Tablets slow to respond

[DHDunford]

In recent weeks we have experienced slow response from our Kindle Fire tablets.

Restarting them can usually take them back to a normal response time, but often they will then gradually slow down during the session.

We run with a Windows 10 computer and a wi-fi extender to link to our playing rooms.

We recently cleared the tablets' caches, changed the extender, re-started the tablets and downloaded the most recent Bridgewebs software onto the computer. Also checked (for a couple of tablets) that their operating system is up-to-date. That worked well initially, but we have experienced a slowing-down in subsequent drives.

Any suggestions?

[johng]

Hi David,

The culprit is a system component called Amazon System Webview, and this bug appeared in a recent release. Your tablets have presumably automatically updated their version of this component. Amazon System Webview is Amazon's version of an android component called Android System Webview. It's based on the same code and the latest versions of Android System Webview also have this issue.

The solution involves downgrading to an older version of the webview. If this is not possible, then I think resetting the tablet to factory settings should revert to an older version of the webview, though of course it's tedious to reconfigure all tablets again. I suggest just trying the solution on one tablet first.

There is a thread on the forum which gives more detail of solutions for Amazon Fire at https://mirgo2.co.uk/bridgepal_forum/index.php?topic=244.0 . There is a similar thread for android tablets in general at https://mirgo2.co.uk/bridgepal_forum/index.php?topic=235.0 .

On an android tablet I was able to install a development version of Android System Webview, called Android System Webview Dev. The bug appears to have been fixed in that release, so presumably the fix will eventually make its way into the live release and to Amazon Fire in future. No idea what the timescale for that will be though.

Let me know how you get on.

John

[DHDunford]

Things aren't going too well! My next step is to explore whether it is device dependent. Here's my experience so far, all with Fire 7s:

1, Session A: 9th generation using wi-fi connected to the internet. All factory reset and then Webview 110 loaded. Started well, then slowed down. Afterwards, found that Webview had updated to 112.

2. Session B: 9th generation plus one 12th generation using wi-fi without access to the internet. All factory reset. Webview 110 loaded onto 9th generation, but couldn't get it to load on 12th generation. So 12th generation ran without any Amazon System Webview app. The 12th generation ran well throughout, but the 9th generation all slowed down. At the end of the session, all the 9th generation were running Webview 112, but the 12th generation still did not have Webview installed.

3. Session C: All 9th generation, factory-reset, and no Webview loaded. Using wi-fi with no access to the internet. They all slowed down and, at the end of the session, all had Webvew 112 installed.

4. Tomorrow, I'll try more of the 12th generation devices without Webview, on wi-fi without access to the internet, and maybe some old android phones.

[johng]

Hi David,

Thanks for the feedback.

If I can summarise, I think what you are saying is that installing version Amazon Webview 110 does fix the problem but the 9th generation tablets subseuently updated themselves to version 112 and slowed down as a result.

What I don't understand is how the tablets could update themselves to a later version of WebView if you used a wifi network that did not have an internet connection. I don't see how this is possible. Are you absolutely certain they were not connected to internet at any point after version 110 Webview was installed (perhaps via a different wifi network) ?

You mention some of the tablets did not have Webview loaded. If this was the case then the BridgePal app would not run at all. It's possible that the version of Webview installed had a different name. I've seen this with some android devices - certain versions of Webview showed up in the apps list as com.android.webview rather than Android System Webview.

John

[DHDunford]

John

The "impossible" part has been troubling me. That may be the key. Looking into it, Amazon seems to have the ability to store passwords and share them back between tablets. I've deleted the passwords from the account and will have another try.

I ran a drive today with a mix of generations. All had Webview 112 on them - although none did when left last night. The generation 9 slowed to a crawl; while the generation 12s were perfectly usable. So, it seems a bigger problem with the older generation.

I'll try loading Webview 110 on the generation 9s for a drive tomorrow night.

Wish me luck
David

[DHDunford]

The impossible continues to happen.

I took our 9th generation Kindle Fire 7s home:
* deleted the saved wi-fi passwords from the Amazon account
* factory-reset, disabled saving wi-fi code to account, loaded Webview 110 and BridgePal
* set home wi-fi to "forget" and checked that it wouldn't connect through lack of password
* checked that Webview 110 was still installed
* took tablets to club and connected them to a router that had no internet connection
* the tablets updated themselves to Webview 112 and a Shop Amazon icon appeared on the Home Screen that wasn't there before
* attempted to connect a tablet to each of the available wi-fi being broadcast, each time it failed through lack of password

[johng]

Hi David,

I find this so difficult to believe that I'm forced to ask a silly question. Are you absolutely certain that the router in the club has no internet connection ?

I tried a similar procedure today on my own 7th generation Fire tablet, just to satisfy myself that it wouldn't update itself when not connected to internet:

1. Checked version of Android System Webview before doing factory reset - was version 100.
2. Did factory reset but didn't reconnect to wifi. Checked version of Webview - was now version 84.
3. Left the tablet switched on for 5 hours, checked version of Webview again - still version 84.
4. Connected to wifi with internet connection and manually forced an update (through Settings/Device Options/System Update). After this, WebView had updated to version 100, as expected.

Note that if I try to force an update through Settings/Device Options/System Update, by clicking on the Check Now button, before setting up a wifi connection, the device response is "No Wi-Fi connection. A network connection is required to complete this task. Please connect to a wifi network".

Incidentally, I assume the versions of Webview that you manually installed are all Amazon versions - i.e. Amazon System Webview, not Android System Webview

John

[DHDunford]

My guess is that, while I am downloading BridgePal etc, the tablet is downloading a system update. It then, later, carries out the update.

Generation 12 Fires seem to be less affected and have better recovery via a reset. Last night I only used Generation 12s, all fully updated to Webview version 112. They were reset at the start of the drive. Half-way, after 12 boards, there were indications that mine was slowing down and I reset all the tablets. Mine was fine at the end of the drive and I  didn't get any comments about slow tablets.

I'm continuing to explore "solutions".

[johng]

You can avoid connecting the tablet to the internet by 'sideloading' the BridgePal app, rather than downloading it to the tablet directly. Download the app from the BridgePal website to a PC rather than the tablet. Connect the tablet to the PC via USB cable and you can then copy the file from the PC to the tablet. After this is done, locate the apk file via the tablet's file manager and tap on the filename. It should then offer to install the app. On my Fire tablet the file manager can be found by tapping on "Utilities" on the home screen, then on "Docs" and select the "Local Storage" tab.

[DHDunford]

It's been a long road, but I think I've reached the end of the journey at last.

We have both generation 9 and generation 12 Fire 7s.

The problem seems much worse on the generation 9.

Some temporary relief has been possible via an ordinary reset. On Sunday, I just used generation 12. I reset them before the drive. After 12 boards there was a hint of sluggishness and I reset them again. We finished the 24 boards without any significant delays. However, I have found that generation 9 get sluggish much more quickly.

Installing an old version of WebView eventually came to naught if the tablet was connected to the internet at any point. I assume an update of the operating system is downloaded ready for later installation, which pushed WebView up to version 112 and the tablets slowed.

What has worked is to do a factory reset. (The generation 9 then have WebView 104 and generation 12 have WebView 108.) This can be done without connecting to the internet. When asked to connect to the internet during registration, click on a router but then on Cancel and then choose to Skip. You end up with an annoying request to register on the Home screen, but that is a small price to pay. As John says you install BridgePal via your computer.

I've used a separate router, not connected to the internet, to connect the computer to the Fire 7s during scoring. I move the computer to the local router before starting EBUScore and then back to the club wi-fi to upload the results to the web at the end of the drive.

So, we're back in action but it would be good to hear if Amazon ever clear the bug.

[johng]

Thanks for the update. Good to hear that the solution works !

[malcolmboyack]

So I have 13 Kindle Fire 7 (9th Gen) with the problem - i have factory reset them all and the ones that we used on Thursday were all fine. However, its clear that if they are connnected to the internet for more than a few minutes then it looks like they pick up the latest FireOS update. So, I think that provided you disconnect (and forget the network) as soon as you have gone through the initial registration process (up to the point that it wants to set up Alexa) you are probably OK - but I will find out for certain over the next few days week or so!! At that point I will update to this post. As John said in his earlier post you will need to download the "apk" files to your computer and copy then over to the Kindle Fire 7 via a USB cable to install the apps (BridgePal & BridgeSolver in my case). I have raised a support case with Amazon support but am not holding out any hope of a resolution. I have wondered about rooting to Android rather than FireOS but I'll hold off that for a while yet.

[Steve Wilson]

Further to the previous posts in this thread, we have had the same problem with Fire 7 (12th generation) tablets at Northallerton BC

I have tried factory reset on one tablet to no avail and also failed in trying to easily download BridgePal to a Windows laptop with a view to wired transfer to the tablets

We have 10 tablets and on 9 of them we had Amazon System Webviewer 112, where the lagging problem clearly lies, but one had updated to 114

Therefore I connected the 9 on Webviewer 112 to the Internet (usually we only connect to our own network via a standalone router) and did a manual System Update to 114

Oddly, 3 of the tablets persistently did not update to 114 and still remain on 112, although they are showing no further updates available

The 7 tablets on 114 ran without lagging on a full system test of a 7 table Howell on EBUScore - hopefully they will work correctly at our next Club Night

So maybe Amazon have fixed the bug that was causing the lagging on Webviewer 112 - other posters may now wish to try a System Update on their tablets

I see John has recommended an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach if a system is working well, by not connecting tablets to the Internet (intentionally or accidentally), to avoid automatic updates - we shall certainly follow this advice

@John - any idea why 3 of our tablets won't update to Webviewer 114? All were bought at the same time last year

Steve

[johng]

I don't know why only some of your tablets have updated to Webview 114. However, I notice from experiments on my own older Fire tablet that the updates were applied in several stages. I did a factory reset then manually forced a system update (through Settings/Device Options/System Updates). The system update ran to completion, but shortly afterwards I looked at the System Updates screen again and it now showed there were a number of system component updates ready to install. I manually initiated these updates, but a few minutes after these had completed it showed there were another 18 system component updates ready to install. So it may be that your remaining tablets will eventually update.

On the subject of the version number, I'm surprised that version 114 fixed the issue. On standard android tablets version 115 still has the bug. It appears that it will be fixed in version 116 - I found this version on apkmirror.com and it was problem free, but it doesn't seem to be in the google play store yet. I had assumed that Amazon tracked the standard android version closely so am a bit surprised if they are applying bug fixes independently but it's obviously good if they are.

[Steve Wilson]

Further to Northallerton BC's problem with Fire 7 tablets lagging, our issue now appears to be resolved

All of our tablets automatically updated to Amazon Webviewer v116 last week and at our session last night they all responded very quickly all night

I was unable to do this update to v116 manually and had to await the automatic update - thanks for your previous advice John

Steve