Local push notifications for problems with the system or system settings

[jpbrandt]

Current Implementation

In the current version of the app for Android (1.3.1) the user didn't get any push notifications for necessary system settings, if e.g. the risk calculation isn't active because in some cases bluetooth was autom. deactivated. If the user deactivates bluetooth directly he gets a notification (no push). The user recognize this only by opening the app and is really upset about this.

Suggested Enhancement

It would makes sense, that the user autom. gets a local push notification, when something is not working regarding the system settings.

Expected Benefits

The user gets local push notifications to avoid that the app is running correctly and the user would be informed via push notification, if something is wrong. So he doesn't need to open the app to get such information.

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Internal Tracking ID: EXPOSUREAPP-4711

[daimpi]

@jpbrandt are you not getting push notifications from Android when something is wrong (e.g. location disabled)?

[heinezen]

This is now mitigated with the dead man notification system.

As @daimpi said, there should be system notifications from Google/Apple when Bluetooth or Location settings are deactivated. I wonder if this is still an issue in CWA 1.10?

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Corona-Warn-App Open Source Team

[Ein-Tim]

Under iOS yes, CWA will stop working silently if the device runs out of space: corona-warn-app/cwa-app-ios#1521
Still, for me, it would be ok to close this in favor of #189

[MikeMcC399]

This is now mitigated with the dead man notification system.

As @daimpi said, there should be system notifications from Google/Apple when Bluetooth or Location settings are deactivated. I wonder if this is still an issue in CWA 1.10?

In Android there is an immediate notification if Bluetooth is disabled, which the user is able to dismiss. The app displays the status "BLUETOOTH TURNED OFF" and by tapping on that, the detailed Exposure Logging status "Restricted" is displayed.

AFAIK the dead man notification will only trigger if no exposure checks were done for 36 hours. I don't believe it gets activated due to disabled Bluetooth. I will try it out and see what happens in Android 1.10.1.

[Ein-Tim]

AFAIK the dead man notification will only trigger if no exposure checks were done for 36 hours. I don't believe it gets activated due to disabled Bluetooth. I will try it out and see what happens in Android 1.10.1.

Under iOS there are no exposure checks when Bluetooth is disabled so deactivated Bluetooth for longer than 36h will lead to a Dead Man notification.

[dsarkar]

@MikeMcC399, @Ein-Tim

On deactivating BT I get on

• Android: immediately an OS push notification, but even after several days CWA says that 'Risiko-Ermittlung' is active permanently. We have a ticket for the latter issue here on GitHub and JIRA.
• iOS: no OS push notification, but CWA quite immediately indicates that 'Risiko-Ermittlung' is stopped.

Altogether it is at least an inconsistent behavior between both systems and should be aligned. It is discussed internally.

[Ein-Tim]

Okay thanks @dsarkar.

It is inconsistent since it is possible to do exposure checks even without Bluetooth under Android, but under iOS this is not possible.

Will you still go on and close this Issue?

[dsarkar]

Actually, the recent EN-Google issue proved that notifications are triggered when necessary. This resulted in notification spam, which is being addressed by developers.

[dsarkar]

@jpbrandt any objections to closing this issue?

[MikeMcC399]

@dsarkar

The original wishlist item was about Android, and this posting is also about Android.

Bluetooth disabled
As promised, I ran a test on an Android device with exposure logging activated and Bluetooth disabled for more than 36 hours. The device was connected to a charger all the time. The configuration was Android 8.0.0, Exposure Notification System (ENS) 18204714000, CWA 1.10.1.

Immediately after disabling Bluetooth the following notification appears, which is triggered by Google ENS:

There is no repeat of this warning and the user can dismiss it (see CLEAR for instance in the screen shot).

During the time that Bluetooth was disabled CWA continued to execute exposure checks every 4 to 5 hours.

No Internet
It is not necessarily an error condition if there is temporarily no internet available, however if this continues for a longer time, then the exposure checks are based on old Diagnosis Key data. To mitigate this situation the deadman notification is triggered by CWA which appears if no exposure checks have been carried out for more than 36 hours. Here is a screen shot from a previous test:

Note that a fix is in the pipeline (see v1.11.0-RC1) to display the full text of the notification correctly.

Summary
The two conditions related to system settings:

• Bluetooth disabled
• No internet for more than 36 hours

are notified to the user without the CWA having to be opened.

I think that this issue could be closed unless @jpbrandt tell us there are other system settings he thinks should be considered.

Battery optimisation issues should also be covered because ENS wakes up COVID-19 apps. I will also check this out, but that will take another 2 days of waiting for deadman notification.

[Ein-Tim]

Thanks @MikeMcC399.

The question what happens if the device runs out of space is still there, but this can be answered in #189.

[MikeMcC399]

@Ein-Tim

The question what happens if the device runs out of space is still there, but this can be answered in #189.

Available space is another topic which I didn't consider because it is not a setting which can be switched on and off by the user like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Mobile data or battery optimisation. Behaviour when space is lacking is very operating system specific, like the other user controlled options, so it probably makes more sense to cover them in the respective app issue repos.

I will come back to this topic in a couple of days. There were several issues in the Android repo in the early days about the app incorrectly reporting lack of space, and I assume that it has become more robust in the meantime, however I have never checked this out.

[Ein-Tim]

There were several issues in the Android repo in the early days about the app incorrectly reporting lack of space, and I assume that it has become more robust in the meantime, however I have never checked this out.

I also remember some cases where the ENF pushed a notification to the user which said that there was not enough space for ENF to run, but this were bugs. So I also assume that this got better

[MikeMcC399]

I filled up available space on an Android 11 emulator and got the following notification:

I also tried to add new entries to the Contact Journal at this time and CWA gave me an error CAUSE: 9002 Something went wrong. database or disk is full (code 13 SQLITE_FULL)

This is by no means an exhaustive test, but it does show that Android may give notification (without opening the app) and if the disk is full when a function is carried out it can give an appropriate error message. What happens with a full device probably depends on the Android version and the device vendor.

[Ein-Tim]

Thank you @MikeMcC399!
@heinezen maybe this could be checked for iOS too?
Thank you!

[heinezen]

I've creates a more general ticket for these issues. Feel free to add more suggestions were push notifications are useful.

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Corona-Warn-App Open Source Team

[MikeMcC399]

On a Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) SM-A520F, Android 8.0.0, Exposure Notification System (ENS) 18204714000, CWA 1.10.1. I activated the MID Power saving mode with Background network usage disabled. I then left the device unattached to a charger for 36 hours without touching it, as a test.

When I activated the screen it showed the Corona-Warn deadman notification reminder to open the app, which I did. A successful exposure check was immediately carried out. The previous successful exposure check was 36 hours earlier.

So with MID Power saving I can say that the user would be warned and can take successful corrective action.

It is not necessary to open the app to get the notification. It is only necessary to open the app to get it to carry out an up-to-date exposure check.

(There is a higher level of Power saving mode called MAX on this device. I didn't test this because the Corona-Warn-App cannot be opened at all with this extreme power-saving mode. Only a small number of specially designated apps can be opened when MAX Power saving mode is activated, and CWA is not one of these apps.)