Navionics and Android 4.4 Kitkat - UK and Holland maps

[bendyone]

Done a search but ...........

Phone updated to 4.4.2 and now Navionics UK and Holland wont load. Europe still works. Any one else had the problem?

 

[GHA]

UK and Holland seems fine on a Sony Xperia tablet with 4.2.2

 

[bendyone]

It's the update from 4.2.2 to 4.4.2 that cause the problem.

 

[GHA]

Sorry, typo, I'm on 4.4.2.

 

[laika]

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?381406-Navionics-and-Android-updates

 

[Birdseye]

I dont think that it is this issue. I have Android 4.4.4 on my phone and Navionics UK and Holland is working fine. I do wonder if the OP on the forum post you referred to had the original Navionics from severalk years ago. That was replaced and became incompatible with the latest phone systems.

 

[laika]

I dont think that it is this issue. I have Android 4.4.4 on my phone and Navionics UK and Holland is working fine. I do wonder if the OP on the forum post you referred to had the original Navionics from severalk years ago. That was replaced and became incompatible with the latest phone systems.

The OP on that post (me) did indeed have Navionics UK and Holland from several (4 now, 3 then) years ago and that was the problem. It didn't work on 4.4 and they'd replaced the old app with a new one of the same name (I stress this was a newer UK&Holland, not "Navionics Boating" which is the new new app) so my version wasn't updatable to the (then) current version. I don't believe the OP in this thread has said how old their UK and Holland or their Europe is, but if their UK&Holland is 3-4 years old but Europe only a year old, maybe it's the same problem as I had. Solution proposed by Navionics? Buy a new copy.

 

[[3889]]

Any one else had the problem?

Yep. Running KK 4.3 on a Galaxy SIII. Europe HD v3.1 is fine, UK & Holland v 2.3 crashes about 50% of the time when loading. Once up and running it is OK. Tried reinstalling, emptying cache and data etc with no joy. Ran well on previous HTC with ICS.

 

[bendyone]

Mine is November 2011, update as required but still UK and Holland.

 

[bendyone]

I have now had an email from google play store offering a full refund followed quickly by a reply to my email from Navionics asking for the version number and copy of original receipt which I have just sent .
Watch this space.

 

[bendyone]

Reply from Navionics
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr Bendyone,

Thank you for your response.

The app you are referring to was obsoleted years ago, but as far as Navionics is concerned, you can continue to use it “as it is” indefinitely within the same device and OS. Unfortunately the new Android Software does not permit the use of older apps, but we have no control over what Android does. You will find that many many other apps have ceased working from the introduction of new Android Software Updates.

When the new Mobile Apps were released, a banner ad was deployed within our first generation Apps indicating they were being removed from Google Play. We also indicated the original Apps would no longer be offered updates or support and we could not guarantee their functionality with future OS releases.

At the time we also encouraged users to migrate to our new application for its larger coverage area, updated chart data, and many new features. These new features were a result of feedback we received from our users; however, they were not possible to include with the build of the original apps. Most of our users took the opportunity to purchase our new Apps.

That said, if you consider that you have been using your charts for many years, and that in this time about 2,000 changes per day have been applied to the charts, buying an entirely new set of charts would be highly recommended for safety reasons, regardless of who the manufacturer is and regardless of whether they are paper or electronic.

Just as a benchmark, please consider the fact that Hydrographic Offices all over the world mandate that no chart should be used for more than one year, after which they should be deleted.

If you have any other question, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Best regards,
Navionics Customer Service
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The package was brought 2 and a half years ago so their comment obsolete years ago is rubbish.
Have asked for a refund from Google.

 

[harry potter]

Done a search but ...........

Phone updated to 4.4.2 and now Navionics UK and Holland wont load. Europe still works. Any one else had the problem?

Yes. Been there done that. Seems a ruse to try and get you to pay for updates. Not quite sure how it was done but re-installed and now O.K. without reaching for the wallet.

 

[OddvarH]

Reply from Navionics
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr Bendyone,

Thank you for your response.

The app you are referring to was obsoleted years ago, but as far as Navionics is concerned, you can continue to use it “as it is” indefinitely within the same device and OS. Unfortunately the new Android Software does not permit the use of older apps, but we have no control over what Android does. You will find that many many other apps have ceased working from the introduction of new Android Software Updates.

When the new Mobile Apps were released, a banner ad was deployed within our first generation Apps indicating they were being removed from Google Play. We also indicated the original Apps would no longer be offered updates or support and we could not guarantee their functionality with future OS releases.

At the time we also encouraged users to migrate to our new application for its larger coverage area, updated chart data, and many new features. These new features were a result of feedback we received from our users; however, they were not possible to include with the build of the original apps. Most of our users took the opportunity to purchase our new Apps.

That said, if you consider that you have been using your charts for many years, and that in this time about 2,000 changes per day have been applied to the charts, buying an entirely new set of charts would be highly recommended for safety reasons, regardless of who the manufacturer is and regardless of whether they are paper or electronic.

Just as a benchmark, please consider the fact that Hydrographic Offices all over the world mandate that no chart should be used for more than one year, after which they should be deleted.

If you have any other question, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Best regards,
Navionics Customer Service
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The package was brought 2 and a half years ago so their comment obsolete years ago is rubbish.
Have asked for a refund from Google.

...yea right, this was excactly the same standard message i got from Navionic the other day!!! ...suggesting to update the 9,90e app to a 99,90...or more app!!

 

[grumpy_o_g]

...yea right, this was excactly the same standard message i got from Navionic the other day!!! ...suggesting to update the 9,90e app to a 99,90...or more app!!

Basically Navionics can't understand an incredibly simple function in Android - you'd think that the fact that no other apps have this problem would give them a clue.

 

[kitkat_navi]

Since this thread is one of the first results google finds when looking for a fix for the older Navionics app crashing on Android KitKat and newer firmware, I'm posting my findings here (too).

The cause for the crash is the fact that Google deprecated the ARGB_4444 bitmap configuration that is used by the Navionics app and with KitKat and later the app actually receives an ARGB_8888 bitmap. (http://developer.android.com/reference/android/graphics/Bitmap.Config.html)

Navionics could easily fix the crash, but why should they support paying customers, when they can force those customers to pay for the same thing again.

These are the steps needed to create a fixed APK of the old Navionics app:

1. You need to get the old crashing APK from somewhere. A rooted device with the app installed is probably the easiest way.
2. Download APK Studio (https://apkstudio.codeplex.com)
3. Decompile the APK into an editable project
4. Find the file that uses an ARGB_4444 bitmap (smali/it/navionics/map/NMapView.smali)
5. Replace ARGB_4444 with RGB_565
6. Recompile the project into a new APK

You should now have a fixed version of the Navionics app.

This fix does have the side effect of messing with the colors of the map, but I can live with pink land Fixing the colours would require someone writing a block of Smali-code for converting each pixel of the image, but in my opinion this would be a waste of both CPU-time and battery on the device. Navionics of course could fix this properly since they have the source code for whatever native(?) implementation it is that creates the pixels in the first place.

My Navionics app is called "Baltic Sea" and the package name is "it.navionics.scandinaviaE". I'm pretty sure the other geographical areas use the same app and only the name and package change.