Updates to JW Library (iOS, Android, Windows)

[jayrtom]

-Add a language to the what's new area and see if it updates anything (granted that they are online and have enough space) 

-Delete the cache  of JW app (on settings/applications) 

-Reset the device

-As a last resort, reinstall jw app

[Zebra555]

18 minutes ago, jayrtom said:

-Add a language to the what's new area and see if it updates anything (granted that they are online and have enough space) 

-Delete the cache  of JW app (on settings/applications) 

-Reset the device

-As a last resort, reinstall jw app

Hi Jaytrom

Will deleting the cache on my device wipe out all the input i have done so far? Underlining, notes, etc..  

[jayrtom]

7 hours ago, Zebra555 said:

Hi Jaytrom

Will deleting the cache on my device wipe out all the input i have done so far? Underlining, notes, etc..  

No. The cash is just a bunch of temporary files. Reinstaling the app will delete the downloaded pubs though. but if you backup your notes you're be able to recover all the underlines, bookmarks, etc... 

[jwhess]

I had an update problem with my Android cell phone (LG-3).  I tried various methods mentioned above but finally I decided the amount of time I was spending was not worth it.  I deleted the app and reloaded.  I did not use the backup, I just reloaded the material (I don't keep a lot of video on my phone).  The only thing I did not think about was the dated yearbooks.  I had four yearbooks from 2014-2017)  When I re-installed the books it only gave me two (2016 an 2017).  It was worth the aggravation to simply put the device back online and fixed.

 

My wife has the exact same phone and carrier and plan that I do and hers works fine.

Edited November 7, 2017 by jwhess

[jwhess]

A point of correction:  It was the Examining the Scriptures (daily text) that was lost.

[TRUTH04]

Br. Chigozie, what OS are they using (IOS apple or Android)? 

Android.

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[TRUTH04]

How unusual.
I know it’s a dumb question, but it has to be asked: Are we certain that each of the affected brothers have a working internet connection and that they have stayed connected for a reasonable about of time? Can you access www.jw.org or tv.jw.org via internet browser on the effected devices? Are they using the same internet provider and modem/router you are using?

These phones, specifically, 3 out of the 5 brothers I mentioned were working properly because I happen to be the one they run to to fix any issue with regards to jwlib. Everything was working well, until recently, no more pub updates for them. In the assembly we have to keep doing the internal update with the internet on for a long time. Still no difference. It is an issue because each time they see me, they keep asking what to do. I have exhausted all I know. So that's why I came here.

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[TRUTH04]

-Add a language to the what's new area and see if it updates anything (granted that they are online and have enough space) 
-Delete the cache  of JW app (on settings/applications) 
-Reset the device
-As a last resort, reinstall jw app

One phone was bought newly, with this same problem. She has enough space on the phone. The sister bought the phone mainly for jw stuffs. She is not good in knowing or downloading any other thing on it. What next I need to try is to let her download directly from google play. I did send mine to her phone and installed it.

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[jayrtom]

1 hour ago, TRUTH04 said:

One phone was bought newly, with this same problem. She has enough space on the phone. The sister bought the phone mainly for jw stuffs. She is not good in knowing or downloading any other thing on it. What next I need to try is to let her download directly from google play. I did send mine to her phone and installed it.

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If want to get updates you need to install trough Google play.

If the phone is old or is a really budget phone it won't work with jw library, I've seen several cases. It will install the app but besides being extremely slow will have all sort of problems, including lack of the ability to underline in some pubs, no updates appear in the pubs(the 2 arrows), etc...

[1MKnight]

I've heard that some of the older apple devices don't support the newer updates to the library, does anyone know of his ti be the case? My wife is looking for a replacement phone and we don't want to get something that can't support our theocratic apps. 

[Old]

My three-year-old Apple Mini accepts the updates. My wife's iPhone works the program well and it is 4 years old. My Galaxy S5 phone has no problems. 

[dove]

Mine as well..Apple mini I mean..also iphone as old

[On the huh]

Are we talking about app updates or the app updating its publication database?  Our brother said he has the latest 9.3 version.  The app does not update its internal database through the app store.  On Windows I have had a problem with it not updating and was able to delete the database file,  re-run the app and it launched and it downloaded the latest.  Not sure where you find it on Android devices.

[GrumpysWife]

I had to delete the whole of jwlib app then find the cached data in settings and delete that before it would download correctly. 

[TRUTH04]

If want to get updates you need to install trough Google play.
If the phone is old or is a really budget phone it won't work with jw library, I've seen several cases. It will install the app but besides being extremely slow will have all sort of problems, including lack of the ability to underline in some pubs, no updates appear in the pubs(the 2 arrows), etc...

Downloading from google play won't solve the problem. The issue is that the app refuse showing a pub on the "WHAT NEW" section, and it doesn't update the publications. We are talking about 9.3 version here.

Am thinking of suggesting PLA app for the friends. I ve called branch on the JWlib issue, the brother that answered stated that there some phones the app doesn't support. That I should advice the brothers to use another android phones. But the people having these problem have no other phone nor do they have the money to get another one.

Am thinking of suggesting PLA app for them. I don't know about the developer of that app. Anyone with info about the app developer?

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[TRUTH04]

Are we talking about app updates or the app updating its publication database?  Our brother said he has the latest 9.3 version.  The app does not update its internal database through the app store.  On Windows I have had a problem with it not updating and was able to delete the database file,  re-run the app and it launched and it downloaded the latest.  Not sure where you find it on Android devices.

Hmm wish you knew how to do that on android. But I case of a new tablet on which jwlib was newly installed, what us the possibility that the problem could be solved by deleting the database file?

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[On the huh]

Deleting the database forces the app to start afresh with its default database.  On the second run, it then downloads the latest data and adds it to the database.   I'll look into how to do it on android and reply, unless someone else replies before me.

 

The fact the device has installed 9.3 must mean that it supports it.  If it was too old to support it, it would still be on an older version.

[jayrtom]

3 hours ago, TRUTH04 said:

Downloading from google play won't solve the problem. The issue is that the app refuse showing a pub on the "WHAT NEW" section, and it doesn't update the publications. We are talking about 9.3 version here.

Am thinking of suggesting PLA app for the friends. I ve called branch on the JWlib issue, the brother that answered stated that there some phones the app doesn't support. That I should advice the brothers to use another android phones. But the people having these problem have no other phone nor do they have the money to get another one.

Am thinking of suggesting PLA app for them. I don't know about the developer of that app. Anyone with info about the app developer?

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Is true that not every phone works...

But don't need to use PLA (don't know if it agrees with the terms of use of JW.org)

Download the epub files (or use a news reader app to do it automatically) and use moon reader or similar to study, underline and make notes...

 

[jayrtom]

6 hours ago, Jonathan77 said:

Deleting the database forces the app to start afresh with its default database.  On the second run, it then downloads the latest data and adds it to the database.   I'll look into how to do it on android and reply, unless someone else replies before me.

 

The fact the device has installed 9.3 must mean that it supports it.  If it was too old to support it, it would still be on an older version.

The fact is that you don't see this problem on newer devices... Friends in my congregation have this problem on their tablets which are old. But they have the latest version installed. The solution varies but at the worst case you have to reinstall the app. Sometimes it updates the pubs but suddenly it stops doing that... But all problems are just with old devices... 

[Brandon]

6 hours ago, TRUTH04 said:

nor do they have the money to get another one.

 

Cost is becoming an issue for many publishers even in some of the richest branch territories.  I think a lot of friends might just go back to paper; not because they don't like screens, but due to cost.  I don't think there's anything wrong with that though.

 

I think some feel like every individual member of our brotherhood should be 'moving in the same direction; and digital publications is what the GB wants us to use!'  but not only is that idea overly simplistic but never have they asked us to go spend money on technology just to save the organization money.  They've only asked that those who already would have purchased devices to consider using those devices for studying, rather than ordering printed publications.

 

Really, I don't think anyone should buy electronics they wouldn't otherwise have wanted simply to save the cost of one workbook and one WT magazine per month for their use at the meetings.  That's just silly.  And I see it all the time older ones who feel the pressure to buy these devices, and half the time they don't want to learn them and end up not using them or trying to use them but constantly needing help.  During our CO visit, during his public talk, a sister handed her iPad to me discreetly with a note asking me to 'fix it' but it must have been updated and needed to register online or something because it couldn't get past a screen asking to select a wifi network, and our routers at the hall had just been reset and I didn't know any of the passwords.  She kept handing it back to me and I kept refusing to take it. She even wrote a note like "i just need iBooks" or something and passing it down the aisle via several friends sitting between us.   It was so embarrassing that I had to just start ignoring her.  And this, during our CO public talk.

 

Really, anyone thinking of going digital needs to "count the cost" and not just in money but in time and energy--both their own time they'll need to invest, and how much of others' time!

[Rozannnancarrow]

On 11/7/2017 at 9:37 PM, jwhess said:

I had an update problem with my Android cell phone (LG-3).  I tried various methods mentioned above but finally I decided the amount of time I was spending was not worth it.  I deleted the app and reloaded.  I did not use the backup, I just reloaded the material (I don't keep a lot of video on my phone).  The only thing I did not think about was the dated yearbooks.  I had four yearbooks from 2014-2017)  When I re-installed the books it only gave me two (2016 an 2017).  It was worth the aggravation to simply put the device back online and fixed.

 

My wife has the exact same phone and carrier and plan that I do and hers works fine.

 

Jwhess  reinstalling  the app is fine if you have good network  and lots of credit.. but here in ghana  and having to reinstall  the sign language  app  takes a lot of cedis  as it is all videos ..so it is not that easy  or that's what I would have done for the fourth  time .

[jwhess]

On 11/11/2017 at 6:58 PM, Rozannnancarrow said:

Jwhess  reinstalling  the app is fine if you have good network  and lots of credit.. but here in ghana  and having to reinstall  the sign language  app  takes a lot of cedis  as it is all videos ..so it is not that easy  or that's what I would have done for the fourth  time .

Sr. Rozann, I do not have good internet (this is the first message I have typed in 4 days because the Internet connection has been out).  I live in a rural area with not much cell-phone service and not many choices for internet connection. When it is functioning it is quite slow.  However, when the device is not working and you have tried everything else...well, I just "bit the bullet" so to speak and re-installed.  It would have been even more trouble if it had been my desktop PC or my tablet.  They have many more downloads than my phone.

[Rozannnancarrow]

On 11/13/2017 at 12:58 PM, jwhess said:

Sr. Rozann, I do not have good internet (this is the first message I have typed in 4 days because the Internet connection has been out).  I live in a rural area with not much cell-phone service and not many choices for internet connection. When it is functioning it is quite slow.  However, when the device is not working and you have tried everything else...well, I just "bit the bullet" so to speak and re-installed.  It would have been even more trouble if it had been my desktop PC or my tablet.  They have many more downloads than my phone.

Oh bro jwhess sorry 

Where are that the network  is so bad ?

I jus need to update  my sign language  app for my deaf students.

There is always  someone  worse off than  I am.

Jehovah  will help us all   very soon

[Rozannnancarrow]

On 11/11/2017 at 3:34 PM, Brandon said:

 

Cost is becoming an issue for many publishers even in some of the richest branch territories.  I think a lot of friends might just go back to paper; not because they don't like screens, but due to cost.  I don't think there's anything wrong with that though.

 

I think some feel like every individual member of our brotherhood should be 'moving in the same direction; and digital publications is what the GB wants us to use!'  but not only is that idea overly simplistic but never have they asked us to go spend money on technology just to save the organization money.  They've only asked that those who already would have purchased devices to consider using those devices for studying, rather than ordering printed publications.

 

Really, I don't think anyone should buy electronics they wouldn't otherwise have wanted simply to save the cost of one workbook and one WT magazine per month for their use at the meetings.  That's just silly.  And I see it all the time older ones who feel the pressure to buy these devices, and half the time they don't want to learn them and end up not using them or trying to use them but constantly needing help.  During our CO visit, during his public talk, a sister handed her iPad to me discreetly with a note asking me to 'fix it' but it must have been updated and needed to register online or something because it couldn't get past a screen asking to select a wifi network, and our routers at the hall had just been reset and I didn't know any of the passwords.  She kept handing it back to me and I kept refusing to take it. She even wrote a note like "i just need iBooks" or something and passing it down the aisle via several friends sitting between us.   It was so embarrassing that I had to just start ignoring her.  And this, during our CO public talk.

 

Really, anyone thinking of going digital needs to "count the cost" and not just in money but in time and energy--both their own time they'll need to invest, and how much of others' time!

True

[jwhess]

On 11/11/2017 at 10:34 AM, Brandon said:

 

Cost is becoming an issue for many publishers even in some of the richest branch territories.  I think a lot of friends might just go back to paper; not because they don't like screens, but due to cost.  I don't think there's anything wrong with that though.

I think some feel like every individual member of our brotherhood should be 'moving in the same direction; and digital publications is what the GB wants us to use!'  b

Really, anyone thinking of going digital needs to "count the cost" and not just in money but in time and energy--both their own time they'll need to invest, and how much of others' time!

 

Br. Brandon,  I certainly can sympathize with your comment about the expense.  There are a couple of unrelated points I would like to share with you, however.

 

First is the idea that the printed material (Bible, books, etc) are cheaper or "without cost" to the individual publisher.  We used to charge for our literature including Bibles.  If we still asked for such a contribution and it was based on our previous charge (plus inflation) a $5 deluxe NWT would cost $40-$80.  We did not even have a large, deluxe bible at all.  I think that our brotherhood forgets that we used to donate for the cost of production equal to the actual cost.  Look at any bookstore and see the price of Bibles and religious books.  They are not less than a cheap tablet.  Just because our society chose to let you have a bible for free does not mean it should be "free" to us the end user.  We should be just as motivated in donating for this gift as we were in 1965  or 1992 when we stopped asking.

 

Second point, about needing digital.  I do not know your position as regards the platform parts you handle, but when reading (at our Midweek Meeting for example) we are supposed to use the latest version of the material (like the KR book).  Have you had a reader using the old paper copy and read aloud things about the Theocratic School or District overseers that are not even in the publication now?  Our elder textbook is constantly updated (even monthly) but no new printed publication has been made for almost 20 years.  Some publication (like the brochure "How Blood and Save Your Life" is ONLY available in digital format.  So I think to recommend JUST using the printed versions of everything would be short-sighted, especially if you are a Pioneer, MS or and elder with parts to prepare.  And even if you are not, it is awkward to be reading the older version in print and trying to follow the reading from the platform in the newer digital format.  Plus, if we really donated, as in the past, we would be giving hundreds of dollars each year for Bibles, Bound Volumes, Insight book sets, magazines, brochures and tracts.  

In addition, we used to have to care for our literature after getting them.  We bought leather briefcases and service bags.  We spent on special covers for our Bibles or had them specially bound (my last one was $65).  So the on-going, upkeep costs were there as well.

 

Just a thought on the point of view about need and cost.