Free42 Update 2.0.22a

[Gerald H]

New version of Free42 available for Android phones, thank you Thomas Okken.

The "More" item in the app menu shows a column of blanks on my Samsung Galaxy - Anyone else have such a problem?

[jch]

Same issue with my old Nexus 4.

Thank you Thomas for your continuous support of Free42, since almost 15 years!

[SammysHP]

Works fine for me (Android 7.1), but uses different colors (black on white) than the first menu (white on black).

changelog Wrote:OFF now turns off "continuous on" mode.

It doesn't (and I'm glad that the flag stays on).

[Thomas Okken]

Google Play requires that apps "target" Android 8 or later now (API level 26). It turns out that doing so causes surprising changes in behavior, and it looks like this may take a few more iterations to sort out... The first problem I noticed was that the overflow menu (the menu you see when you select "More" from the main menu) had turned all black on my Moto G5. Release 2.0.22a fixes that by forcing the background of that menu to white, so you can see the black text, but of course if the text is white, that doesn't have the desired effect. It looks like I'll have to hard-code the text color as well, all the while wondering why on Earth Android 8 uses black-on-black as the default color scheme for the overflow menu... What other weirdness was previously hidden by the compatibility modes triggered by targeting Android 2.2?

Gerald H, jch: what does the menu look like on your devices? All black, all white, or something else? And what about the main menu, is it white-on-black or something else? And finally, which version of Android do you use? Hopefully I'll be able to reproduce this by using a matching Android emulator, rather than having to debug this without being able to see what's going on.

SammysHP, which OFF did you try, XEQ "OFF" or Shift-EXIT? Turning the phone to off / standby is not supposed to clear flag 44, but using one of the HP-42S ways of turning off really should clear flag 44.

[rprosperi]

@Thomas - On my Moto Z Force (Android 8.0.0), with v2.0.22a the overflow menu is white on black, and More menu is black on white.

I can access the overflow menu by touching on the top border of the 42 image, but no longer by a drag-up from below the bottom. Has this recently changed, or perhaps I'm mistaking this for either another app or maybe much older Free42. I'm using skins Type_H.layout and Type_V.layout if that matters.

[Thomas Okken]

I found a way to force the text in the overflow menu to black. Hopefully that will make the menu readable again on *all* devices. It is unfortunate that the overflow menu's color scheme no longer matches the color scheme on the main menu, but apparently the only way to fix that is to take control of the entire UI's color scheme. Android no longer provides sensible defaults and this is The New Way, apparently!

(01-13-2019 02:23 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  I can access the overflow menu by touching on the top border of the 42 image, but no longer by a drag-up from below the bottom. Has this recently changed, or perhaps I'm mistaking this for either another app or maybe much older Free42. I'm using skins Type_H.layout and Type_V.layout if that matters.

That appears to be another side effect of changing the target: the old menu triggers, like the one you described, or the "three dots" trigger in the bottom right corner, were all "compatibility behavior" enabled by targeting API level 8, and gone now that I'm targeting API level 26. I don't think I can fix that; it's Google Policy that apps "shouldn't use option menus." So there. The top-of-skin trigger, at least, should continue to work on *all* Android devices, since this is coded in Free42 itself, it's not OS functionality that can just vanish at Google's whim.

I'm releasing 2.0.22b with the fixes for the overflow menu item text, and the flag 44 behavior on Shift-EXIT.

[Gerald H]

Quote:Gerald H, jch: what does the menu look like on your devices? All black, all white, or something else? And what about the main menu, is it white-on-black or something else? And finally, which version of Android do you use? Hopefully I'll be able to reproduce this by using a matching Android emulator, rather than having to debug this without being able to see what's going on.

Android version 6.0.1

Main menu white on black.

"More" all white.

[Thomas Okken]

(01-13-2019 02:53 PM)Gerald H Wrote:  Android version 6.0.1

Main menu white on black.

"More" all white.

Thanks!

Everyone, if 2.0.22b still has an unreadable overflow ("More") menu on your devices, please let me know.

[Gerald H]

"More" readable using 2.0.22b, thank you, Thomas.

While Main is white on black, "More" is black on white.

I find white on black preferable.

[jch]

(01-13-2019 01:21 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  Gerald H, jch: what does the menu look like on your devices? All black, all white, or something else? And what about the main menu, is it white-on-black or something else? And finally, which version of Android do you use?

"More" menu is white on white (so all white), with thin black lines separating menu items.
Main menu is white on black.
Android version is 5.1.1

[edit after seeing Thomas' update, whow, really fast support!]

"More" menu is now black on white!

[rprosperi]

(01-13-2019 02:50 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  That appears to be another side effect of changing the target: the old menu triggers, like the one you described, or the "three dots" trigger in the bottom right corner, were all "compatibility behavior" enabled by targeting API level 8, and gone now that I'm targeting API level 26. I don't think I can fix that; it's Google Policy that apps "shouldn't use option menus." So there. The top-of-skin trigger, at least, should continue to work on *all* Android devices, since this is coded in Free42 itself, it's not OS functionality that can just vanish at Google's whim.

I'm releasing 2.0.22b with the fixes for the overflow menu item text, and the flag 44 behavior on Shift-EXIT.

Thanks for 'splainin it.

2.0.22b works the same on my 8.0 Moto, white-on-black, then black-on-white.

While I've become accustomed to your lightening-fast fixes to Free42, I am impressed with how quickly a new build can be pushed-out through the Play Store.

Thanks again.

[Thomas Okken]

Yes, the Play store updates are appearing very quickly now, within about 10 minutes. I guess whatever verification they do is fully automated now.

I just got another bug report, also regarding Android: white-on-white print-outs. I'm not seeing that on my own phone, but what about others? If you're getting this as well, please let me know, and provide your Android version number, and phone make and model. Thanks!

[Gerald H]

Android version 6.0.1, Samsung Galaxy S5, print out OK, black on white.

[jch]

Android 5.1.1, Nexus 4, Printout black on white Ok.

[SammysHP]

(01-13-2019 01:21 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  SammysHP, which OFF did you try, XEQ "OFF" or Shift-EXIT? Turning the phone to off / standby is not supposed to clear flag 44, but using one of the HP-42S ways of turning off really should clear flag 44.

I didn't know that there is a difference between Shift-EXIT (keeps flag 44) and OFF (clears flag 44). The real HP 42S clears flag 44 with Shift-EXIT as well.

My screen timeout is set to 60 seconds and when I do calculations this is usually not enough. That's why I requested the implementation of flag 44 a while ago and I really like it. As it is not possible the set flag 44 directly without ON or OFF, it is great that OFF can be used to clear it now. I don't care about the minor difference between Free42 and the HP 42S with respect to Shift-EXIT and I actually prefer the current implementation because I usually want to keep the screen on when Free42 is in use.

[Thomas Okken]

(01-13-2019 04:45 PM)SammysHP Wrote:  I don't care about the minor difference between Free42 and the HP 42S with respect to Shift-EXIT and I actually prefer the current implementation because I usually want to keep the screen on when Free42 is in use.

That still works. What changed in 2.0.22b is that you can't use Shift-EXIT any more to leave Free42 without clearing flag 44. However, you can still leave Free42 without clearing flag 44 by using "back" (left triangle) or the task switcher.

[zeno333]

The "more" menus works now with version 2.022b...I have a Samsung model J337A...(generic name is J3 2018) Oreo 8.0

[SammysHP]

(01-13-2019 04:53 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  That still works. What changed in 2.0.22b is that you can't use Shift-EXIT any more to leave Free42 without clearing flag 44. However, you can still leave Free42 without clearing flag 44 by using "back" (left triangle) or the task switcher.

Yep, in 2.0.22b the different behavior of OFF and Shift+EXIT from 2.0.22a was fixed.

As the "continuous on" option is not persistent anymore and can be set via ON and OFF, do you think the corresponding option should be removed from the preferences? I'd expect that preferences do not change when I press Shift+EXIT.

[Thomas Okken]

(01-13-2019 07:10 PM)SammysHP Wrote:  As the "continuous on" option is not persistent anymore and can be set via ON and OFF, do you think the corresponding option should be removed from the preferences? I'd expect that preferences do not change when I press Shift+EXIT.

"Continuous On" is still persistent: it is not affected by app exit and restart.
It's no longer strictly necessary for it to be in the Preferences, since it can be turned on *and* off from within the calculator now, but keeping it in the Preferences makes its existence more obvious, and that means fewer tech support emails for me to deal with.