News

End of the line for existing iOS client

My recent attempt to recompile the iOS client with the latest version of XCode has exposed a number of issues:

  1. The code is written in Objective-C, which is not well supported any more.
  2. Apple is constantly changing the architecture of its CPUs.
  3. My test iPhone is no longer supported.
  4. There is no obvious equivalent to the Android Navigation Drawer.
  5. My storyboards are large and unwieldy.
  6. My Hackintosh setup is stretched to the limit.

The only practical solution is to freeze the existing app, and possibly develop a new one in Swift.

PC fixed

I finally managed to fix the keyboard on my Windows PC, a luggable HP ProBook. Over the next few weeks I will be updating both the Android and iOS clients.

Bookmarks

This page contains all the late-breaking news for the Sales Manager. Regular users should consider bookmarking this page, rather than the home page, which is aimed at prospective users.

AutoSSL

The security for the vanware.co.uk domain no longer uses a conventional SSL certificate. Instead it uses a new feature of cPanel, called AutoSSL. This uses free certificates from an outfit called Let’s Encrypt, which is part of the Linux Foundation. AutoSSL is completely stable, and is the option of choice for most smaller domains. The purpose is not to save money, but to avoid the absolute polaver of replacing the certificates manually. The Certificate Authorities were the problem, not the solution. They were either greedy or incompetent, or both.

iCloud Progress

8 Feb 2019

Designing new interface for iCloud screen. This is necessary, because Dropbox had a completely different paradigm.

7 Feb 2019

  • Recharged test device.
  • Upgraded software on both PC and test device.
  • Connected to test device.
  • Fixed minor bugs in iCloud screen.

SSL problem on earlier versions of Android

It has been brought to my attention that the hosting service may require Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or above, and not Android 4.0 (KitKat), as previously stated.

This is because of a bug in SSL support, in earlier versions of Android. The site switched to SSL some time ago, because of pressure from Apple and others.

We may try to fix this, or we may take the opportunity to implement Material design. The statistics are now 11% of Android 4.4 users, and 5% of users running earlier versions of Android.

Any device purchased in the last 5 years should be OK.

Update

A user has submitted the following error message:

File I/0 error: javax.net.ssl.SSLProtocolException: SSL

handshake aborted: ssl-0x605cba30: Failure in SSL library,

usually a protocol error

error: 14077410:SSL routines:SSL23_GET SERVER HELLO:sslv3

alert handshake failure (external/openssl/ssl/s23_clnt.c:74-4

0x5f16c6fd:0x00000000)

I have found a possible fix. I will give it a go, but I do not understand it very well, and I have no idea whether it will work.

Later

I managed to test the patch on an emulator, and it works! So I will be rolling it out shortly as version 6.2.2.

Aftermath

  • The patch is perfectly reasonable, even if I do not fully understand it. The important point was that I was able to test it on an emulator.
  • The fact that the patch is only necessary on older versions of Android suggests that they may not be quite as well supported as newer ones.
  • With 16% of users running Android 4.4 or earlier, the stats still do not justify ditching support for it.