Android client

iveyj1iveyj1
in KiwiSDR Discussion
Folks,
Is there any prospect of an version that works on android browsers?  It's tantalizingly close but just doesn't quite work on my phone or tablet.  Maybe there just isn't enough processing power.

Thanks,
Jack

Comments

  • jksjks
    We need to buy an Android tablet device that is capable of remote browser debugging (like over a USB connection or something). Any suggestions from anyone who has done this?

    We've had one report for a Huawei MediaPad using Chrome on Android 4.4.4. The page loads slow, always gets audio under runs and no waterfall or spectrum ever shows up (probably due to the fact that they are now sync'd to the audio). Does it work similarly for you?

    I've added this specifically to the bug list.

  • iveyj1iveyj1
    The page loads very slowly on both Chrome and Firefox, especially the initial photo and dialogs.  The audio is choppy and you hear everything twice. If you get lucky you can change the frequency.  The pop-up keyboard interferes badly with everything.  The waterfall actually sort of works, although there is way too much stuff overlaying it.

    Even a really bare-bones interface with frequency, mode, and band edges, (i.e. no waterfall, etc.) would be very useful.





  • jksjks
    edited November 2016
    There is a separate wish list item for a "responsive design" mobile interface. That's what WebSDR had to do.

    Difficult to say what might be wrong by these symptoms. It sounds like the device is underpowered and/or the Javascript interpreter is not so great. But both of these are actually unlikely these days. The processors and GPUs on tablets and phones are so fast, and Javascript JIT compilers are so good, that HTML5 browser-based games work just fine. The Kiwi stuff is no more complicated than the average mobile game. So something else must be going on..

  • jksjks
    Okay, I bought a low-cost/performance tablet that runs Android 5.x (Lollipop). Will try it in a few days when it get here.

  • jksjks
    I got a Huawei MediaPad T1-701w (Android 4.4.2, 7" 600x1024 screen, Quad-core 1.2 GHz, 1GB RAM). It cost less then a decent meal out.

    Firefox 49.0.2 ran the KiwiSDR on my local WiFi network fine. A few sites from sdr.hu also ran fine. It takes a full 30 seconds to load the first time you visit a new site or the Javascript changes on that site. Probably because the Javascript is getting pre-compiled for speed. But after that there were no real audio or waterfall problems. It was about as good as my older iPads. After a device or browser restart there was little loading delay.

    Chrome 54.0.2840.68 was a different story. Audio "doubling" (where it repeats the last buffer played when it doesn't receive new audio in time) whenever anything else was going on. Even if you just changed the volume up/down buttons. But if you left the device alone it was okay.

    The next update will fix the on-screen keyboard popping up all the time. Until then tap in the area of the control panel where the WF min/max sliders display "-NN dBFS". This problem occurs because I always keep the text in the frequency box selected so you don't have to select it first before entering a new frequency. But doing this is the cue it seems for mobile devices to popup their entry keyboard. Easy enough to fix.

  • jksjks
    Okay, the v1.22 release that just went out fixes a few things. I know a completely new mobile interface is needed, but until then maybe this will make the situation a little more tolerable.

     For mobile devices:
    1. Keyboard popup problem fixed.
    2. All panels and the photo default hidden/closed except for the control panel.
    3. No panel or photo sliding animation -- too slow for mobile browsers.
    4. For iOS, the required "audio start" button is larger and in the center of the window.

    It's still essentially useless on a small-screen device like a phone.

  • iveyj1iveyj1
    Very nice, it's much more usable now, thank you.

    I ended up doing a factory reset on my tablet and the audio is improved.  My tablet is an LG V510 with Android 5.10 build LMY47O.L017 

    Chrome 54.0.2840.85 works pretty well, with roughly one ~100ms stutter per minute with nothing else going on. The waterfall works ok.
    On Firefox 49.0.2 both the waterfall and the audio have problems.

    I wonder if a switch to turn off or slow the waterfall would help the stutter.

    I tried several tablets at the computer store with pre-1.22 with varying results - ranging from working ok to crashing the browser.  If it's helpful I can do it again and document better.

    Thanks again,
    Jack


  • eric_j_johnsoneric_j_johnson
    No audio and no audio button on ios 10.1.1      
    I do the see  the  new start OpenWebRX, waterfall looks fine, and operates fine, just no sound. 
    Software v 1.26....Audio is fine in MacOSX on Safari.
    Any suggestions?
    Thanks
    Eric
  • jksjks
    Hmm. Works on my iPhone 5S running iOS 10.1.1 and also an ancient iPad stuck at iOS 9.3.5
    In a few hours I can test on a brand new iPad 4 mini running 10.1.1

    The large "Start OpenWebRX" button replaces the little "iOS audio start" button on the lower-right control panel.

  • eric_j_johnsoneric_j_johnson
    Actually works for me after rebooting the device.   New interface is usable.   Thanks and sorry for the false report

  • jksjks
    No worries. Your report will likely help someone else who's searching for answers.

  • iveyj1iveyj1
    I just got a new tablet - Samsung Tab S2 8.0 SM-T713 and it works well and consistently on that, other than the UI caveats (can't drag waterfall, etc.). 
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