Important: Gospel Library for Windows 10 Mobile version 4.0.0.0

[ToManyLetters]

Unfortunately, the mobile version of the update for 4.0.0.0 was released prematurely and is currently in a pre-beta state. It may be several weeks before we are able to get the app to a largely functional state on mobile devices. The rollout happening now was only supposed to be for tablets, desktops, laptops, and two-in-one devices. An error in the app submission process has caused the app to release for phones before the update was ready.

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

[krr428]

It may be several weeks before we are able to get the app to a largely functional state on mobile devices.

I realize that this app is being developed by volunteers, but are we realistically within a time frame of "several weeks" and not "several months" (if not more)? I know that the beta has never worked properly on Windows Phone platform up to this point, which doesn't exactly give me confidence that a quick fix ("weeks") is technically feasible. I relied quite heavily on the older Windows 8.1 version of the app, so having no working version of the app is problematic.

There are a couple of problems now:

(1) There is now no working version of the Gospel Library for Windows Mobile.

(2) The development team is not accepting bug reports for the Windows 10 mobile platform (see https://tech.lds.org/wiki/Gospel_Library_for_Windows_10). It is one thing to say, "We will accept your bug reports, but we aren't going to fix them right now." That's fine --- I understand that the dev team has limited time and resources. It is quite another to say, "We don't want to listen to you at all." How do you know whether you've fixed something if you refuse to listen when things are broken? There should be a way to at least document problems on mobile, even if you don't have manpower to fix them.

It would be nice if I could just hop on Github, grab the code, fix the issue, and submit a PR myself. At the very least, there should be a public, well-defined way to document bugs.

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Yeah, me too.

[ToManyLetters]

I realize that this app is being developed by volunteers, but are we realistically within a time frame of "several weeks" and not "several months" (if not more)?

Yes. Those who have participated in the tablet beta can testify just how fast development has gone over the course of its beta.

I know that the beta has never worked properly on Windows Phone platform up to this point

There has yet to be a public beta on Windows 10 Mobile and nearly no dedicated development has been done for the platform. What users have been seeing so far is just the result of the Universal Windows Platform. Now that our tablet app is out, we're turning our attention to phones. Development will accelerate dramatically.

I relied quite heavily on the older Windows 8.1 version of the app, so having no working version of the app is problematic.

I can understand that. We were also quite upset when the Windows Store decided to replace our functional 8.1 app on phones with the Windows 10 Mobile app that we hadn't even prepare for the start of a public beta.

(1) There is now no working version of the Gospel Library for Windows Mobile.

For many users, even though it's in a bit of a rough state, the app does work, even if the UI isn't ideal. In fact, several users have sent emails in saying how much they love the new app compared with the old. The biggest limiter right now is those who hit the "Busy" error during initial startup.

The development team is not accepting bug reports for the Windows 10 mobile platform (see https://tech.lds.org/wiki/Gospel_Library_for_Windows_10).

No, we aren't. That is because we already know about the critical issues on phones and have yet to start beta testing. After our meeting on Saturday morning, it's likely we'll begin openly testing and taking feedback anyway, because of the issue the Windows Store has caused us. We did not want to start testing yet because we know the app has some critical issues and some UI problems. We wanted to fix those before we got hundreds of emails about things we already know about anyway. We know users are excited about movement in the app and are anxious to begin sending in reports, but at this point, it's not helpful. We're already frustrated with the Windows Store right now and would rather expend our efforts on fixing what we know is broken than being told that the media features aren't appearing, tabs are gone, and the help guide doesn't relate at all to the app. We're aware. There's frustration all around, both on the team and in our userbase. We specifically told the Windows Store to NOT release the 4.0.0.0 update to phones, and you're seeing just how well that's worked. The Windows Store fiasco has caused us to get stuck in this unfortunate limbo. We're working to escape it as fast as we can.

How do you know whether you've fixed something if you refuse to listen when things are broken?

Once we begin open testing, we'll take it all in. As mentioned above, we haven't started testing on Windows 10 Mobile and haven't started even working on the bugs we know about. No user has reported bugs we don't already know about on mobile. Even though we're not actively taking feedback on mobile right now doesn't mean we're not still keeping an eye on the issues with the app. The Windows Store issue is causing us all sorts of grief. We're working to deal with the issue as fast as we can. Once we've made an effort to fix the issues, we'll ask our users if they've gone away.

It would be nice if I could just hop on Github, grab the code, fix the issue, and submit a PR myself.

The Gospel Library for Windows project is open to the public. Gospel Library Windows at tech.lds.org/projects. You'll need a current MSDN suscription, but if you contribute actively to the project, we have ways to work with you on it. We use Visual Studio Online.

Yeah, me too.

Understand that this was not our choice to release before we knew the app was ready and that we're working to improve the app for everyone. We're frustrated, too.

[kyliemd]

Thank you to all the developers for your work on this update! Although I'm not the original poster on this, I feel that you answered the above concerns well. I'm glad to know the problem isn't just my phone or something I did wrong.

[ToManyLetters]

An update:

It should now be possible to revert back to version 2.x by uninstalling and reinstalling the app on your mobile devices. We apologize again for the inconvenience.

[clint.hanson]

Just wanted to post a "Thank You" to the developers. Keep up the good work. Right now I have both v2 and v4 Beta on my phone. V4 works surprisingly well even if it is optimized for Tablets and Desktops.