App versions reverting without notice. Could be a major bug.

kmartburrito · 04:46 PM

App versions reverting without notice. Could be a major bug.

Alright, this is a strange one. I'm wondering if anyone else can confirm this, although I bet few have probably noticed it.

I normally update my installed apps by going to the Market app and selecting "My Downloads." Often times I'll see "update available" and then I install the update, which wipes out the previous version.

Last week, I found an app called aTrackDog, which basically is a version tracker for your apps. It goes out and finds new versions and notifies you, so you can go download your updates. It not only follows the market, but also the app developer's homepage, in case they release their update through different mediums. I don't use it to install or uninstall, just track my versions.

This is when I started paying attention to the version numbers of a few apps. For this example, we'll talk about Advanced Task Manager and Pandora. I updated ATM from 3.5 to 3.6, and Pandora from 1.0.0 to 1.1.0. To do this, since the market didn't say there was an update, I uninstalled each app, and then reinstalled from the market. Everything was great, and each app showed its new version, from the splash screen on Pandora, to how ATM was listed in Task Panel, as version 3.6.

I just rebooted my phone because I was getting the 99% uptime thing, and wanted to mess around with killing the messages task to see if that made a difference. Much to my surprise, when my phone restarted, my phone has reverted many of my apps back to older versions.

My Advanced Task Manager now is back to version 3.5, Pandora is back to 1.0.0, and many other apps are affected.

This seems like a MAJOR BUG. Can anyone else confirm this at all?

To recreate this issue, if you have Pandora version 1.0.0 currently, or 1.1.0, uninstall and reinstall it. You then will have version 1.1.1 I believe. Then reboot your phone, and start Pandora back up. Does it still say 1.1.1?

I have found this also happens with Advanced Task Manager, and Mileage. I'm sure there's others, but those are a couple of examples. This has happened to me at least twice that I'm aware of.

EDIT-- Here's three links on other Android forums where someone else is experiencing this same thing.
http://androidforums.com/htc-hero/12...icons-etc.html
http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f...14/#post262526
http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/127189

jakeblues55 · 5th November 2009, 06:10 AM

I've noticed this too. I've really noticed it with NewsRob because it will pop up a message stating " A new version is available", but the Market knows what I downloaded last so it states that there is no update. I was wondering, since I too had Atrackdog installed (not anymore) if it was an issue with that program, maybe an issue with just what version was listed in certain programs (as in some piece of code to display the version number got messed up) or if there really was automatic downgrading going on...

kmartburrito · 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakeblues55

I've noticed this too. I've really noticed it with NewsRob because it will pop up a message stating " A new version is available", but the Market knows what I downloaded last so it states that there is no update. I was wondering, since I too had Atrackdog installed (not anymore) if it was an issue with that program, maybe an issue with just what version was listed in certain programs (as in some piece of code to display the version number got messed up) or if there really was automatic downgrading going on...

I've tried to remove aTrackDog, and I'm still getting the same behavior. I really doubt that it has to do with that app, but rather the people that use that app are more aware of version numbers, and are the ones noticing it.

I'm assuming lots of people have Pandora on this board (or mileage, Advanced Task Manager or NewsRob for that matter) so we need more people to try to reproduce this issue!

What I'm trying now is to uninstall the app (in my case I'm using Pandora as it says the version number on launch) then reboot the phone, and then reinstall, use it to see the new version, and then reboot to see if it gets reverted.

What's the result? IT REVERTED AGAIN. This is definitely a bigger issue than we realize...but WE NEED PEOPLE TO REPRODUCE THIS.

EDIT:
I also emailed Pandora support to see if they can't reproduce the issue or help me figure out what's up.
I also emailed the devs for aTrackDog to see if they can't shed some light on what might be going on. Hopefully they'll be quick to help, so we can squash this biznatch.
I also posted a question in the App Market Google Forum, and hopefully someone at Google will help figure this out. http://www.google.com/support/forum/...5d6e5e34&hl=en

I also reproduced this issue with TEN more apps:
Astro File Manager
Google Sky
Google Voice
Backgrounds
Barcode Scanner
Shop Savvy
Battery Widget
Daily Horoscope
Facebook
Movie Finder

Google, you got some 'splaining to do.

gilroykilroy · 5th November 2009, 05:39 PM

I use Astro to backup files to my SD card. After I reboot I go through all the "red" files (ones where the SD card version is newer than the installed version) and "upgrade" them with the SD card version.

Alas the Market app tends to "lose" the fact I downloaded some of these apps and no longer tracks them for updates

Something is definitely wrong somewhere.

chewwy420 · 5th November 2009, 08:04 PM

I'm seeing the same issue, I even tried a factory reset and still happening.
You can add to the list:
Touchdown
Sipdroid

I think it is just about all apps. Even if you uninstall and reinstall the latest version seems to revert back to original version you installed for the first time.

TheTreee · 6th November 2009, 08:58 PM

Locale...

This happened to me this week with Locale. I had beta .68 and upgraded to beta .69.

A couple of days later, I noticed I was still running beta .68. I thought maybe they had forgotten to update the name in the app itself, but after seeing this thread, I'm betting it's an HTC Sprint Hero bug.

I also re-visited the Android Market to see if I could re-download beta .69, but it didn't recognize that the program could be updated. It must think I'm running beta .69, but I'm pretty sure I'm still rocking beta .68.

Verrrrry strange...

lonequid · 01:14 PM

I just reproduced this as well, with AK Notepad.

I had 1.9.3b installed; upgraded to 1.9.4. rebooted; now it shows 1.9.3b again

I'm using modaco's rom with apps2sd setup. Is this happening on stock heros too?

edit:

From what I've been able to gather from Handcent SMS's version changelog and look for in the actual application I have on my phone, it appears that it is only the display of the version that is reverting, not the application itself. I have this issue with Handcent and even the "about" dialog inside the application reports the older version, but I am seeing features and changes that only appear in later versions according to the changelog. We'd need a major update of an application to test this further.

edit2:

grinched from #android on EFNet helped test this on a stock CDMA Hero and was able to replicate it with Barcode Scanner.

packetlss · 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonequid

I just reproduced this as well, with AK Notepad.

I had 1.9.3b installed; upgraded to 1.9.4. rebooted; now it shows 1.9.3b again

I'm using modaco's rom with apps2sd setup. Is this happening on stock heros too?

<ignore, wrote in wrong thread>