BMPCC4K Control app - new users

Project history

1. Previous project: name with link
2. BMPCC4K Control app - Resolutions
3. current posting
4. next step
5. Next project:

There is a surprisingly large number of new users for my
BMPCC4K app in January.

I guess I should get back to some of the items accumulating in the backlog.

Links:

• Android Play Store entry 
• Public Beta versions 
• Blackmagic Design Forum

BMPCC4K Control app - Resolutions

Project history

1. Previous project: LPG/CNG Price Reporter
2. BMPCC4K Control app - URSA Mini Pro G2
3. current posting
4. next step: BMPCC4K Control app - new users
5. Next project: designing a chain link tool library

Some updates on my BMPCC4K Camera Control App. (That  also supports the BMPCC6K, UMP and UMP G2)

Blackmagic never got around to adding the missing values to the "1.0 Video Mode" command of their bluetooth protocol. They even added new resolutions without adding the constants to support them via Bluetooth.

But I got a hint about a workaround for this issue and now all supported resolutions on BMPCC4K, BMPCC6K, UMP and UMP G2 should be supported.
You can also only select resolutions that fit the currently selected frame rate

Links:

• Android Play Store entry 
• Public Beta versions 
• Blackmagic Design Forum

BMPCC4K Control app - URSA Mini Pro G2

Project history

1. Previous project: LPG/CNG Price Reporter
2. old posting BMPCC4K can select 4K and 4.6K resolutions
3. current posting
4. BMPCC4K Control app - Resolutions
5. Next project: designing a chain link tool library

Finally a user sent me the idenfification string for the URSA Mini Pro G2.

Blackmagic does not document the exact strings the cameras use in Bluetooth to identify themself.

I added support for the G2 to behave just like the URSA Mini Pro in the latest Beta release.

Links:

• Android Play Store entry 
• Public Beta versions 
• Blackmagic Design Forum

BMPCC4K can select 4K and 4.6K resolutions

Project history

1. Previous project: LPG/CNG Price Reporter
2. old posting BMPCC4K app gets presets
3. current posting
4. next step: BMPCC4K Control app - URSA Mini Pro G2
5. Next project: designing a chain link tool library

In firmware 6.3 Blackmagic finally offers a way to select the different 4K and 3K/4.6K(UMP only of cause) resolutions via Bluetooth.
So I'm about to add these to my "BMPCC4K control" app.

Status

Update (2019-06-17): I tried it with the BMPCC4K and firmware 6.4 and it didn't work. I'm in contact with Blackmagic. My suspicion is that this was only rolled out for the URSA and not the BMPCC4K yet.

Get Support

If you have any issues with the app, please contact me using the email address mentioned in the Play Store. If you don't speak up, I can't help you.
Also, reviews in Play Store are not a chat. They are product reviews. Not a place to ask questions and expect an answer.

Connection Issues

If you can't get a connection via Bluetooth or can't find your (already paired) camera, it's often a crappy Bluetooth Stack in your phone.
In that case rebooting the phone is your best hope. Bluetooth and especially Bluetooth Low Energy is not Googlen's or most manufacturer's highest priority when it comes to Android. The API to access BLE is already pretty crappy compared to most other Android APIs and the underlying implementation is grown as more and more things have been added to the different versions of the Bluetooth standards. All of these versions the phone has to support at the same time. Nothing an app can do about that. Only Google and the phone manufacturer can fix their bugs and I can fix mine.

Stability

On a positive note, there is still not a single crash or "application not responding" automatically reported in any version of the app installed via Play Store since late 2018.

Links:

• Android Play Store entry 
• Public Beta versions 
• Blackmagic Design Forum

BMPCC4K app gets presets

Project history

1. Previous project: LPG/CNG Price Reporter
2. old posting New BMPCC4K firmware - this time with BRaw
3. current posting
4. next step BMPCC4K can select 4K and 4.6K resolutions
5. Next project: designing a chain link tool library

I did not have much time to do anything on my BMPCC4K Camera Control - Android App lately but I did manage to publish a new, public beta version today that has a new tab for storing and recalling the current camera settings as presets.

My camera is currently used on a film set, so it will take me until at least next week to properly test this Beta to offer it as a stable release.

Links:

• Android Play Store entry 
• Public Beta versions 
• Blackmagic Design Forum

New BMPCC4K firmware - this time with BRaw

Project history

1. Previous project: LPG/CNG Price Reporter
2. old posting New BMPCC4K firmware
3. current posting
4. next step: BMPCC4K app gets presets
   
5. Next project: designing a chain link tool library

Again we get a firmware update (6.2) for the Blackmagic cameras.
This time it finally includes the BM-Raw support.
However they had to remove the support for Cinema-DNG.

I'll add the ability to select BM-Raw to the BMPCC4K Camera Control - Android App at once.

Update: The new Android app is released

However there is one issue. There is no way to determing what the camera supports.
This was already the case with the supported resolutions on the URSA Mini Pro.
So either I add BMraw and drop CDNG and cameras with older firmwares will loose the ability to have Cinema-DNG selected or add both and on older and newer camera firmware's there will be unsupported but selectable options.
Here's the answer from Blackmagic:

Hi Marcus,Unfortunately there is no facility to read back the Camera version with the Camera Control protocol, as such it is not possible to determine whether Cinema-DNG is supported or not. I have put in a change request to add this feature in a future release, but this doesn't help you with this request.Kind Regards(name redacted)

I'll also see if 4K and 4.6K  resolutions can not be set via Bluetooth. The protocol documentation is still in a state of October last year, so new constants are defined  for these resolutions but I can guess and try.

BTW:

• I am offering the app at half the price for a week only (until 2019-03-08). Including all future updates.
• There has not been a single crash and not a single "application not responding" since as far as Google Play Store can go back and not a single one in the last 2 app versions ever.

New BMPCC4K firmware

Project history

1. Previous project: LPG/CNG Price Reporter
2. last step: Mysterious crash
3. current posting
4. next step: New BMPCC4K firmware - this time with BRaw
5. Next project: none

Looks like there is a new camera firmware for the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

Since the Bluetooth protocol I used to write my "BMPCC4K Camera Control" Android app did not support some features of this camera yet. I'll give it a try and see what has improved....

Stay tuned!

Stable Releases:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=biz.wolschon.bmpcc4krecord

Open Beta Test: (early access to improvements)

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/biz.wolschon.bmpcc4krecord 

Links 

• Android Play Store entry 
• Public Beta versions 
• Blackmagic Design Forum
• Storage Medium issue 
• Facebook 

New phone - Blackview BV9600 Pro

Actually I wanted the Blackview 9600 Plus (fingerprint reader in the screen) and backed the Kickstarter compaign.
But that was stopped and I was given the choice of getting a BV 9600 Pro or a BV9700 Pro (Much smaller battery, smaller display, IPS instead of Amoled, higher clocked CPU).

I have chosen the BV 9600 Pro.
It shipped with an Android 8.1 image  ("BV9600Pro_S70_V1.1_20181105V31").
For all software issues. That's the firmware I'm talking about.

POSITIVE

• Battery runtime is as advertised. Without SIM card after 24h intense use (reinstalling 140 apps) and sleep tracking, it was still at 50% 
• At some point it is supposed to get an Android 9.0 or 9.1 update.
• It has working Qi wireless charging (lacking on my previous phone).
• It has the same 12V 1.5A and 9V 2A quick charge as my previous phone.
• It has NFC (also lacking on my previous phone).
• It's a roughed IP68 outdoor phone and even compes with a hook to attach a strap for not loosing it. So it needs no Otterbox or other case.
• SIM card can be removed without any special needle or other tools and without disassembling any case.
• Bluetooth Audio with my Renault/Dacia MediaNav works agian (failed on the last 2 generations of phones I had)
• The supplied contacts app is not limited to only create contacts in the address book of the first of 2 Google accounts.

NEGATIVE

• The socket IS NOT USB-C. It's requires special 8mm plugs and standard 5mm USB-C cables don't fit!!! Obviously this is a MAJOR, MAJOR issue!!!
  
• The menu/overview -button (square)  DOESN'T WORK. You can't switch between apps with the stock or any 3rd party launcher.
• The Android Multi-User feature has been disabled (present since Android 4.4) .
• It comes with a screen protector that is very hard to attach because of the raised display bezel. 
• After 2 days I still can't post in the Blackview User Forum to find a solution about any of my software issues. The first post of any new user must be vetted by an admin and that still hasn't happened.
• Some system menus have translation errors. Others are hard to understand after translation into German or UK English or US English
• The supplied phone app is in no way integrated with the supplied contact app. A phone number can not be added to an existing contact and a contact has no long-press menu to open them for editing.

AMBIVALENT

• Back and Menu are reversed compared to my last phone
• The default icons (including all settings items) and the wireless charger are a terribly over-the-top super-bling rose-golden colour.

Mysterious crash

Project history

1. Previous project: LPG/CNG Price Reporter
2. last step: Android App for Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
3. current posting
4. next step: New BMPCC4K firmware
5. Next project: designing a chain link tool library

The BMPC4K app I wrote has exactly 1 crash on 2 devices in Play Store.
However I'm completely puzzled by the stacktrace.
It's not made easier by the fact that I can't reproduct the crash since it happens on 2 user's phones that I have no access to.

All my own code is in the biz.wolschon... -packages.
This crash is entirely in the Wear OS library by Google.
I'm using

implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-wearable:16.0.1'

16.0.1 is indeed the latest and greatest version available at this time.
Since Google has obfuscated it's libraries, a search for other people with this issue in that line of code turns up nothing.

It seems to happen at Fragment -creation time. However I'm not using any fragments from GMS. At least I'm not aware of any.
All I can try is to move from the support library 27.1.1 to 28.0.0 with a 28 target SDK. This mandates some unrelated changes. None of them look like they should affect me.

Update: I just came back, tested that the new, public beta version works and uploaded it to Play Store. Let's see if the crash still happens and if so, something shows up in the Stacktrace that hints to a cause this time.

 Links:

• Android Play Store entry 
• Public BETA versions
• Blackmagic Design Forum
• Storage Medium issue 
• Facebook 

LPG Preismelder Android app updated again

Project history

1. Previous project: none
2. last step: LPG Preismelder Android app updated
3. current posting
4. next step: none
5. Next project: Android App for Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

Android 9 will no longer allow unencrypted HTTP communication.
So I had to pull out my old "LPG Preismelder" fuel station app for GPL and CNG fuel stations in Europe.
It is a simple app. It still works fine.
However nowadays Google Play Store no longer allows the old target SDK
and Android Studio does't like the old Build Tools.
So I had to update them and consequently add support for permissions that are no longer granted at download-time.
Also the Google Maps API has changed a lot and it is no longer possible to just ask the Map-Fragment for the map and perform updates (e.g. set the location). All this now has to be done asynchronously.

This did introduce a small number of crashes for rare cases, thus ruining my "max 1 crash per year at 1000 users" record.

Links:

• App on Google Play

Android App for Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

Project history 

1. Previous project: LPG/CNG Price Reporter
2. last step: none
3. current posting
4. next step: Mysterious crash
5. Next project: none

Screenshots

Minimal start screen while recording...

...while idle...

...and before a connected to a camera.

Very early version of the focus slider.

Android Wear smartwatch.

Selection of some settings values.

Intention

I've just written an Android app that is capable of starting and stopping a recording on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K  (BMPCC4K) and the
URSA Mini Pro (no wireless focus supports on the EF mount version) as well as the
URSA Mini Broadcast.

It can

• Start/Stop a recording remotely
• Start and Stop using an Android Wear smartwatch (for Vloggers)
• display a live timecode, remaining time on storage medium and the most important parameters
• pull wireless live focus and zoom via touchscreen
• store and recall 3 combinations of focus and zoom with a smooth transition
• change parameters - codec, resolution and frame rate (some values not offered yet)
• edit metadata

I am still adding features.
I plan to

1. allow syncing the GPS-time of the phone to the camera(s)
2. allow to start/stop recording on multiple cameras e.g. for multicam interviews. (No idea for a good user interface yet. Proposals?)
3. Support the Panasonic GH5 / GH4R / GH4 camera via Wifi in addition to Blackmagic cameras via Bluetooth Low Energy

Limitations beyond my control:

• My idea to also display audio meters will not work because the camera does not seem to send these via Bluetooth.
• DCI 4K and 4.6K resolutions can not be selected because Blackmagic forgot to define the values in the protocol 
• Support ticket DEV-144. These will be fixed in a future firmware.
• Also the camera does not seem to report the selected storage medium correctly.
• I'm getting a small CFast card to experiment with this.

Stable Releases:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=biz.wolschon.bmpcc4krecord

Open Beta Test: (early access to improvements)

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/biz.wolschon.bmpcc4krecord 

Pricing

Yes, I did put a reasonable price tag of 10€ on it.
That's 20% the price of a power-cable set or 14% of an original Canon-battery or a meal at McDonalds.
Sales tax gets 19% of the shown price (depending on the country) and Google a cut of 30%. So it's just about 6,30€ that actually end up in my pocket to pay for small expenses.

Privacy Policy

(This is required by Google Play Store.)

This app does not collect, use or distribute any kind of personal data.
End of story.

Updates

version "1.2.37" (01.12.2019)

• offer all resolutions on all cameras
• only offer resolutions matching the current sensor frame rate

version "1.2.36 Beta" (13.07.2019)

• bugfix in preset selection
• BMPCC6K support

version "1.2.35 Beta" (06.07.2019)

• show valid shutter angle values if camera is set to shutter time

version "1.2.34 Beta" (27.06.2019)

• Added support for the URSA Mini Pro G2

version "1.2.34 Beta" (16.06.2019)

• BMPCC4K: Ability to select DCI 4K with Camera firmware 6.3 or newer (Blackmagic FINALLY fixed this)
• Tested and DOESN'T WORK YET (at least not the way it was documented). Am currently in contact with Blackmagic.
• URSA Mini Pro: Ability to select Anamorphioc 3K, DCI 4K, 4K 16:9, 4.6K 1.4:1 and 4.6K resolutions (untested, that's why it's beta)
• Dropped the "new firmware" note in the BM-RAW codecs
• Text "connection lost" is no longer obscured by the card-slot buttons

vesion "1.2.33" (01.06.2019)

• ISO and shutter added to named presets

vesion "1.2.31 Beta" (18.05.2019)

• Store and recall named presets

vesion "1.2.29" (16.03.2019)

• Permissions prepared for Android 'Q'
• focus transition screen published as non-beta

version "1.2.24 Beta" (07.03.2019)

• Experimental, programmable focus tansision screen with duration and ease in/out.

version "1.2.23" (07.03.2019)

• Fixed black icon colors in newer Android versions
• Fixed autofocus button overlapping focus rocker on some screen sizes

version "1.2.22" (07.03.2019)

• Blackmagic raw selectable on Pocket Cinema Camera 4K (since firmware 6.2)
• Cinema DNG is marked as "old firmware"

version "1.2.21" (07.02.2019)

• Tested with Firmware 6.1. Sadly Blackmagic still did not add "DCI 4K" and"4.6K" as selectable resolutions
• Support for lenses with no aperture control by the camera.

version "1.2.19" (28.12.2018)

• Minor fix with the record start/stop command to be compatible with more strict Blackmagic camera firmwares.
• Fixed white on white text for dialog buttons in Android 8
• Aperture and shutter angle can be controlled
• Only slots with a card in it can be selected
• Better fit for slim displays
• Settings become 2 screens to be less cluttered

22.12.2018

• I finally figured out what I did wrong in decoding f-stop values. Aperture control is coming after the holidays.

Version "1.2.13" (17.12.2018)

•  Can display and change active storage card

15.12.2018

• On this day I'll hopefully see the very first money from the November sales in Google Play Store. It should actually pay for 35% of my Samsung T5 SSD (without the cage mount) practically required to do anything useful with this camera. The 30% cut for Google after the 19% cut for sales tax is quite heavy. Given my actual hourly wage this side project will never turn any profit in a hundred years but that's okay. It's fun.

Version "1.2.11" (10.12.2018)

• For Some reason Play Store shows this version as "1.2.1" instead of "1.2.11".
• I manually fixed the old name still shown in Play Store.
• Fixed crash on k6000 Plus (Android 8.0) for Bluetooth device with no name
• Unknown camera models can be reported for addition via email

Version "1.2.10" (6.12.2018)

• Fixed crash on Pixel 2 (Android 9) when aborting a scan for bluetooth devices in range
• Nicer display of remaining time on storage medium
• >M-rate framerates selectable (29.97,...)

Version "1.2.7" (24.11.2018)

• Yes, on the same day as the earlier 1.2.6.
• Reverse engineered the storage-related broadcasts. It now displays the remaining time on card slot II.
• I'm trying to get my hands on a CFast card to try card slot I.

Version "1.2.6" (24.11.2018)

• I got a new icon drawn by a facebook user. Thanks a lot!!!
• I also changed the name from "BMPCC4K Record Button" to "BMPCC4K Control" because the app does so much more nowadays"
• I was able to add entering metadata.

Version "1.2.4" (20.11.2018)

• Power zoom rocker and a zoom slider added.
• Also you can store and recall 3 focus+zoom positions now.

Version "1.2.1" (15.11.2018)

• Yes, on the same day as the earlier 1.2.0.
• Wireless follow focus slider added.

Version "1.1.1" (13.11.2018)

• Huge improvements to my Bluetooth Low Energy stage-engine. Searching for the camera(s) is MUCH faster now

Version "1.0.4" (12.11.2018)

• I figured out how to detect someone on the camera starting a recording instead of starting it via the app (and by extension the case of a recording already running when the app is started).

Links 

• Android Play Store entry 
• Public Beta versions 
• Blackmagic Design Forum
• Storage Medium issue 
• Facebook 

Developers: NEVER invest time and effort into any Google project that isn't mainstream.

For everyone outside the Tango Developers Community:
Be warned to never invest time and effort and money into ANY Google project that isn't yet mainstream.

I am SO pissed.

_____

When buying the Phab2Pro specifically for Tango development and testing and using it as a plain user, it was a commitment for 3--4 years (when it will be time for the next phone).
There was no really stable SDK ever to START any serious development. It was constantly bugfixes, updates and changes.

After the Phab2Pro none of the other hardware manufactures had yet the time to see it and and the newer model perform in the market before investing huge money into a risky platform.
Aparently they where right NOT doing so,. Proven by this cancelation.

It's the same I already had with the completely useless GoogleTV collecting dust (given to developers by Google itself back in the days).
After porting software to it, investing lots of time, it was abandonned without ever being adapted for the differences in how TVs are used in Europe (commonly no set-top boxes).

Remind me to NEVER invest time, effort and money into any Google project anymore. For a developer, it is way too risky to throw so much time, effort and personal money at it. All of it will be completely lost and in vain 6 month later.

• Announcement that Google Tango (formerly Project Tango) is now dead.

Tapatalk and ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION

The last update for the Tapatalk forum reader software now needs the ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION permission.
Obviously for reading web-forums there is absolutely no need for this information.

No Android except CyanogenMod with special privacy settings for this one app or Android 6 with as-of-yet unknown required settings would even ask the user.
Let alone allow the user to disable location access in the first place.
So almost all users out there will just have their coarse location inquired and handled without even knowing about it, without their consent and with no requirement to provide this information for the functioning of the app whatsoever.

Aparently it requests the location every time the app starts, a fragment becomes visible and when the app ends without any visible feature using the information.


Here is the answer from Tapatalk support:

Thanks for contacting us.  Location data is not required, and you have the option to not provide location data.

You can also change your location permission by going to Settings>Scroll to bottom to the apps and select Tapatalk>Location.  You can change the setting to Never. (Remark: This only exists in CyanogenMod)

All information collected is non-Personally Identifiable Information. 

implementing K9 mail wear support - stacked notification issue

I'm currently implementing K9 issue 619 "add Andoid Wear Support".
You can find the code in branch issue-619_AndroidWearSupport.
Basic support to delete(if no confirmation on the phone is configured), archive and spam all messages  of a given notification is done and working well.

My currently issue is that I added stacked notification exactly as documented.
The problematic code starts in MessagingController:4941 .

My summary notifcation is only shown on the phone, not the watch. OK.
BUT: my stacked notifications (With setGroup(...) but no setGroupSummary(true) are ALSO shown on the phone. These are supposed to be only visible on the watch.
Every documentation, example and StackOverflow posting shows me that I'm doing everything right and that there should be no way for this to ever happen.

I guess I need an additional pair of eyes to look through at this code.

• question on StackOverflow
• relevant Android Documentation
• relevant Source Code

improving Firefox for Android

I'm looking into fixing the fact, that you can't access your stored passwords on Firefox for Android.

Status

• Added new menu item "Passwords" in Fennec preferences, just below sync
• TODO: create dialog for displaying the passwords.
• TODO: get and honour master-password.
• TODO: how to localize my strings?
• TODO: how to access stored passwords?
• TODO: how to submit my patch?

Setting up

I've set up the development VM as per the instructions .
What they didn't mention was to

• increase the memory of the VM from 512MB to something like 4GB+swap. Else ld crashes (see below)
• You need to run an Ubuntu distribution upgrade to get the required yasm 1.0.x
• You also need to install your language to get your localized keyboard layout and everything.

Where stuff is

The Android UI code seems to be Java but it's not stored as pack/age/name/Classname.java as it's supposed to be but flat in

• mobile/android/base/*.java .

It is set up not like a Java/Android project but like a C project. So all sources have to be manually added to

• mobile/android/base/Makefile.in

Sync related code is read-only and comes from a separate sync-repository. See

• mobile/android/sync/README.txt

String resources for english are in mobile/android/base/locales/en-US .
It it not enough to edit the

• mobile/android/base/locales/en-US/android_strings.dtd but also
• mobile/android/base/string.xml.in

Non-String resources like xml/preferences.xml are in

• mobile/android/base/resources and each new file you add needs to be added to
• mobile/android/base/Makefile.in

• instructions to build Firefox for Android
• Issue I'm trying to fix

Remote Filemanager for Dropbox ported to API1

The CCC-Freiburg is visiting the Shack hackerspace in Stuttgart for the weekend.
Apart from getting ready to do some programming in the Firefox for Android sources,
I took the time to upgrade my "Remote Filemanager for Dropbox" app to the new Dropbox API1 instead of the old API0.
It still needs a lot of graphical work and I had to drop the AccountManager for a first version but it can accept new users again.
I find the northon commander style much easier to work with for transfering files then the official Dropbox app.

• App in Google Play Store
• Shack hackerapce

Privacy  

Because it has the permission GET_ACCOUNT it needs a privacy declararion.
That permission exists to access it's own account. the credentials you enter into the app to access your dropbox accounts. Not accounts of other apps.
It has no advertisement. No tracking. Does nothing except the file operations you tell it to perform.

Paid reviews

I advise to ignore androidmag.de and other such publications of the cda-verlag like ANDROID MAGAZIN and ANDROID APPS.
They just cold called me and offered to make Vespucci (the OpenStreetMap editor) an app of the week for  490,- euro plus taxes including a video review.
I have to assume all their existing reviews and apps of the week are paid for as well.

• Google+ posting

Show Firefox Passwords for Android updated

On the Chaos Computer Club meeting today I updated the free version of ShowFirefoxPasswords.
It now has a menu to allow filtering the lists on devices that have no menu-button anymore.
(Formerly you long-pressed the menu button to filter lists that implement the Filterable interface.)
I also added support for GoogleTV. It should appear in the market on the TV any time now.
(No sideload nonsense.) 

• ShowFirefoxPasswords(lite) on Android Market

Me as a Google Summer of Code mentor for Android OSM apps

After Graham Jones asked me,
I volunteered to be a mentor for one a possible student working on Android apps for OpenStreetMap.
There seems to be a proposal to create something more geared towards inexperienced mappers based on the Vespucci code of which I took over for the retired maintainer years ago.


"Hi,

Your request to become a Mentor for has been accepted.

Greetings,
The Google Open Source Programs Team" 

• Vescpucci OpenStreetMap geo- editor for Android 
• OpenStreetMap
• Google Summer of Code (German)

ported aLogcat to GoogleTV and Android 4

I just commited the required changes to make the popular development tool "aLogcat" work well on GoogleTV and apear for such devices in Android Market and to make good use of the ActionBar on Android 3.x and Android 4.x.
I guess the next release will feature these changes.

• aLogCat in Android Market