For a while now after I have uploaded my .aab to Google Play (Create app release) and press the submit button 2 warnings show up which I was told to just ignore as I am not using Android Developer and simply using WFS with no companion app.
I am trying to chase down why my apps (faces) apparently keep “crashing OR failing to launch on install” (even though they run just fine on my device and tester’s devices) and have been constantly rejected and then maybe approved, then rejected again…etc, etc. I am wondering if one of these 2 warnings could be why I am having such problems recently? If anyone can shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated.
Those warnings are not the reason why your watchfaces is crashing… There is no way for us to know why it is happening. You should warn samsung that erros are occurring in the watchface created, and inform them the errors google informed you. You can try to use another version of the WFS as well, the latest should, in principle, have less bugs/issues.
In case you wanna understand what those warnings are:
Basically the watchfaces have two parts:
1 - the watchface file, aka .xml, which is not “code”.
This .xml file is automatically generated by the WFS (WFS is, basically, an app that allows u to create .xml files using interface and “drap and drop” feature, instead of having to manually, literally, writting the watchface .xml file)
2 - there is a code part, the Editor. When you tap and hold the watchface and click on “Customize” that screen that shows up that allows you to change the design is the Editor. The Editor is not part of wear os, for each watchface you must create one, but the WFS generates one for you without you knowing (the one you see when you click on “Customize”).
So, obfuscation is a technique to minimize and “complicate” the code in order for someone that manage to get access to that file to not know what is what inside it… that’s a secure measure to prevent copying (and security things as well)… when you obfuscates a code you can generate a file that allows you to know what the errors are in the original file (that is, the file not obfuscated), in other words is a file to translate the log to a readable log to help you debug.
What the WFS does is: create that editor (native code) and obfuscates it, but it does not generates a desobfuscation file for you, as you (user of the WFS) do not have access to the code generated, just samsungs developers team have…
When you upload the file, googles detects that the file is obfuscated and it shows that warning to remind you that the logs (for crashes and ANRs) that google generates in the play console to you will be obfuscated (not readable unless you have the desobfuscation file).
Oh, and try not to use so high version numbers… you are using “1000002”… for updates you must using a number higher then the last one, but for new watchfaces start at 1, then 2, and so on…
Thanks for the reply. I will try to inform Samsung. This has been happening to me since 1.5.7, 1.6.9, and now I have upgraded to 1.6.10. It has been extremely frustrating because my faces all work on my devices and my tester’s devices. Additionally, some of these rejections have occurred on faces that have been updated and were long in production with numerous paid users of which, I have not heard a single complaint regarding the face not loading or crashing. I have managed to get faces passed but it’s simply by making a small change and uploading a new version. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for it so I don’t know how to solve the issue. I have appealed to Google many times and they say they cannot be specific, I also have made my case here a couple of times and there’s not much interest in it.
I keep going back to perhaps it could be an issue with a Google tester? I keep getting the same one as far as I know. I know nothing about the testing process on Google’s side of things but I am just trying to eliminate possibilities.
One more thing, how do I direct Samsung to this issue?
I know nothing about their testing process either, but I believe it is automated most of the times (or at least the first part of it), the emails seem to be script, anyway…
As I said, try the latest version, few bugs should be present.
You could try to check what are the similarities inside the WFS of the watchfaces rejected, maybe something you do there causes a bug to be triggered, or maybe it is a samsung (wfs) or even google bug.
I dont know how you test, in case you run the watchface directly through the WFS you could try to generate the apk and install on your devices, see if any errors happen.
About contacting samsung, I don’t really know exactly how, they have people here on the forum…
I have done a stepped-release version of a watch face using all the usual generic/everyday elements which was getting passed without issue up until I tried to release a version in 1.6.10 which got rejected. I don’t know if you have read my other post about it but it goes into more detail of each release. here: Google Play is seriously sapping my will to continue with this
I have run my apk’s on my device and others with no issues at all in addition to my testers, and in some cases, hundreds of users who have downloaded my faces with no issues/complaints to speak of. It’s truly confounding.
