Test new completely rewritten Traccar Client app
Thank you, Anton, I installed it and on first glance it works great with my own server installation.
My compliments on an excellent system.
Some feedback ... since you mentioned: "One other big difference is that the new app mainly relies on distance-based tracking, so make sure to set up distance parameter appropriately for your use case." ...
In my case I had set the frequency to 300 seconds and distance to 20m ... but in the past hour the android app did not send any automatic updates. The manual updates arrive fine and immediately.
On the play store it sends automatic updates just fine.
Thanks for feedback. One thing I should have probably mentioned, if you enable distance tracking, it will ignore frequency, so it will only report if you move at least distance meters.
Thank you Anton, I'll test it some more while being out and about.
I am a new user, and on cellphones I am especially interested in striking a good balance between update frequency, accuracy, and battery use.
I like that you can now see all parameter settings at a glance in the settings screen. Surely you are already aware, there are some minor GUI related issues, e.g. the home screen does not show the updated URL and Id after changing it in settings, and the labels do not wrap nicely when using a long Guid for an Id. Perhaps it would also be nice to respect the dark theme if possible.
Our compliments on the excellent system.
Not aware of those issues. Thanks for feedback.
Anton, I forgot to mention that, after changing URL and Id, I needed to restar the app to get it to update the home screen. After restarting, the app crashes on second launch. Third and subsequent launches it works fine.
Tested this sequence of events twice with the same results.
Fixed some of the issues. You can download an update using the same link:
https://traccar.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/download/app-debug.apk
I wasn't able to reproduce the crash though. Are there any specific steps? What device model are you using?
Hi Anton,
Wow, that was fast, thanks, I downloaded and tried it and the label wrapping issues are resolved. It also updates the home screen after changing Url and Id.
However, on my Pixel 8 Pro I still had the following behavior:
- Installed from scratch
- Changed Url and Id
- Sent the manual update, that did not arrive to the server
- Killed the app and restarted it ... this crashes (disappears)
- Restart again
- Manual update still did not arrive at the server
- Enabled automatic updates, at this point it asks for Android permissions - granted it
- Now all is well with manual updates arriving as expected
Hope this helps.
I am getting Response: 400, Bad Request.
Motorola moto g53.
What server URL are you using?
Hrothulf, what Android version are you using on the phone? Does the crash happen without manual update step?
Hrothulf can you also please try this updated build to see if you still have the crash:
https://traccar.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/download/app-debug.apk
Hi Anton, this is on Android version 15.
I removed and reinstalled the ap, updated url and id, and immediately activated continuous tracking (granted some Android permissions when requested) ... this is all works fine: monitoring the server log I see automatic lacak posts coming in. Also when doing the Send location. So this sequence of events seems to work perfectly, no crash.
Previously, the crash had happened before ever activating continuous tracking. That also never requested Android permissions, only afterwards when activating continuous tracking.
Could you please briefly elaborate on the general logic of automatic update frequency? As you mentioned originally its behavior seems different than in previous versions (with some logical OR). Expecting something similar I had initially configured 300s and 20m, but when driving around I only got very course / infrequent updates, and none at all when sitting still at the desk. Later I changed it to 10s, and it did update more frequently.
Sorry to be pestering you, I just hope any feedback is helpful as I think you created a wonderful system.
RE: Hrothulf can you also please try this updated build to see if you still have the crash:
I downloaded the app about 5 mins ago ... no more crashes, great. It now requests Location permission when starting a fresh install with "Send location".
There is still a peculiarity ... I'd expect the Send Location button to simply always post an update without any decision logic. However that only seems to happen after enabling continuous tracking (which requested Physical Activity permission).
I went in the permissions manually and noticed Location, Physical activity where enabled, and I manually enabled Notifications, not sure if that is necessary.
Hope this is helpful.
It's a bit technical, but if you want to know the logic how it works, you can read this:
https://github.com/transistorsoft/flutter_background_geolocation/wiki/Philosophy-of-Operation
If you set up distance to something non zero, it will ignore the time. Another important thing is the accuracy setting. If you want frequent locations, you should set high accuracy, which is GPS.
We're working on a completely new version of Traccar Client app. It is re-written from scratch and should be more efficient in terms of battery use and also more reliable. For now only original features are replicated, but the idea is to add some frequently requested things shortly after if it works well.
We need some help with testing it on more devices and real world conditions. If anyone is interested in trying it out, here's an APK file to try:
https://traccar.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/download/app-debug.apk
It is a debug version and might show a warning about license. You can safely ignore those warnings.
It uses a different communication protocol. Use port 5175 for this version of the app. In the next server release we're merging those protocols, but for now it's on a separate port. One other big difference is that the new app mainly relies on distance-based tracking, so make sure to set up distance parameter appropriately for your use case.
Post any feedback if you try it out. Both positive and negative feedback is valuable to decide if this is the right direction.