a better initial experience for those with large libraries, so they can have access to all their resources sooner, but we will continue to work to make sure the experience is consistent throughout.

We appreciate your feedback to help us know what areas we need to target the most.

David Wilson

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/450422#Comment_450422

Thanks David:

The previous way of downloading only a few at a time and not having them all listed initially was understandable and did not seem to stop me getting to a new passage in the Bible I most recently used: nor was there any big delay in switching to a different already downloaded Bible version. So while there were obvious issues in having to wait to get to a different book that was way down the Library list, that was only infrequently something that needed to be done. For me at least, getting quick access to find a new passage in an already open (previously downloaded and opened) Bible resource is the top priority - would be nice if in parallel a previously downloaded commentary on same were available per split screen mode. To me it is not a priority to check for new titles or update existing ones when I launch the Bible app - would like to be able to control when it does that, even if I am in a location which has wireless internet access.

Willing to wait for the downloads etc to get updated when I have time for that, like now that I am at home and can leave the app to do its thing, (while I use my desktop) but there probably needs to be a very early option in the Android vesion to bypass the updates and go straight to find a Bible Passage - otherwise you might want to consider a separate smaller app to do a quick bible passage lookup from the same set of already downloaded resources (without starting the main Bible app to do any updates of this data).

Unfortunately right now the Bible app is difficult to work with, and for a quick bible study it is easier by far to use another app (which I got years ago when my phone was Windows Mobile and Logos did not do any apps for any mobile, Android or iPhone, (and for which I only have a few key Bible resources etc rather that the large Library I have in Logos) - would it be possible to do a cut down version of the Bible app which only used the resources already downloaded by the main Bible app ? (just thought it might be easier than trying to redesign the main Bible app to resolve the current problems).

David Schwegler (Faithlife)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/450487#Comment_450487

David,

I'm very sorry it's so bad you've had to revert to using another app. As I said, we think we know what needs to be done to address the issues you are experiencing, and hope to have improvements for the next release.

Also, I didn't communicate myself clearly. Your library has always been kept locally on your device -- we don't re-download it each time the app starts. When I say "update", I mean the process of checking for, then downloading missing resource information to your device. That has always been happening, we just added an extra step at the beginning which allows us to show your entire list of resources, even though the rest of the information hasn't been downloaded yet. If your library is already up-to-date, the entire "update" process is quick, and nothing is re-downloaded.

What we *think* is happening in your case, is that your library had never finished updating before, and thus never had to deal with all ~13,000 of your resources. Now, with the new app version, all those resources are available, and the rest of the app isn't coping properly. You mentioned it is very difficult/impossible to scroll through your list of resources right now -- that's a good indicator of this problem, and one we will address in the next release.

As I said, we will continue to work on improvements, and appreciate you bearing with us!

David Wilson

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/450730#Comment_450730

Thanks David:

Reverting to the "other" app is just a temporary work around I am sure - necessary for use on my phone. I agree, likely never finished downloading the entire library list in previous versions. Current Logos Bible app works just fine on my wife's new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 tablet, but then again she has a much smaller library AND that has a dual core faster processor.

My own library expanded quite significantly over the past couple of months due to the Logos 5 upgrade, Verbum upgrade and the Christmas specials on the Bundles: that was topped off over the past few days with dozens of free new titles by Spurgeon to replace the old Ages ones - so there have indeed been a lot of new titles for the app to update, and quite a few earlier large downloads to update too.

Quite confident the current issues can be resolved, the app worked quite well for me when first released. [:)]

David Schwegler (Faithlife)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/450740#Comment_450740

Hi David,

Just wanted to update you -- we made a minor improvement in this week's release (2.1.12), but did not have time to address the primary bottleneck.

It is very high on our priority list, though.

Thanks for your patience!

David Wilson

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/454545#Comment_454545

Thanks David: Will look for it on the PlayStore later this week..... [:)]