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Wyn, here's an update:
We have been actively researching this issue and we were not having any success finding a problem on our end, so we took our question directly to the top. Google's Android development team hosts a weekly Q & A session for developers via their Google+ Hangout system and we were lucky enough to get to ask two questions of the team.
Our first question described the issue, along with screenshots and specific Hebrew words that did not display correctly. We were told that the team was aware of the issue (it's a problem in the entire Android system, not just the Logos apps) and it has actually already been fixed internally and "will be available in the next release of Android". My personal interpretation of that statement is that the issue will be resolved in Key Lime Pie, whenever this is released.
Later in the session, after some internal discussion amongst the Logos Android team, we asked a second question: "Given that it will be a very long time before the majority of our users have this future release of Android, is there anything we can do right now to fix the issue in our app?" Their answer: a resounding and definitive "No". They told us the fix for the problem involved changes to multiple core components of the Android system (I believe he said four different areas) and they strongly discouraged us from trying to implement our own fix.
Normally these Q & A sessions are posted to Youtube after the session is over, but to our great misfortune there seems to have been an error with our particular video (found here) and it has not been posted to Youtube. We were planning on making a post with this information and links to the relevant sections of the video, but unfortunately that does not seem to be possible.
All that said, the Logos team is always hard at work finding answers to your problems. Unfortunately in this case the solution is out of our hands and will only be resolved with time.
I know that Android has challenges for displaying characters with complex diacritical marks. What I don't understand is why Olivetree Bible Reader can display the Hebrew with proper vowel points and Greek with proper accents, but Logos cannot.
Here is Genesis 1:1 in Olivetree Bible Reader:
Here is Logos 2.11 for Android on the same passage:
There are similar discrepancies in the display of Greek with accents. Although the Greek text is fine when reading the NA27, pop-ups windows, searches and Bible word studies do not display accented characters in Logos. But Bible Window has no trouble with this font.
I am using Logos with Android ICS 4.03 on an Acer A100 tablet and ICS 4.04 on a Samsung Galaxy S3.
I hope Logos is able to find a way to resolve this. If we have to wait for Google to solve it, most existing phones and tablets will never display Greek or Hebrew correctly. I know Logos has much more complex multilingual documents to display, so the task is more difficult. But it is a shame, because these limitations reduce the utility of many of the wonderful Bibles and reference books in Logos.
Today they released Android 4.2 can you confirm if this is the "next release" which resolves the problems?
Jeremy,
We are very interested in finding this out as well. As of right now, there is no new version of the Android Developer SDK/Tools for Android 4.2, so there's nothing we can do to test if this issue has been resolved. That doesn't mean it won't be resolved, it just means we'll have to wait until some device receives the 4.2 update (probably the Nexus 7 first) and then check if the issue still exists.
Hello Harry,
As I posted in another forum, Olive Tree and others most likely resolve this by resorting to using non-unicode fonts. You might be aware that Bibleworks does this on Windows as well. However, what this means is that what you see in the bibleworks font will be gibberish in another font. This has caused some frustration for some of my students who wonder why their Hebrew or Greek didn't turn out when then emailed an assignment. At any rate, using non-unicode fonts may give the appearance of a fix, but it is a step back in some ways. Furthermore, it would be extremely tedious to reset the type for a temporary fix like this.
That said, I share your frustration with this issue. I just upgraded my tablet to Jelly Bean in hopes the Hebrew would be sorted out, but no luck for now. Soon I hope.
Android 4.2 was released today on new Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 devices, along with an update to the Nexus 7 device. Here's a "before" screenshot of a page from "Beginning Biblical Hebrew" in the Logos Bible app on an Android 2.2 emulator:
Here's what that same page looks like on the Nexus 7 running the new Android 4.2 update:
Now, I'm no Hebrew scholar, but that certainly looks better to me. 
Yep!!! That is the way it is supposed to look! I will update to 4.2 then... Thanks for that Drew!
Do you know when these changes will go into effect for the Kindle Fire? I have the same problem, but I do not have the option to upgrade Android. Any suggestions?
Do you know when these changes will go into effect for the Kindle Fire? I have the same problem, but I do not have the option to upgrade Android. Any suggestions?
The best we can offer at this point is get Android 4.2. If you have a Kindle Fire HD or a second gen Kindle Fire it's possible that Amazon could update their system firmware to include these improvements. Android is open source and Google has publicly made available the 4.2 source code so I suspect it's only a matter of time before Amazon (and B&N) integrate these latest changes of Android into their own customized versions of Android running on their tablets.
I can't recall the link, but I was at a site earlier tonight that listed the various devices with the manufacturers stated intentions regarding upgrade to 4.2. My Droid bionic is an affirmative, my Acer A500 is a nyet, although Acer is upgrader newer models. Looking through the list, it appeared that if the manufacturer thought the device to be new enough, they would work on the upgrade. So now I have to decide if vowel points are sufficient reason to shovel out more cash. I don't pay a great deal of attention to them (your Hebrew actually improves if you don't), so for now, I'll probably avoid the added cost and wait for a better reason to upgrade.
Currently the Nexus 4, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10 are the only android devices to be running 4.2 officially. If you are a person who likes to hack your device (and void your warranty) then 4.2 is available on several more devices. I am currently using Cyanogenmod 10.1 (which is Android 4.2.1) on a Samsung Galaxy 3 and an Asus Transformer Infinity and the Hebrew looks great. If you aren't willing to hack then it's probably going to be a long wait.
It's definitely a trade-off. CM 10.1 is doing really well for being so early but there is a list of known issues. I'm placing a link for that below. The bluetooth is a bit finicky so that is the only one that affects my day to day. I have the international s3 i9300 and not an American variant so I can't speak about those. It's actually supposed to be better for the American variants because they use the Qualcomm chip that is open source while Samsung's Exynos is less open.
http://teamhacksung.org/wiki/index.php/CyanogenMod10.1:GT-I9300:Nightly:Known_issues
I enjoy tinkering with tech so CM is a lot of fun for me, no bloat and you can block ads if you want. It's much smoother than stock. It's also a little unpredictable which can make for some fun and interesting challenges. If you enjoy those challenges then CM is for you.
I am currently using Cyanogenmod 10.1 (which is Android 4.2.1) on a Samsung Galaxy 3Have you found any downsides to running this on your S3?
In terms of our apps...
Logos does not officially support custom ROMs, such as CyanogenMod (or Kang, etc). While it may (hopefully!) work, there may be subtle bugs which we cannot fix due to time/cost constraints.
Currently, there is a known issue with CyanogenMod not showing our solid color highlights unless you are in low-light mode.
I also have a kindle fire. I'm not very smart when it comes to these electronics. My question is - if Amazon fixes this issue, will it benefit me, or will it only be fixed on newer devices?
I also have a kindle fire. I'm not very smart when it comes to these electronics. My question is - if Amazon fixes this issue, will it benefit me, or will it only be fixed on newer devices?
Hi Kelli,
If Amazon makes a software update for your device to Android 4.2 or above, it will benefit you. However, I don't know whether Amazon has plans to offer a 4.2 update for your device. I wish I knew more about Amazon's plans regarding updates but I don't.
Does anyone know if the Android Hebrew word order in Treasures Old and New (http://www.logos.com/product/25195/treasures-old-and-new) is being addressed? Is that something that Jelly Bean helps? I've seen the problem in Froyo and Gingerbread. It is a great devotional tool but the words (not vowels) are in the wrong order.
Does anyone know if the Android Hebrew word order in Treasures Old and New (http://www.logos.com/product/25195/treasures-old-and-new) is being addressed? Is that something that Jelly Bean helps? I've seen the problem in Froyo and Gingerbread. It is a great devotional tool but the words (not vowels) are in the wrong order.
Here's a screenshot from a Nexus 7 for Today's reading. The platform changes made in Android 4.2 should have addressed all the vowel point issues.
It looks like it works on your Jelly Bean device but why won't it work on my Froyo and Gingerbread phones? I don't want to root my devices and I really shouldn't need to since other Hebrew resources work. Check out these two screenshots:
Thanks for looking into this!
It has been a while since the last post on this issue. I am looking into getting a Kindle Fire HD: have updates been released that have resolved the Hebrew vowels alignment issue or is it still the same?
The Hebrew vowel alignment issues were fixed by Android 4.2. I believe the newest Kindle Fire devices are running a modified version of Android 4.2, but I can't say for certain that the alignment issues are fixed on the Kindle Fire (perhaps someone with a Kindle Fire HDX can speak to that). The issue is definitely resolved on devices running "stock" Android, such as the Nexus 7 or Nexus 10.