Xfinity Connect Mobile App

[Anon161446]

You're convincing me not to bother installing this app.  I have a Droid X and often I get my Comcast e-mails on my Droid X through google's e-mail app than I do in my in-box through Outlook. 

What reason is there to install the app?  To get voicemail messages?  That's about the only thing I can figure that I'd get wtih the Xfinity app.  And maybe my address book through Xfinity, but most of the regular e-mail contacts are in my Droid address book. 

Just curious as to what the benefits are of this app that never seems to work.

[wolver1234]

I have an idea...Have the engineers test it on an actual Android phone before releasing it, I mean, come on, if one of your engineers used the app before releasing it, after about a day they would clearly see all the issues that occur. I'm sure you'll say they do test it before release, but I find that impossible to believe since every other person who installs this app has MAJOR problems with it within a day.

[simons]

The benefit of using a Comcast App (in theory, if it worked) is a live reflection of and synchronization with the server.

Because Comcast does not support IMAP, there's no way to have a third party client directly linked to the state on the server.  If you use a POP client, you either have to download all email from the server or leave copies on the server.  If you download all email from the server, you have it on your client but only there, so if you use the Zimbra webmail interfact to check your mail from a web browser, any messages that were POPped to your client are no longer on the server.  If you leave copies of email on the server, then there's no way to delete things you no longer want on the server.  You can delete messages from your POP client, but the copies on the server remain there so if you later check email using webmail, all the messages you have read and already deleted are still there for you to have to re-delete.

A (functional) Comcast App would synchronize state with the server so that you can use webmail or the client to delete messages, and things you delete from webmail don't appear on your smartphone, and things you delete from the smartphone don't appear on webmail.

But the question of why a separate App is needed is actually a great question, because it leads to a completely different solution to these problems.  Why doesn't Comcast just update their email infrastructure to enable IMAP?

That would make the need for a Comcast email app unnecessary because there are other third party email applications that support IMAP, and that work.  Perhaps enabling IMAP on Comcast email would be much less expensive than whatever they are paying Comcast App developers.  And it would leverage IMAP clients that already work.  Surely it's hard to argue for ROI in Comcast App developement when the dollars that keep going into it produce a succession of not-properly-functioning apps.

[Anon161446]

Good points. I thought about the sync feature after I posted that message.  The old app never did sync my e-mail.  Although at this point, I don't want the syncing feature.  Maybe at some point, I will.  For now, the app stays off. 

It used to lock up my phone so bad that the only thing I could do to turn it off was take the battery out of the phone. 

[Shermo_6]

I am not sure I fully understand either why Comcast is sticking with POP based email opposed to switching to a more useful IMAP model, other than the cost to transition.  Perhaps the acquisition and maintenance costs of the extra servers required for IMAP to store all the emails and voicemails would far exceed their costs for mobile app developers and the inherent IMAP email costs.

Not sure Comcast's main concern is their email, as that only accounts for a small portion of my bundled monthly bill.  That being said, I've been asking in many other posts the same question - why not IMAP email? 

With the efficiencies of bundling voice/email/internet, and the efficiency of pulling all emails/voicemails/tv listing from one Comcast app, whether POP or IMAP, I doubt many users would jump ship if Comcast moved over to IMAP based email, in fact it would be more attractive to potential customers.  Besides, people don’t want to keep changing their email addresses.

[simons]

My assumption has always been that Comcast won't enable IMAP on their email server(s) becasuse it will cost them more money.  Without IMAP, anyone who wants to use a stand alone email client (i.e., non-webmail users) have to use POP clients.  Some portion of POP clients will download mail to their client and not leave it on the server, so Comcast doesn't have to maintain storage for all the email of all those users.  (The downside for those users is that once downloaded the email is only accessible on the machine they download email to.)

If they enable IMAP, there's no need for anyone to download email, and in fact with IMAP it makes sense to leave stuff on the server because you can then access it from anywhere, whether your home computer or somewhere else.  But if there are many more people leaving all their email on the server, it costs Comcast money.  So they can provide a better more flexible service to customers but increase their own infrastructure costs, or they can leave IMAP not enabled and not have to spend more money.  I'm sure it's an easy choice for a company like Comcast.

Just guessing, but that's always been my assumption of why they wouldn't support IMAP.

- Simon

[wolver1234]

BUT, the problem with that theory is, everyone on Comcast has a 10 GB email account, so whether people leave their email on the server or not, Comcast still has to be able to accommodate 10 GB per account anyway, therefore it wouldn't cost them any extra in storage.

[Shermo_6]

Good point wolver1234.  If Comcast is offering interent based web mail, then that's already being stored somewhere on their servers, although I doubt they actually allocate the full 10 gb for each customer, just like the banks really don't really have everyone's money in their vaults.  So now I'm really scratching my head looking for the answer as to why no IMAP.  Do they think customers want the ability to read their email if they can't get online? 

[ComcastKchahal]

Gentlemen - we appreciate your patience and i strongly recommend keeping the thread discussion relevant to the Android app issue. I will provide as much information as i have and take back /pass on as much as i can.

On issues with email discrepancies - The issue of emails disappearing from app and refresh not working intermittently is being investigated as of now and it seems like it is attributed to a caching issue that varies from device to device conditions and email content that contains special characters. We aren't certain yet, but a select few users are facing this issue. There are temporary work around and suggestions for now.

Jag1967  - can you go to application settings from main menu and in General settings try and select check for messages 'Manually'? Go to device settings under manage applications and clear cache data. Come back to the app and go to inbox and refresh manually to see if the lists are updating correctly. Also - please make sure you are in 'Email' tab and your emails list are always sorted by 'Date'. I will keep you updated with the findings.

Shermo_6  - What device are you using? For refreshing - when you come into inbox - go to email tab and manually refresh the list. Make sure the list is sorted by date. The list downloads the first 25 email headers and to see more you have to scroll down to the list and press 'Load more messages'. On list scrolling - currently if you are in a particular spot on the list scroll, and if you exit the app or go to another place and come back the app will maintain the position. You suggestion is well taken to indicate there are more messages on top including the email scrolling issue. I have passed it on to the team.

dmb_rox - What is the exact issue you are facing?

Annon-161146 , Wolver, Simmons , Shermo - On the benefits of this app - There are many benefits of the app today over the existing POP solution - access to email folders including external email folders that you have in Xfinity connect, ability to mark emails as spam - to name a few. Plus the ability to access Comcast emails, voicemails, call logs and call forwarding all in one place.  As far as IMAP is concerned, there are plans to enable IMAP in the future( can't say when). Even if IMAP is enabled, the purpose of an app is to allow users multiple choices to access Comcast services based on their preference- If you like to access Comcast email as POP from your POP client you are free to do that, some users like to all Comcast services under one app, some users don't use the app at all. For e.g.: Yahoo, Gmail MSN all of them have POP/IMAP as well as specialized applications to cater to multiple users.

Wolver - We extensively test our applications before they come out to users. The real task is to accommodate multitudes of Android devices and OEM customizations and the fragmentation Android platform brings with it. Many issues that all the Android users are facing today stem from the unique device environment that gets created on the devices - which is very hard to replicate and reproduce in a test environment. We try our best to simulate issues and scenarios. The current email missing issues and others refresh issues are very well associated to the device specific situations with respect to cache/memory and many other factors. We are trying to pinpoint the issue and putting out a fix as soon as possible.

Once again we understand your concerns are all ears and trying our best to figure out a fix to the remaining issues that select users are having. For now, we need as much as information we can. I might have to ask you send me logs or install a test version of the app manually. Please keep this thread focused on issues related to the Android App.

Thanks,

[Shermo_6]

Kchahal, thanks for your detailed response.

I am using a droid 2 global, and currently on the 2.3.3 OS. 

I believe when I check my email I do follow the same steps you note for me above.  Still see an occasional lag of full syncing of inbox, and as noted above, sometimes emails disappear and then reappear although I never checked if ALL of them have reappeared.  Force close issue shave all but disappeared with 3.0.1.

I do very much enjoy the ability of having the same folder structure as online.  Sounds like you're saying this is only possible because of the app?  If so, +1 for the app then.   If the switch to IMAP is made, would this be possible w/o the xfinity app and by using any email client?

Thanks for keeping us on topic.

Shermo_6

[simons]

Just for the record, since I've been having issues as well, I am using a Droid 2 Global as well.

And while I do appreciate Kchahal taking a few minutes to outline some of the additional benefits of a stand-alone app, I'll again offer the opinion that any benefits get outweight by the negatives if the app simply doesn't work properly with basic things such as having a message list that reflects what's actually on the server (i.e., showing new incoming messages, and not showing headers for messages that have been deleted), and having a refresh function that correctly resynchronizes with the server.

But it's nice to know that at least somebody is reading this and relaying feedback.

- Simon

[lpksr]

OK...Allow me to add some gripes about the new Android 3.0.1 App.

First, I am using a Samsung Infuse from ATT. I am running version 2.2.1 of Android.

Prior to the recent version, I had no real issues. Yes, some of the emails from the current month or so would disappear intermittently, but they would come back usually within a few hours.

Now, with the new 3.0.1 version:

- When I restart my phone, the app is completely gone from my "pinned apps menu" on the bottom of the home screen, Never happened before.

- When I first "upgraded" to 3.0.1, it seemed to work fine. Now, I cannot even open it. I double tap on the app to start it, and the initial splash screen comes up......then nothing. It goes back to my phones app menu. I have cleared the cache, uninstalled and reinstalled it....nothing. I does not work anymore. I have made NO other changes/downloads to my phone since this upgrade.

- When it "was" working initially, it would hang on the startup screen, I would tap on the inbox, and a red dot would show up where the messages indicator normally is. I couldn't get into the inbox at all. Magically, a day or so later, I could. Then I couldn't. Then I could.....you get the picture.

- Finally, when I could get in, the only menu that would come up in the settings was the "inbox" related one. I couldn't cycle between the other menu options.

Just to add mystery (not) to this situation..... When I could open the app, the payment settings in "account" ALWAYS worked. I guess you guys nailed that one

What I find amazing...is as I read through the admin's responses about dealing with fragmentation and different versions of the operating system and such.....is that I do not have this problem with ANY other app I use. Seriously. The only buggy application I have is the Xfinity Mobile one.  I don't know what you changed in the background on this new version, but it screwed up my experience considerably...

Any feedback MUCH appreciated.

[ComcastKchahal]

lpskr - we completely understand your experience and the issues u are facing. As i said earlier this is happening to a subset of users and your feedback is greatly helping us find the root cause.

Simon, lpskr, Shermo, Annon and other users - Would you be willing to volunteer to test run a debug build on your device provided by us, to validate the fix? Let me know if you can, and someone from our team will reach out to you with further instructions. The aim is to simulate your device conditions against the issues u are facing with certain chanegs on the app.

your co-operation is always apprecitaed.

Thanks,

Kchahal

[Shermo_6]

Count me in.

[lpksr]

Assuming it won't bomb my phone... I'm in. If this app can get tightened up as it needs to be, it will be invaluable.

[simons]

I too would be happy to run a test build to help out with debugging.  No point in complaining if I'm not willing to help be part of the solution.

- Simon

[ComcastKchahal]

Wonderful! Thanks so much for volunteering. Someone will shortly reach out with an email on to your comcast.net email ID with a debug app and isntallation and steps to test out functionality.

you will have to continually report the feedback and observations.

Thanks,

[timsbay1]

Seriously nobody has a timeline for release of a real xfinity app for android..??? I mean is it even going to be this year..?

[opus20745]

Other than this one: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.xfinity.tv ?

[Shermo_6]

Well, the last few days the new app version 3.01 has been shutting down almost every other time I open it up.  I get the message that's something like "xfinity mobile has encountered unexpected error and the app will relaunch."

Emails on "all" and "inbox" tabs still not always in full sync.  Also seeing a delay when I file an email on website into a folder, the app inbox does not always update properly and shows email in both inbox and folder.

Another question - when composing an email within the app, is there a way to start typing in a contact and have the app find/suggest the contact from your contact list?  Now I believe the only option I have is to type the full email address, or open the contact list through the + button and scroll through contacts to find desired contact, one at a time (no way to select multiple contacts).

[opus20745]

Something that might help out Comcast a bit for those who have repeatable crashing errors would be to install the Android app "aLogcat" and save off a copy of the Androind system log right after a crash occurs. This way they can see the exact error that's causing the crash.

[kapsc]

Test

[ComcastKchahal]

Thanks for the suggestion Opus.

Shermo, Simons et all - you must have recieved an email with a beta test build. Can you confirm you were able to install the application for testing?

[Shermo_6]

Recived and installed this AM.  So far so good.

[simons]

Kchahal -- I installed the test build this morning but have not yet had a chance to use it for a while.  I'll provide an update after I have.

Also, I just wanted to make sure I had the right version.  The current version of Xfinity Mobile is 3.0.1, and the version number in the app for the test build is 3.0.1 beta.  I would have expected a newer version number such as 3.0.2 beta.  Maybe it's too early to mark as beta, but since it's not a newer version number I just wanted to be sure the build I installed is the right one.

- Simon

[kapsc]

Yes. This is the right version. Just FYI - we might update the build with some more fixes and send you guys an updated build.

Thanks,

Kchahal

[Shermo_6]

Sent in my first log this morning. 

I had about 17 emails disappear this monring.  15 unread and 2 read, all received in last 24 hours.  Most recent email remaining was one I received about 28 hours ago.

I tried refreshing, swithcing tabs, exiting and reopneing app - I could not get the emails back.

I captured the log and see that the log shows an attempt to delete the 17 emails, but I only asked it to delete the first email I read.

Then after about 15 minutes my droid locked, I unlocked droid and reopned app and emails were back.  It also coincidentally was about at the 15 minute mark when my email is set to refresh, so maybe that had somehting to do with it.

I'll keep you posted on what developers say.

[ComcastKchahal]

Wonderful. Team is looking at the issue and will get back to us.

[simons]

Interim update with comments on the new test build:

I had been checking email and had the disappearing email thing happen again.  Several messages I had in my inbox that I had already read were no longer visibile.  I did select the refresh command from the options menu and unlike previous experience where that had no visible effect at all, this time the mailbox did refresh and showed the missing messages.

One other glitch: when viewing an email message with a couple of JPG attachments, the DOWNLOAD button appears not to work.  I tapped the button and it appeared to open my downloads folder on my phone, but did not see anything in the notification bar to show that the JPG file was downloading, nor was the file I tried to download visible in the folder.

Not a glitch but a suggestion: the only way I could find to log out is to hit back a couple of times to get back to the main home screen, tap the settings icon to go to the app settings, select the log out option, and then tap "Logout Now".  Seems like an awful lot of button presses just to log out.  Any reason why a Logout command couldn't be added to the regular options menu that appears when you tap the menu softkey on the phone?

- Simon

[simons]

I forgot to mention in my previous post that the missing messages that disappeared disappeared immediately after I had deleted a message I was viewing.  In other words, I was looking at a message, deleted it, was sent back to the inbox view and other messages that had been in my inbox were not visible.  (They were still on the server since I could see them if I logged into webmail, it was only from the Xfinity Mobile app that they were not visible.)

And as another update, the same thing just happend again -- deleted a message, messages in the inbox (visible from webmail) no longer visible from the Xfinity Mobile app.  And this time the refresh command from the options menu is not helping (not properly re-synching with the server to force an update to the message list).

Sigh...

I did notice that completely logging out and logging back in seems to result in a proper refresh -- those messages are once again visible. 

- Simon

[taramears]

I too would be willing to help out with the dissappearing messages problem. Thanks!

[Shermo_6]

Is there any news regarding an update being pushed out?  After testing the beta version, I uninstalled and went back to 3.0.1, and it crashes almost every other time I use it, and blocks of messages continue to disappear when I delete a message.  Quite frustrating.

[jag1967]

I would like to know too. The beta version seemed to work much better. Not sure what is going on now. Overnight I lost the VM feature and my email will only update to October 24th. WTH? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I don't have the time nor patience to deal with this anymore. Take my advice and do what the developer has done. SWITCH TO GMAIL. Thanks for the misery.

[simons]

The new beta did work better, but my experience was that it still did not work well.

The frequent random crashes did stop, but the problem with messages not appearing in the inbox using the app (when they were visible in the inbox using webmail) still happened, and the refresh command did not reliably refresh the inbox to fix that problem.

- Simon

[ComcastKchahal]

All,

We have found the root cause for missing emails issue. We are actively working on it.

That is one of the reason the update is delayed in android market.

I will keep you posted for actual date for next application update.

[outbackerdave]

Are the full Apps options going to work for those of us with Scientific Atlanta boxes and dvr's? They say we need Moto boxes and such but Comcast in my area only uses the SA boxes which imho are a pile of junk and always cause issues for my neighbors and me.

[Shermo_6]

Any update on fixing the bugs in the app, specifically the "disappearing emails" issue?  I have tested a second beta version, and the same issue happens (multiple emails disappear when deleting 1 email), although I do not think the disappearing emails ever return (they used to return over time).

[simons]

Ditto here -- disappearing emails still a problem in the latest beta. 

On the positive side, the more-than-occasional app crashes and restarts have stopped, so there has been some progress.  But the disappearing emails have continued to be a problem.

[robgar]

I have email setup to work through the standard htc app. However sometimes it cant send email email at all. Sometimes it can.

HTC evo 3d - sprint

RG

[robgar]

Not that  I am defending comcast or anybody else for that matter, but stop and think what your saying..

you want them to test a free app, on every droid device on the market before releasing it?

That would pretty well, stop them from releasing anything ever.

RG

[JamesR]

Can you zero in om the confoicting App? Can you remove the Cokmcast App and then re-install it?

[ComcastKchahal]

Simon & All,

Update - A release 3.5 version is ready to be released and is being tested. The release includes fixes for 'Email missing issue' and also introduces some fascinating new features for Comcast Voice customers.

Stay tuned.

[Please_Fix]

 ComcastKchahal,

On 11-29-2011 you said that Version 3.5 is ready to be released, and was just being tested. Three weeks have passed, and it is still not out. I've had and have the issues raised in this thread by other users, and still have numerous problems with my email. It does seem a bit ridiculous that such an ISP cannot get this service working correctly. Please advise, when will Version 3.5 for Android be released? Thank you.

[Giants2012]

I wish Comcast would offer the Xfinity TV app for our Kindle Fire.  I am not able to find it and download.  Meanwhile, comcast keeps raising the monthly costs by $10. twice a year and now even one of my favorite movie channels IFC has commercials.  No alternative I guess.

[WhatsACubit]

I wish you would fix the current app instead of add more features. 

Now, in the Digital Voice section, if I refresh Outgoing Calls, they refresh, but Missed calls shows "No Call Logs". If I refresh "Missed Calls", then "Outgoing Calls" shows "No Call Logs".

And with the addition of SMS, I'm really afraid the app will intercept my incoming SMS, and not notify me because it is a horribly buggy program.

Please add Push Notifications, instead of 15 minute polling. I need to know about messages and missed calls right away. That would be a feature we could use. Cynical me says SMS was added because you think you can charge for it, and fixing bugs was not added because who pays for fixed bugs, right?  

I wish Comcast Voice had a phone forwarding when busy/no answer so I could use Google Voice as my voicemail. Comcast voicemail computer interface is just awful.

[ComcastKchahal]

Hi WhatsACubit,

Text notifications are through push notifications only. You will get instant notifications as soon as you received text messages

[stmiranda]

Editing my previous post because just as I hit the POST button I was alerted to a new version of the app. Downloading and testing ....

.s