iOS OomaMobile HD 5.6 (111512)

[Clifftr]

Hi, Please try the new version 5.6 of the iOS app, available in the app store today. It includes several improvements:
- Better reliability of receiving calls while app is in the background
- Incoming calls now work after phone is restarted
- New error message when logging in with non-primary numbers
Please let us know if you continue to have the issues described here.

Best,
Thad

Thad,
I appreciate all the work that has been done to improve the OomaMobile HD iOS app - big improvements with version 5.6 (111512). At least with this release the Background App Refresh is sticking, however; it's still not quite there yet.

The main outstanding issues I've noticed are that the app does not stay signed in, and it seems to be somehow lowering the volume of the iOS Alert Sounds.

So despite the OomaMobile HD app's Background App Refresh setting finally sticking - without the app staying signed-in, incoming calls don't reach and ring the app.
Here again I refer to the Google Hangouts app and it's robustness in this respect. Incoming calls will ring in the Hangouts app even after being forced closed, without having re-launched the app - though still enabled in the Background App Refresh settings. What I'm saying here is that there is no need to launch the Hangouts app in order for it sign-in and receive calls or SMS messages - it just works . . . whereas this isn't the case with the OomaMobile HD app.
Despite the OomaMobile HD app Background App Refresh settings being enabled and sticking - one has to launch the app, allow it to sign in, and leave it running in the background in order to ensure receiving calls . . . although, after a while it does not remain signed in - which means incoming calls don't come through. This not staying signed-in happens especially when changing WiFi connections - again not the case with the Hangouts app.
The app needs to be improved on so it is at least as robust as the Google Hangouts app in order for it to be as useful as it could/should be.

The other outstanding issue I've noticed with this release (and I don't know if this is somehow associated with its Background App Refresh setting being enabled) is it seems to be affecting the general iOS Ringer and Alerts setting under the Sounds setting - by this I mean it appears to be lowering their volume despite the setting volume being at its highest and the Change with Buttons not being enabled.

** Would still very much love to have the option to choose/install/upload our own Ringtones for the OomaMobile HD app, if using the iOS ones are not permitted by Apple.

[Clifftr]

I have to correct myself here concerning the Google hangouts app – The app works even if it is not enabled in the Background App Refresh settings. You only have to sign into your account one time, without doing anything else, and it just works - this is how the OomaMobile HD app should work!
The only time it doesn't is when you go to the Settings and sign out.

[thad]

Thanks for the post Cliff. We are aware of some scenarios where calls can still be missed in the background, as you've described. We are working on these as quickly as possible to address them all.

One thing to note is that sometimes it may seem like the app is signed out when it is not. For example, when going to the app after it has been in the background a few hours, you may see a "logging in..." message. This message appears even though the app was actually still connected to our servers and able to receive calls. I won't go into the explanation for why, but in those cases, you are actually still registered with the network and able to receive calls in the background.

Regarding the sounds issue, I don't fully understand the symptom. Could you email us at mobile-feedback@ooma.com and describe how to reproduce the problem?

Regarding the ringtones, this is a great suggestion that we have on the wish list of new features.

Thanks,
Thad

[Clifftr]

I appreciate your response Thad.

You say; "sometimes it may seem like the app is signed out when it is not." - "you may see a "logging in..." message. This message appears even though the app was actually still connected to our servers and able to receive calls." - however my real world user experience is that despite it being logged in/connected to the Ooma servers the app doesn't ring when it should. It just doesn't - and it's very frustrating! Works fine after launching the app for the first hour or two, but after that its reliability cannot be counted on - in fact what I can count on is the longer the app has been sitting after being launched is that it won't ring on incoming calls.
Not to mention how in real world use one changes WiFi connections, which is a real reliability issue for the OomaMobile HD app - again not a problem for the Hangouts app.

Which brings me again to my points about the Google Hangouts app - it just works! Only requires you to sign into your account once, it doesn't require the Background App Refresh setting be enabled, nor that the app be launched at all, and will even work after the app has been forced to close and not relaunched . . . it just works reliably and simply.
I have a difficult time trying to understand why the OomaMobile HD app cannot work in this same way. Why can't we signin/login to our Ooma account one time with the app, forget about it knowing that is going to work reliably?

As for the Sounds issue; because it isn't a persistent issue I'm still trying to figure out what is going on when I notice it, how often it occurs, etcetera . . . so I'll have to get back with you when I know more.