Xfinity Connect Mobile App

[JamesR]

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wlutz107269 wrote:

Hopefully the update will include move to SD capability

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Thats a good suggestion, I will pass it along.

[ComcastKchahal]

Wolver - Absolutely. We will update the board when the new update is available.

Wlutz - can you elaborae on our comment 'move to SD capability' ?

Thanks,

Kchahal

[wlutz107269]

I meant that the app can be moved to the sd memory card instead of functioning from the internal memory (which is limited in certain android phones). The android market has many apps such as apps 2 sd which move eligible apps, unfortunately the original comcast app was not allowed that type of move.

[JamesR]

Just to add a little, it is a mattter of Main Memory vs. External Memory. Main Memory will only support a limited number of Concurrent Aplications .  If an App is written so that it can be moved and run in External memory that relieves the pressure on the Manin Memory.  (External Memory being either a 16 or 32 gig SD Memory Card.

[opus20745]

Honestly, it can be any size. I've only got a 4GB one in my phone and that's still got 3GB free   Would be great to have the Comcast app movable though. It's one of the few remainging ones I have that still isn't.

[ComcastKchahal]

Good suggestion folks.

I will have this evaluated and find out what reasons there might be because of which the app is not allowed to be moved to SD (I am sure they have some). On a different note - the next immideate release is focused on improving performance, crash issues and stability.

[cb2367]

I have been experiening difficulty using the Xfinity Mobile App. Lately, I am finding that I have to hit refresh several times, before the app will actually update with unread messages. When I press refresh, the first time it will just refresh and then show that it was last updated at certain time on a certain date. That information corresponds to the last time I that refreshed the page.

I have been experiening difficulty using the Xfinity Mobile App. Lately, I am finding that I have to hit refresh several times, before the app will actually update with unread messages. When I press refresh, the first time it will just refresh and then show that it was last updated at certain time on a certain date. That information corresponds to the last time I that refreshed the page.

I am also having connectivity issues regardless of whether I am using the app on my WiFI connection or on a 3G/4G signal.

I have been experiening difficulty using the Xfinity Mobile App. Lately, I am finding that I have to hit refresh several times, before the app will actually update with unread messages. When I press refresh, the first time it will just refresh and then show that it was last updated at certain time on a certain date. That information corresponds to the last time I that refreshed the page.

I am also having connectivity issues regardless of whether I am using the app on my WiFI connection or on a 3G/4G signal.

I would also like to see the app get updated so that it can be moved to the SD card. Another feature that would be nice to have is to be able to rotate the phone and have the e-mails display in landscape mode. It's easier to read the messages in that setting rather than having to scroll left and right to view the message.

[JamesR]

You are the second individual to raise the issue of being able to move the app to the SD card.  It is a good idea and has been escalated as a feature request.

Your request for landscape mode for reading of Email is valid and I second the motion.mmI will escalate your request.

There is an update due sometime this month that hopefully will resolve the connectivity/refresh issue but ai will bring it to the attention of the Comcast team. So you and I both want:

1.  The ability to move the xfinity mobile app to the SD Memory Card

2.  The ability to rotate the device to go into Landscape mode for reading email

3.  One Touch Refresh

Thanks for the input.  We will see what happens.

[ComcastKchahal]

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JamesR wrote:

You are the second individual to raise the issue of being able to move the app to the SD card.  It is a good idea and has been escalated as a feature request.

Your request for landscape mode for reading of Email is valid and I second the motion.mmI will escalate your request.

There is an update due sometime this month that hopefully will resolve the connectivity/refresh issue but ai will bring it to the attention of the Comcast team. So you and I both want:

1.  The ability to move the xfinity mobile app to the SD Memory Card

2.  The ability to rotate the device to go into Landscape mode for reading email

3.  One Touch Refresh

Thanks for the input.  We will see what happens.

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Issue - the issue where the app continously tries to refresh is due to background sync requests and we are FIXING the issue and others including crashes, delayed responses in the next upcoming update (tentatively in the next two weeks). As a temporary work around (and be sure to change it in future) try only retreiving your messages manually. Go to app settings and change 'check for messages' to manually. This will not do any background requests and will maintain your messags. The inbox will only refresh when you hit the refresh button. The downside of this is you won't get any notifications in the background. 

Landscape screens -  we are working on making the entire app in landscape and this is also going to come in on of the app updates this quarter.

The suggestion of 'move to SD' has been forwarded.

[szeck87]

A follow-up to all of this.  Is the app only supposed to refresh automatically when the app is actually active?  When I first installed it (for about a week) it would sync and show a notification regardless of it being an active application or not.  It should, if possible, still be refreshing if the app is not active.

[ComcastKchahal]

To answer your questions.

The 'Check for messages' setting in the app controls the rate at which app refreshes and checks for new messages (emails and voicemails) and will do so regardless wether the app is active (in foreground) or not running (in background). So that is called 'auto refresh'. Other ways to refresh is manually by tapping on the refresh button in the app.

Thanks,

Kchahal

[gleo]

Landscape screens -  we are working on making the entire app in landscape and this is also going to come in on of the app updates this quarter.

Hopefully that applies to TV listings as portrait mode is too awful to exist. 

The suggestion of 'move to SD' has been forwarded

Would it also be possible to cache TV listing data to SD card? Currently, each time you scroll forward/backward in time or up/down in channel you must wait for "data loading....". One or two weeks worth of data shouldn't use too much space.

Eventually (2011?) is the plan to allow the Android app, the Apple app, and the web Xfinity TV Listings to share or use your Favorite Channels and other preferences?

[cb2367]

I am having problems viewing messages. Regardless of whether I am on a wirless connection or using the cellular network, I keep receiving an error message that indicates Xfinity encountered an error processing your request. It also does this when trying to check for new messages. I had successfully loaded new messages, and then I pressed the back button on my phone. I now have a message that won't display and I get the error proccessing your request. How do I get this stuck message cleared?

[ComcastKchahal]

We are aware of this issue. It is related to caching. There is new update coming out soon -within a week or two to fix it. Stay tuned for the update.

Meahwhile a temporary fix to this issue is - Go to your device settings/Manage applications / Xfinity mobile - and Clear data. This will clean up the cache.

Then in Xfinity mobile app settings - change ' Check for messages' to manual - this will reduce the number of background processes- (doing this will not notify you on new messages as they arrive) and you will have to refresh the inbox by manually pressing the refresh button. Be sure to change this to original setting after you get the update.

let us know what happens.

Appreciate your feedback 

[cb2367]

I am not seeing any option for changing the e-mail settings for the Xfinity app. I've accessed my device settings, gone to applications, manage applications, and selected Xfinity Mobile. All that is listed there is uninstall, clear cache, and force stop.

I had another issue which may be related to the caching. At one point, I had 27 messages according the Xfinity App. I was looking at a message and then I pressed the back button on my phone. Lately, my phone has been lagging, so the back command didn't register immediately. I pressed it a couple more times and then all the sudden I was back at the inbox screen and the app was showing a message stating that there was no content to show. It was as if all my messages had been deleted. I signed out and signed back in, but still had no messages.

When I was able to get to my computer and open Outlook, I was able retrieve all messages. Actually, the message count was off and Outlook actually downloaded 54 messages.

[szeck87]

Yes there are problems with emails disappearing, known issue that hopefully will be fixed in the next update.  As far as changing email settings, you have to go to the xfinity mobile home screen, and at the bottom right you'll see the settings icon.  Press it and you'll be where you need to be.

[JamesR]

Yup, D settings icon looks like a little deer in the lower right hand corner of the screen. In the lower left hand corner of the screen is a small lower case I Which probably stand for info. When you tap that icon it brings up a new menu that includes a link back here to this board.

[JamesR]

Yup, the settings icon looks like a little gear in the lower right hand corner of the screen. In the lower left hand corner of the screen is a small lower case I Which probably stands for info. When you tap that icon it brings up a new menu that includes a link back here to this board.

[ComcastKchahal]

All - an update to the Android Xfinity Mobile app has been just released. The new version is called 2.0.2. 

you will have to log back in to the app once more after the update. The release should fix majority of the email issues. For those you went ahead and changed their 'Check for messages' setting in the app to 'manual' can go back to their original settings. 

Any more issues - feel free to report here. We are already working on the next update to make the app better and add some interesting features. The current update does not have all landscape screens but the 2.0.3 update will have the entire app in landscape mode. 

Thanks

Kchahal 

[ComcastKchahal]

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opus20745 wrote:

Honestly, it can be any size. I've only got a 4GB one in my phone and that's still got 3GB free   Would be great to have the Comcast app movable though. It's one of the few remainging ones I have that still isn't.

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Those of you who expected the 'Move to SD' capability in this update - I know that it did not make in the 2.0.2 udapte , but i have been they are looking into it. 

Kchahal

[szeck87]

Kudos for releasing this on a Friday night.  What else is included in this update?  I noticed TV Listings no longer have to load every time you scroll.

[ComcastKchahal]

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szeck87 wrote:

Kudos for releasing this on a Friday night.  What else is included in this update?  I noticed TV Listings no longer have to load every time you scroll.

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The update includes crash and application freeze issues and better cache management for email and tv listings. Includes a lot of peformance optimization for email loading. Other minor bug fixes from last release.

The next update is supposed to have the entire application in landscape mode and other enhancements.

Thanks,

Kchahal

[p-slim]

The update is nice and can't wait for landscape support, especially once the xoom launches hopefully a honeycomb project is in the works (it only takes about 4 hours to convert) Are you guys still working on the xfinity TV app for android?

[ComcastKchahal]

Yes we are and we certainly will be making the xfinity mobile app custimozed for honeycomb. 

[szeck87]

This update is a notable improvement.  It still has problems with retrieving emails automatically.  This morning when I checked I had 0 emails (9:30 ish).  I don't remember the exact time it last updated, but it was more than 15 minutes at the time I viewed it (I have it set up for 15 min. intervals).  I hit refresh and I had 7-8 emails come in, some from 3 hours before I checked.  So its definately not updating automatically properly still, at least on my Fascinate Android 2.1.

Opening it right now, it says last updated 11:06 am (current time = 11:45).  I go back and hit Inbox again, and it updates to the current time.

[Alesis]

Will we be able to watch live tv and/or our DVR recordings in the future.

[DPCJLC]

Since the new update, it app logs me out all the time. Anyone else experiencing that issue?

[JamesR]

What I did on my droid was

Tap Menu / Settings /  Applications / Manage Applications and scroll down to Xfinity and highlight and uninstall it

Then

I did a Battery pull and reinstall

Then click on launcher / market / Apps / All Applications / Top Free / Search (magnify glass upper right)

Search for xfinity and install it

When I did that, xfinity 2.0.2 started working for me.

[cb2367]

I am still continuing to experience issues with the Android App. I applied the latest update, but it still doesn't work correctly. I thought the update was supposed to fix connectivity issues.

Sometimes, I will launch the app and then I can't get into the inbox, no matter how many times I press inbox. I have to completely sign out and then sign back in for it to work.

Another issue I am experiencing is a message stating 'cannot connect to server.' I accessed the inbox and then the app got stuck on updating to check for new messages. Another error message appeared later stating Xfinity mobile has encountered an error processing your request.

These issues occurred when I had the WiFi enabled.

[JamesR]

After downlading Mobile App for Android 2.0.2 I had some issues

What I did was uninstall the App "Settings / Applications / Applications Manager"

Then Remove and Reinstall the Battery

Finally Reinstall the App from the Market.

[szeck87]

When can we expect the second update to be available?

[ComcastKchahal]

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DPCJLC wrote:
Since the new update, it app logs me out all the time. Anyone else experiencing that issue?

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We are aware of this issue. Some users have reported this on the market reviews and we are investigating. I can assure you that a fix for this issue is going to be avialable in the Xfinity mobile 2.0.3 update that is in works and will be out soon.

This is happening to a very select subset of users and the problem is perhaps related to background login. It usually happens on 24 hour time peroid.

more feedback and observation wrt to this issue will be appreciated.

Kchahal

[ComcastKchahal]

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cb2367 wrote:

I am still continuing to experience issues with the Android App. I applied the latest update, but it still doesn't work correctly. I thought the update was supposed to fix connectivity issues.

Sometimes, I will launch the app and then I can't get into the inbox, no matter how many times I press inbox. I have to completely sign out and then sign back in for it to work.

Another issue I am experiencing is a message stating 'cannot connect to server.' I accessed the inbox and then the app got stuck on updating to check for new messages. Another error message appeared later stating Xfinity mobile has encountered an error processing your request.

These issues occurred when I had the WiFi enabled.

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   Well first thing you should do as James suggested or simply go to your application settings on device and under Xfinity Mobile and 'Clear Data' . This will refresh the cache for the app and certainly improve performance.

The other connectivity issue seems to be related to the flakiness during wifi connection. Try it on cellular internet network and see if you still see this. 

[cb2367]

I am unable to forward email from the xfinity mobile app. I received an error message that says one or more email addresses are invalid. I initially got the error message when I tried to forward a message to my work email. When that didn't work, I tried to forward a message to my comcast email and that didn't work. I've cleared the app cache and uninstalled/reinstalled the app, but still have problems. When this error comes up, there doesn't seem to be a way to delete the email address and enter a new one.

[ComcastKchahal]

The way to delete an email address in the 'To' field is to simply tap on it and press the 'Del' button on the keyboard. This will remove the address. Make sure when you type an email address, there are no other characters after that which could form another 'email' entity. let me know if you are able to delete the email address and now able to forward the emails.

Kchahal

[cb2367]

The delete function won't work with the swype keyboard, but if I use the physical keyboard on the phone, then I can delete the e-mail address.

What about the issue of not being able to forward e-mail without getting an error stating that one or more e-mail addresses are invalid?

[szeck87]

Two things...

1. One issue I didn't have after the initial release was Force Closes.  Now I am getting them constantly after this release.

2. After a sync and mail going to your phone, it you delete select messages is it supposed to sync right away again to reflect these deletions?  It still doesn't seem like its syncing properly.  There were a lot of messages that are in my trash that were not showing up on my phone.

[dbvirago]

Getting constant errors logging in. Keeps saying my username or password is incorrect. Tonight I triple checked again and made sure it was ok. Just kept hitting submit without changing anything.

Incorrect username or password 5 times in a row.

6th time, Xfinity mobile encountered an error processing your request.

7th time, logged in. No change

[cb2367]

I was able to get a trouble ticket escalated to Tier 2 support and confirmed that in version 2 of the application, e-mail cannot be sent to certain e-mail addresses. I have version 3 and am experiencing this problem.

I am frequently receiving error messages stating that xfinity mobile has encountered an issue processing your request. When this happens, I have to press the refresh button several times before new messages are displayed.

I am also getting occassional force close error messages.

Clearing the application cache and uninstalling/reinstalling the application really doesn't do anything to resolve these issues, as it's only a temporary fix.

I can go to m.comcast.net on my phone and access e-mail without any problems. I am also able to forward/send e-mail to the address that the xfinity mobile app won't send to.

When will there be a patch for version 3 or when will version 4 be coming out to fix these issues?

[Threeheadedtoad]

Not saying you are wrong about marketshare, but do you really want to be listed as a Mac Expert, and post an article that is over 1.5 years old? Android is the fastest growing market, and has the highest marketshare. And has since Oct of LAST year. Your article is from 2009.

Check your facts and figures...

Top Smartphone Platforms
3 Month Avg. Ending Jan. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Oct. 2010
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens  

Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers Oct-10         Jan-11             Point Change

Total Smartphone Subscribers                100.0%          100.0%             N/A

Google                                                     23.5%            31.2%              7.7

RIM                                                          35.8%            30.4%               -5.4

Apple                                                       24.6%            24.7%                0.1

Microsoft                                                  9.7%              8.0%                 -1.7

Palm                                                        3.9%              3.2%                  -0.7

Having said that, either way, if you want to include the most possible users for an app, or for anything for that matter, its a good idea to not forsake one section of the market in order to improve another section of the market. That's basic business and marketing. 

We all know that Apple is always behind the times, and in the case of the recent daylight savings change, an additional two hours behind. :-)

If the app isn't ready for prime time, at least on the android, pull it from the market, make it better, then relaunch. Take a page from the Microsoft playbook. If at first you don't succeed, leverage your user base as Beta Testers, then relaunch with a different name and look.

[kevj]

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p-slim wrote:
The update is nice and can't wait for landscape support, especially once the xoom launches hopefully a honeycomb project is in the works (it only takes about 4 hours to convert) Are you guys still working on the xfinity TV app for android?

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Hopefully landscape support will be carried through to the widget also...

Portrait:

and Landscape:

[ecub]

I am also inquiring about being able to move the App to SD.  This would be a GREAT feature!

[JamesR]

Not Doable yet, but has beeen raised to the attention of thedevelopment team.  Of course it is worth raising the issue again and I will do that for you.

[CC_Dete]

Thanks all for your posts - I am sharing this with our engineering ops team.

[cb2367]

Is there anyone in the Comcast Development Department actually working on an updated version of the Android app? There are so many issues with the current version, that it's basically unusable. I hope that there is someone working on an update, but in the meantime, can't there be some updates issued to fix some of the major issues such as constant force close errors, not being able to send e-mail to certain e-mail addresses, not being able to use the reply all feature, having to press refresh multiple times to get new messages, and no support for attachments.

I currently have to rely on the default mail application on my phone to send/receive messages, and in fact, on a recent phone call with Xfinity mobile support, they even suggested using the default mail application.

[cb2367]

I deleted the existing Xfinity app and downloaded it again. I see that now the application has been updated, and SOME of the problems I experienced have been corrected. I am still getting force close errors and I am still having problems with getting new messages when I open the app.

The one thing that this application is missing is the ability to view attachments. How does a feature like this get left out? I can view attachments in Outlook and webmail, so why can't I view attachments in the application? I have to once again depend on the default mail application on my phone to view messages with attachments.

[dsav]

I think the Xfinity apps are pretty well-done, particularly when you compare then to other large corporate apps, but I wanted to provide some feedback:

The main issue I see with the Xfinity TV apps is the incredibly slow loading of tv data. This pretty much ruins the usefulness of the app, so the data sources either need to get faster or, preferably, the listings should be prefetched and cached aggressively. I think it would reasonable to cache an entire week's worth of all tv listings in the background onto the device so you can scroll through listings without delay.

Otherwise, a nice-to-have would be a landscape mode for tv listings and a unification of the Xfinity TV and Mobile apps. Two separate apps with overlapping functionality don't make a lot of sense. Why no myDVR manager in the TV App? If there were, you could remove the TV stuff from the xfinity mobile app altogether. Also, the Xfinity TV app is a great example of a native-feeling Android app, but the mobile app looks like it was ported from some other platform. It needs to use native widgets and best practices to really feel like a good Android app.

[JamesR]

Thanks for your inpput.  I agree.  I will flag a Moderator.

what I do in the evening is bring up the app and let it sit on the table by my side so all I have to do is wake up the phone and I am ready to rock.