1. CrackBerry Question's Avatar
    Hello all!

    I've happily been using a blackberry KeyTwo (BBF100-2) for about a year now. A few days ago I started having a glitch where I go to write an email from my hub and the email address lines (both sender and receiver) and subject line disappears. I see it for a split second and then they vanish, making it difficult to write a new email. I tried shutting off the phone and restarting it, and just updated to the latest Android system 8.1.0 and it's still the same. I can't find anything in the settings that would change this. Any ideas on what I can do?

    Thanks in advance!
    10-19-21 05:38 PM
  2. rthonpm's Avatar
    It's an issue with Webview which is what the Hub uses for rendering. Until Google issues an update for it or BlackBerry actually puts out a real update for the Hub there's not going to be any real fix.
    10-19-21 09:10 PM
  3. ssirica's Avatar
    A “sad” work-around for this is to use the virtual keyboard (press the sym key) - you lose screen real-estate but it brings back the address fields.
    10-20-21 06:24 AM
  4. spARTacus's Avatar
    It's an issue with Webview which is what the Hub uses for rendering. Until Google issues an update for it or BlackBerry actually puts out a real update for the Hub there's not going to be any real fix.
    So how does "webview" actually work? Some sort of dependency on cloud processing?

    The reason I ask is because when that webview messed-up update happened several weeks/months ago (I am slightly off topic now, not talking specifically about Hub/Inbox problems but that bad webview update that basically made it impossible to open practically hundreds of apps), there was no actual webview update that happened on my device (from what I could tell, since I have everything set to never auto update), to trigger a reason for the problems to start happening on my device. Yet, I experienced the same problems as those who had received/installed the bad webview update.

    So for all the apps that are dependent on webview (eg: Hub/Inbox), are they all basically held hostage by changes that google could make in the cloud, not even actual OS changes, changes that could cause their apps to stop working? If so, that's kind of a crappy situation to have gotten into is it not in terms of not really having enough control over one's own app? I guess there are probably other benefits about choosing to rely on webview, development and deployment benefits that are more important than the chance of being held hostage?
    10-20-21 06:34 AM
  5. spARTacus's Avatar
    ...latest Android system 8.1.0 and it's still the same...
    So maybe this is an example of the "no compatible updates anymore" for with Android less that OS9, although in theroy I thought that deadline was March 2022.
    10-20-21 06:50 AM
  6. rthonpm's Avatar
    It's not a cloud process. Many apps are built using HTML elements so they need something to render the code. In Android, the underlying Chrome engine is used to do this. Using the onboard engine is much easier than having to build your own, which would have to be included in the app payload, increasing the size and making it much more onerous on the developer.

    It's not as much of an issue of being held hostage as it is a reason to actually support the applications you produce. Google is pretty transparent on changes they are making to Chrome through their development channels so there are always early versions of Chrome available for testing. In the case of the Hub, BlackBerry hasn't released a meaningful update for any of their consumer apps in close to two years. The fault here doesn't lie at Google's feet, but rather at BlackBerry for their complete silence on the status of the consumer apps they've distributed and still offer.

    There's no real incentive for them to update the apps as likely the download numbers for them are so small that it wouldn't be worth their time or effort to update them for the size of the userbase. Their focus is solely on their UEM apps and not any of the leftovers from their partnerships with TCL or their experiments with offering freemium apps to consumers.
    pdr733 likes this.
    10-20-21 06:51 AM
  7. spARTacus's Avatar
    Yes I think I kind of understand the BlackBerry fault as part of this, about them not keeping Hub/Inbox updated, for I am sure valid reasons they have as you have explained.

    But how do things related to webview seem to just stop working on their own, when no other changes/updates happen on the device?
    10-20-21 06:58 AM
  8. Ben xfg's Avatar
    When I was faced with the issue I tried a few things, but the thing that stuck was enabling Chrome (I have it disabled), disable Android system WebView and clear chache and data, re-enable WebView and update it, then finally disable Chrome again as I don't use it. Been using Hub without issue since.
    10-20-21 07:27 AM
  9. HurtBrian's Avatar
    sad indeed but your work-around advice helped me greatly.
    10-20-21 07:37 AM
  10. Phillip st's Avatar
    I experienced the same issue on my beloved key2. so I force stopped Google Chrome, and then the problem corrected itself. I'm still using chrome as the default brower, and the hub issue has not returned....
    10-20-21 08:35 AM
  11. BB4VR's Avatar
    Hi. I just uninstalled and re-installed Chrome and it fixed the issue. Before I did that, I tried the virtual keyboard suggestion too and that worked, but who wants to use a virtual keyboard!? Btw, I just signed up to this forum. Long time BlackBerry user/devotee. Not very tech savvy but absolutely love my Blackberry Key2. Definitely panicked when this started happening as I felt the forced obsolescence growing. When people realize I use a Blackberry the response is either shock or "OMG I loved / miss my Blackberry but have to use iphone for work, etc" Its a shame such a good product is underappreciated. Not sure what to do when the inevitable happens and a replacement is needed. What can we do to change hearts and minds about the BB?
    10-21-21 07:37 AM
  12. GordH's Avatar
    Hi. I just uninstalled and re-installed Chrome and it fixed the issue. Before I did that, I tried the virtual keyboard suggestion too and that worked, but who wants to use a virtual keyboard!? Btw, I just signed up to this forum. Long time BlackBerry user/devotee. Not very tech savvy but absolutely love my Blackberry Key2. Definitely panicked when this started happening as I felt the forced obsolescence growing. When people realize I use a Blackberry the response is either shock or "OMG I loved / miss my Blackberry but have to use iphone for work, etc" Its a shame such a good product is underappreciated. Not sure what to do when the inevitable happens and a replacement is needed. What can we do to change hearts and minds about the BB?
    Well, if that expensive TV coverage years ago didn't convince you that RIM/BB was dead and you should forget your privacy bad-think and move on to the Brave New World owned by Google and Apple, you could come here and listen to the BB deniers who must be on retainer considering the speed with which they reply to all attempts to assert that BB had something that no one else did.

    Of course we Canadians are "post-national" donja know, so we're very proud that we have no concern over our trade balance of payments, or whether we actually produce anything but logs, rocks, water and oil.
    10-22-21 03:10 PM
  13. Chas113's Avatar
    Same email address and subject bars missing glitch. Have tried all the solutions (?) suggested and all fail to be permanent cures, they work for a while and then the problem always returns.
    Until this is sorted by a bug remedy update I find the quickest short term solution is to, in settings, go to Chrome and either disable or enable it as appropriate depending on its current setting. It works every time for me. Restarting has no effect on how long the temporary fix works.
    11-10-21 04:31 AM
  14. outoftheice's Avatar
    Hello everyone. I have a question that is slightly off topic but having read some of the replies speaking about this webview issue I think what I'm experiencing may tie into the discussion so hopefully people don't mind me asking it here...

    I'm running the Hub on a Samsung Fold2 (Android 11). Yesterday I tried to add a new email account to the Hub. After typing in the email address I would like to add the next screen then prompts me to 'Sign in with Google'. After signing in to my primary GMail account Hub just tries to re-add my GMail account and forgets about the initial email address I was trying to add. The first time I tried to add the new email account yesterday there was also a Google warning that appeared after I was asked to sign in to my GMail account that essentially said I had to use a Google approved browser, warned the App could be removed from Google Play and prompted me to send feedback to the App developer.

    Has anyone else experienced this glitch recently? Is it essentially a different symptom of the same webview issue being discussed? I loved my BlackBerrys and being able to keep using the Hub is one of the few things that's made saying goodbye to the phones easier to handle.

    Thanks in advance!
    11-12-21 07:52 PM
  15. spARTacus's Avatar
    Hmmm. I don't personally have any experience with that, but could that perhaps be something completely different, and maybe related to the need for an app specific password?
    11-12-21 09:11 PM
  16. libtib's Avatar
    Have the same issue. Someone from this site suggested turning auto rate on and flip phone, it works
    12-11-21 04:58 PM
  17. Ben xfg's Avatar
    Have the same issue. Someone from this site suggested turning auto rate on and flip phone, it works
    If you install the latest updates from the play store the issue should be fixed.
    12-11-21 08:00 PM

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