SlideME 4.0 issues - anyone else?

[rteachj]

Hi!

I just got my Pocketbook IQ today, and I'm having problems with SlideME 4.0. It force closes every time, without exception. I've heard of people with other devices having this issue being able to uninstall, but I can't find a way to do that with the IQ. When I try to use App Brain instead, SlideME gets involved and force closes it, too. Meaning, I try to download an app through App Brain, and when I click the app, it brings up the same force close message for SlideME:

"The application SlideME Marketplace (process com.slideme.sam.manager) has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again."

Is anyone else having this issue? Have you figured out how to solve this? Thanks!

Renée

[fjtorres]

Is your application storage near the limit?

I started having the same issue with Dolphin HD and Open Home 2 and even after deleting and reinstalling it still happened. I stabilized the system by removing an extra 6MB app. I still get the "limited storage" Icon but (so far) no more crashes.

The way I got there was that after ending my preliminary testing, I cleared out the IQ and started to reload apps for the "production" configuration, starting with the largest and finickiest (Coolreader), then adding the larger, less finicky one, and adding the tiniest games and utilities for last. Seemed reasonable since it seems it uses program install space (beyond what the app consumes) to unpack the apks.

My best guess is that it also uses it for temporary files so that it is actually possible to install so many apps the device becomes unusable without receiving any meaningful warning. With Dolphin, you can redirect the cache to the SD card (I have) but SlideMe doesn't offer such an option that I can see.

As I've said before: I am *not* impressed by the design of Android as an OS. Like most Google consumer software it is downright mediocre.
As an ecosystem for portable devices it is adequate solely because it is broadly supported by quality apps but the core OS is architected like something out of the 80's. I understand it was designed for cellphones but that is no excuse, other small-footprint OS designers have known to design for hardware expansion.
The IQ is looking to be a good useful product but I'm starting to see why most low-cost Android tablets have such bad reputations: it's not the hardware or the vendor; it Android that's at fault. The thing is a minefield of glitches and bugs just waiting to happen.

[k_gm]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Is your application storage near the limit?

As I've said before: I am *not* impressed by the design of Android as an OS. Like most Google consumer software it is downright mediocre.
As an ecosystem for portable devices it is adequate solely because it is broadly supported by quality apps but the core OS is architected like something out of the 80's. I understand it was designed for cellphones but that is no excuse, other small-footprint OS designers have known to design for hardware expansion.
The IQ is looking to be a good useful product but I'm starting to see why most low-cost Android tablets have such bad reputations: it's not the hardware or the vendor; it Android that's at fault. The thing is a minefield of glitches and bugs just waiting to happen.

You are right! Google had the chance to make something new from the ground up, but the only made a bad copy of existing concepts....
They should be ashamed.

[Logseman]

When you get to Froyo, you'll find that many of those points of the Android system have been addressed. The devices weren't really popular until Éclair 2.1, where most of the basic functionalities are mastered and a design wave sparked. I have a great user experience with Android, better than the one I got with iOS.

Android 2.0 wasn't made for tablets, nor for powerhorse smartphones. It was made for an older generation of smartphones which didn't count with the capabilities of the current hardware, and (something important in the Open Source world) the system wasn't as popular as it is now, so people were not as engaged in improving it. The fact that companies (included PB) have rushed the use of Android (which I don't have a problem with) in order to compete doesn't make Android less valid.

In a way, it's like condemning Windows as a whole because you're unsatisfied with a cheap netbook running Windows 98.

[fjtorres]

Ah, but Windows 98 was a great product for its time.
(Now, Millenium...)

Android 2.0's limitations would've been fine back in the early 90's but from what I'm seeing it is clearly inferior to even Palm OS, to say nothing of WinCE. It does not manage resources efficiently or effectively and that is cardinal sin of OSes. Being (relatively) old or misused doesn't justify it because that is an intrinsic flaw not a contextual/competitive flaw.

And, let's not forget, they built Android on top of *LINUX*. And it takes a *LOT* of work to make a LINUX environment unstable and bad.
But they managed it.

[citac]

I have another problem: my IQ is not connected to the internet, and I have no intention of of connecting it. Now when I try to install a new app by loading it from the sd card the way I did before, SlideME warns me to check my internet connection and won't allow me to go past that screen.

I am beyond frustrated with this behavior, enough that I was tempted to chuck it out the window (not that I will). Is there a way to go around this, or to install an app in another way?

[fjtorres]

How are you trying to install?
From the file manager?
Not sure why SlideMe would be involved.

[citac]

Well, I used to start SlideMe, hit the menu button, choose sd card, it would find the apps loaded on the sd card, and I would then install an app. Now I start SlideMe and the first thing it does is warn about internet connection. Is there a way to tell it not to bother looking for one?

[Logseman]

It seems that SlideMe has split its APK installer from the Market program in the 4.0 edition. If you search in SlideME, you'll find "SlideME App Installer" which allows you to install applications from the SD Card. It's free, btw.

[citac]

:grumble: Now why would they do that? Wasn't it easier to have that option included with the Market program? And I just discovered that I can install apps via the file manager. This is my first time dealing with Android, and I thought a Market app was the only way you could install an app, which is why I was upset. If not, I will just continue using the file manager in case I need to install something else.

[Logseman]

My guess is that making them separate would allow for more efficiency. If you want to load an APK from the card, it's better to load the tiny installer App than the whole market thing.

[citac]

OK, that makes sense. I just wish I had known about this before I got frustrated with the SlideMe app. Was this mentioned anywhere?

[Logseman]

I don't know. Possibly it would have been mentioned if one upgrades the app from the official Android Market, as it has a log of recent changes where such things would be included. Nevertheless, it'd be good for Pocketbook people to remember to embed both the SAM Market AND the Application Installer in a next firmware update.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by citac

OK, that makes sense. I just wish I had known about this before I got frustrated with the SlideMe app. Was this mentioned anywhere?

Documentation?
For an android app? That would be a first.
I just verified that the new file manager will install apps from the card just Fine.
WiFi or not.
No installer app needed.

[citac]

Hey, how am I to know there's no documentation for this? This is my first encounter with Android. But yeah, I figured that out for myself and installed the app I wanted, but I'll keep that copy of SlideMe sd installer just in case.