BUG: Swipe to highlight function painfully slow. Notes also. (Faithlife Ebooks App v. 6.1.2 (Build

BUG: Swipe to highlight function painfully slow. Notes also. (Faithlife Ebooks App v. 6.1.2 (Build 601024521) on Android 7.0)

This problem has been getting worse over the past couple of months. It was intermittent at first, then happened more often, now it is almost constant. The problem is present with the Logs Bible App also (same version and build)

I suspect the problem is with the connection or function of the Notes system since all other functions work fine. (I do wonder if this is possibly related to the work being done on the new notes system.)

FYI -

I use notes A LOT - on both the mobile apps and my PC desktop app (7.14 Beta 1, 7.14.0.0002).
I have A LOT of note documents
I am expecting a reasonable syncing time between devices (up to 2 minutes preferred, not more than 5). A way to manually trigger a sync would be nice.
I have a large library, though I only download 3-5 on the Ebook reader and 10-15 on my Bible app.

Process for duplicating the problem

Open book: Simple Church
Make sure "Swipe to highlight" function is on, Document for Highlights is set to "Resource-specific Note Document" and that the "Notes" setting in the App is "Show notes".
Swipe a portion of text to highlight the text (and save it as a quote in the notes file)

The swipe looks like it works okay and reasonably responsive, but the app (not the tablet) freezes up for 5 to 30 seconds, then the swipe highlight goes away for another 5 to 30 seconds (app still frozen) then the highlight comes back properly formatted based on the highlight last used.
Tapping on and changing the highlight has the same long delay and app lockup symptoms, whether it is just a color change or a custom highlight - no difference.
Deleting a highlight has the same long delay and app lockup symptoms.

The same thing happens with many different books I tried.

Other symptoms

Syncing the notes is intermittently slow between my laptop and tablet - I highlighted some text on my tablet, and those notes were not in the note document on my laptop even 15 minutes later. They were on the same network at the same time, both seemed to be communicating with the Logos servers (though I wonder about the tablet because I can't readily confirm this).
I also noticed that in the library list, some applications are listed twice, specifically the two books downloaded: NASB and Simple Church (see photo below). Maybe a related or possibly a separate bug? (I have seen this before but didn't notice if it was only downloaded books.)

Diagnostic history - This morning I took the time to do the following:

Reduced the number of downloaded books from about 8 to two - no change

(NASB bible and Simple Church - See attached photos of book info of both for version/support info)

Cleared the application cache for the Ebook app - no change
Uninstalled Faithlife Ebooks app and reinstalled - no change (even after waiting an hour to make sure everything has synced.)
I went to the Logos Bible app and had the same problem.

One scary observation - when I went to Simple Church, none of the note indicators were visible. I checked to make sure the setting was on and it was. I opened the note file "Simple Church" and it was empty!!!! I immediately closed that note file and the book to prevent any corruption or loss of my note data.

The only message I received was after reinstalling the Ebook app, it crashed and I had to restart the app. This happened about 5 minutes after I reloaded and launced the app, while it was probably very busy syncing. Other than that I received no messages from either the Ebook or Bible app.

Additional Information:

The exact version of the app.

6.1.2(Build 601024521)

The make and model of your device.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (SM-T580) tablet; Android v7.0; Wi-Fi only; 16GB of storage; 32GB SD card.

The operating system version on your device.

Android 7.0

Detailed steps to reproduce the bug (as specific as possible).

See in description of problem above

The language the app is in.

English

What happened when the bug occurred? I.e. The app crashed, a book did not display or gave an error message.

See in description of problem above

What was expected to happen instead of the bug?

See in description of problem above

The function or resource(s) the bug occurred with.

See in description of problem above

Any error messages that appeared prior or during the occurrence.

Network status when the bug occurred.

Local WiFi working very well - all other functions with this app and all functions with other apps on this table have no problems and work well with good speed.

Any settings that were changed that may apply.

See in description of problem above

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Comments

Tim Hensler

UPDATE:

Diagnostic history

I tested for this problem on my wife's tablet (same model tablet, same Android OS and same version of Logos Apps (Bible and Ebook)), and the swipe to highlight function worked fine (on both the Bible and Ebook Apps). The difference is that she doesn't use the notes/highlights functions.

I now think the problem is because I have a large number of note documents. That's a sad thought - having my work in Logos documents means they are available wherever I am working. If the Logos Mobile Apps can't handle that, then I would be forced to use outside tools, complicating the ministry processes and defeating the purpose of having built-in, searchable, link-able, Logos platform-wide availability of documents.
I am now creating lessons/sermons on the Desktop App Sermon Editor and using them on my tablet, making document availability and performance even more critical.

I did some additional testing on my tablet - I took my tablet offline and then launched Ebooks.

None of the notes I had were marked/visible in the book
I highlighted a line of text and it looked like it worked, and it disappeared like it usually does, but never came back.
I clicked on the add symbol at the bottom of the screen and selected documents to see if the notes were on the tablet
They were, BUT - there are now two note documents for the book Simple Church (the book I am working with for this problem): "Simple Church" (which has my previous highlights) and "Simple Church (2)" (which is empty). Apparently this happened through the process of my previous diagnostics (see previous post). I suspect it occurred in the step where I tested with the Logos Bible App and had the same problem.

When I went back online and launched Ebooks, the notes/highlights were visible again in the book.

The notes/highlights functions need to fully operate offline and sync the next time the device is online.

FYI -

I didn't have these problems with the previous edition of the Mobile Apps (5.x). They started with the new edition (6.x).
I do not use the Faithlife Ebooks App for recreational reading - it is a ministry tool, along with and especially the Bible App.

I know you are working hard on a lot of features and functions to make this new edition of the Logos Mobile Apps bigger and better, but I do hope this problem can be resolved soon.

Thank you for your help.

Kevin A. Purcell

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/960861#Comment_960861

You might be dealing with your notes file getting too large. I create a new notes/highlighting document for each book I read. I have one for all Bible notes and a few for other general notes, but a book like the one you're reading I would create a new file for Simple Church Notes. That way you're not dealing with the problem of having so many in one file that it bogs things down.

Tim Hensler

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/961133#Comment_961133

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the idea, but I have the same problem with a book whose note file only has two small highlights.

I too create one notes/highlighting document for each book I read. I also have one note file for each book of the Bible except for those that I have lots of notes for, in which case I have one note file for each chapter.

I take a lot of notes. Below is a summary of my Logos documents as seen in the Logos desktop app on my PC laptop. The notes database on the laptop is 18.3 MB (Logos\Documents\ykzwe0fc.dib\Documents\Notes\notes.db)

Note file size was a known issue several years ago. Maybe now the problem is not the size of the notes document, but the size of the notes database (and specifically how mobile devices access that data).

Kevin A. Purcell

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/961213#Comment_961213

I too have a lot of notes and stuff in my installation and I don't have the same problem you're seeing. So may be an isolated issue. Not sure how to help, but contacting the folks at FL might offer a solution. They only sporadically read these forums these days.

Tim Hensler

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/961326#Comment_961326

Thank you for you help, Kevin. If FL doesn't respond here soon, I'll use an alternative channel.

Dave Hooton

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/961351#Comment_961351

If FL doesn't respond here soon, I'll use an alternative channel.

daniel.dibartolo@faithlife.com

Tim Hensler

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/962627#Comment_962627

Thank you Dave

Daniel Di Bartolo

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/961351#Comment_961351

Thank you for you help, Kevin. If FL doesn't respond here soon, I'll use an alternative channel.

Thanks for taking time to detail your issue, Tim. Our team is attempting to reproduce this issue. I'll let you know what we find out.

Tim Hensler

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/964132#Comment_964132

Thank you Daniel.

Tim Hensler

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/964132#Comment_964132

Hi Daniel,

Any updates?

FYI, I have the same problem on my cell phone as I do on my tablet, using the same Logos account, same Logos Bible App (version 6.1.2), Android version 6.0, Motorola model: Moto X (2nd Generation).

Tim Hensler

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/964132#Comment_964132

Our team is attempting to reproduce this issue. I'll let you know what we find out.

Daniel, it's been almost two months with no word on this from Faithlife. Have you reproduced the problem? Has a case been opened? Is Faithlife concerned about this kind of performance issue? Is anyone working on this?

Daniel Di Bartolo

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/978081#Comment_978081

Have you reproduced the problem? Has a case been opened?

We've looked into this, and it's not a bug. For certain users with high note counts, highlights can be slow to load. This is a performance issue on Android, and can be somewhat mitigated with a faster device.

We are exploring some under the hood technical changes on Android that could potentially help users with high note counts.

I know it must be frustrating. Please feed free to email me at daniel.dibartolo@faithlife.com with any questions or if I can be of service.

Thanks,

-Daniel

Tim Hensler

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/978159#Comment_978159

Hi Daniel. Thank you for the update, and especially for efforts towards improving performance.

I have some questions.

My tablet processor specifications are:

Chipset Exynos 7870 Octa
CPU Octa-core (4x1.6 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4x1.0 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU Mali-T830 MP2

Would this be considered slow for running the Bible and EBook apps with a large Notes DB?
Would using clippings instead of highlights/notes make a difference? Would they create a new problem if there were a lot of clippings?
Would notes in clippings contribute to this problem? Would they create a new problem if they contained a lot of notes?
Might the new notes DB/System solve this problem? (I'm guessing the current type of DB may not lend itself to efficient operation with a lot of data and am hoping the new notes DB will offer much better performance.)

Tim Hensler

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/978200#Comment_978200

Daniel Di Bartolo,

It's been 4 months since this was reported, the Logos Bible App and the Faithlife eBook App on my tablet are up to version 6.5.1 (Build 605011191) and this problem still exists. This is more than inconvenient - it is impacts my study and teaching process. What is the status? When can we expect a resolution?

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/986235#Comment_986235

Daniel Di Bartolo

Your best bet would be to email him directly.

Tim Hensler

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/986255#Comment_986255

Thank you, JT.

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/986260#Comment_986260

Good luck!