cwa-app-android
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corona-warn-app
Don't publish statements "new version available" when the staged rollout hasn't finished yet
Every time there's a new version, news statements are being pushed out, despite the release hasn't been completely published. This is a bit annoying. Many users see no updates until the staged rollout is complete and thus suspect they're doing something wrong or think something is broken.
Statements should either make clear that the update will not be immediately available to everyone, or even better you should wait to publish statements until the rollout is done.
I posted this in the android repo because the way staged rollouts are handled are different in GooglePlay and Apple's AppStore. For Apple, when using staged rollout, new users will immediately see the new app, only existing users will continuously be upgraded. For Google, it's the reverse: the new version won't be available to new users until the staged rollout reaches 100%. So on Android you're stuck with the old version and it's very confusing for returning users when they think "ah, that's a feature I'd like to use" and upon installing the app realize that the advertised features aren't even available.
Statements should either make clear that the update will not be immediately available to everyone, or even better you should wait to publish statements until the rollout is done.
Both, the blog post (version 2.5 as an example) and the Twitter Account @coronawarnapp mentions (here on Twitter and in the last paragraph of the blog) that there's the staged rollout and that it takes time.
Could you give me an example where you see room for improvement?
I agree that it is annoying.
Apart from the sources which @Ein-Tim quotes, there is also an FAQ article https://www.coronawarn.app/en/faq/#release_time describing how it works.
In https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-website/issues/1287#issuecomment-843079169 I made the comment to the Open Source Team
If your organization has any influence on Google, please feedback that it would be good for the Google Play Store to allow manual overriding of the staged rollout like iOS allows.
This would allow testers and those urgently waiting for a fix to get earlier access for Android releases of CWA.
I'm not holding my breath waiting for Google to make a change though.
@treysis Thanks of your comments. As @Ein-Tim already mentioned, the staged rolled-out is mentioned usually. Please let us know where the new version was mentioned without mentioning the staged roll-out and we will check if there is something we can do about it.
Thanks. Best wishes, DS
Corona-Warn-App Open Source Team
@dsarkar The primary CWA app FAQ, hosted by the Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung, does not mention any rollout delay. The URL is https://www.bundesregierung.de/corona-warn-app-faq.
With locale set to German, open CWA Android, tap three-dot symbol, select "App-Information" then "Häufige Fragen", scroll down to "Was ist mit den Updates besser geworden?", expand and read.
CWA Version 2.5 is described, with no mention of a 48 hour delay for Google Play Store subscribers.
The issue is not apparent with locale set to English, because the primary app FAQ still describes the previous version 2.4 (although with this version it also did not mention any rollout delay either).
@dsarkar The NINA warning app also does not refer to the staged roll-out. At the time of the push notification, the update is therefore usually not yet available.
I believe it should be mentioned in the headline or very mich in the beginning. I mean I personally know about the staged rollout (though I only learned that 2 or 3 months ago). But I hear from many ppl around me that it's annoying.
I think you should either wait to publosh the release until the rollout is finished or mention it in the very beginning that a new version is coming, not that it's already there. Though I suspect news outlets will just miss that note anyways.
Yes, I also think that the time lag on Google is 'a bit long'.
Here (https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-android/releases/tag/v2.5.1) you can only read roughly that the release 2.5.1 was released two days ago ... but up to now (07/14/2021 11:15 a.m.) the new release is neither distributed via Google updates nor can it be downloaded from Google Play (here: v 2.4.3). And ... it's not the first time.
Update 07/14/2021 12:07 p.m.: Corona warning app 4.7 MB - updated on July 1st ...
I created https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-wishlist/issues/585 so everybody can calculate when the update should be available to everyone.
Statements should either make clear that the update will not be immediately available to everyone, or even better you should wait to publish statements until the rollout is done.
Unfortunately, we can only lose in that regard as long as most people don't know what a rollout is.
- If we publish the statement after the rollout is finished, we have no official communication available while the release is deployed. Additionally, It would probably be a lot more confusing since some people would wonder why they didn't get an update when others have already received one.
- Even if we make clear to everyone that the update is not immediately available (which we already do), some users don't read it. They hear about the update from social media or from friends. This is not something we can easily solve.
- It is very unlikely that we can change the way rollouts are done on Android. Other, much larger actors have tried and were rejected. That's not great, but the advantages of a rollout still makes it worth they extra explaining.
Flawed communication is better than no communication in this case.
Corona-Warn-App Open Source Team
In my experience with receiving previous Android CWA releases, it has always taken 48 - 49 hours before I received the release. I have almost never been one of the random users chosen to get a new release earlier. So it seems that the manual control of the staged rollout has kept the percentage of addressed and subscribed users on the Google Play Store at a low number, then after 48 hours it goes to 100% and everybody has access.
Maybe when the staged rollout has completed, the corresponding blog could be updated to note that the Android app release is completely available? The Twitter channel is very active these days. That could also be a place where the full roll-out for Android could be confirmed.
@MikeMcC399 wrote: In my experience with receiving previous Android CWA releases, it has always taken 48 - 49 hours before I received the release. I have almost never been one of the random users chosen to get a new release earlier. So it seems that the manual control of the staged rollout has kept the percentage of addressed and subscribed users on the Google Play Store at a low number, then after 48 hours it goes to 100% and everybody has access.
The time from which everyone has access seems to me to coincide with the time when the current version is also made available in the Google Play Store. Currently (December 21, 2021 10:30 a.m.): 2.14.1 in the Google Play Store and on my smartphone.
In other words: the general rollout for everyone seems to be the same as the time of general availability.
@Jo-Achim Your view into the Google Play Store depends on whether Google has released the app to you or not. Different users see different information until the staged-rollout has reached 100%, after which time all users see the same information.
My account has not yet been selected for 2.15.1 rollout so I see the following on https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.rki.coronawarnapp
We know from @dsarkar's comment in https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-website/issues/2216#issuecomment-998020989 and the blog https://www.coronawarn.app/en/blog/2021-12-20-cwa-2-15/ that the rollout of CWA 2.15.1 started at about 08:00 on Monday, December 20, 2021. The updated timestamp of 15 December 2021, which I am seeing in the Google Play Store, corresponds to the date of the last release candidate for this version v2.15.1-RC3. The final release v2.15.1 is technically identical to the release candidate (they are tags on the same commit https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-android/commit/f5fe6617411dcd436abebace99352a942660dc68).
So in fact the Google information is a little confusing, as it is showing me the old version (2.14.1) with the updated date when the new version 2.15.1-RC3 was submitted (15 December 2021). I expect that will change tomorrow morning and I will see 2.15.1 instead.
Since yesterday morning I see now:
I assume that the rollout of CWA Android 2.15.1 has now reached 100%, but in fact only somebody with access to the Google Play Console for the CWA account can say for sure.
but in fact only somebody with access to the Google Play Console for the CWA account can say for sure.
You can just open PlayStore in an incognito window. It won't show the new version until 100% are reached.
@dsarkar
It seems that the Android 2.16 rollout is delayed. I'm not seeing it on https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.rki.coronawarnapp yet and it is now 50 hours past the projected deadline of 48 hours counted from the timestamp of 10 Uhr Jan 17, 2022 on https://www.coronawarn.app/en/blog/2022-01-17-cwa-2-16/.
Just manually downloaded CWA v.2.16.2 from Google Play Store (manually check for updates from phone).
2G+ should now work with a test certificate. But unfortunately not yet with "Full Vaccination" (= "Basic Immunization" + "Booster); see: Beim RKI gelten zweifach Geimpfte nicht länger als „vollständig geimpft“ / "At the RKI, people who have been vaccinated twice are no longer considered to be “fully vaccinated”.
@Jo-Achim
Just manually downloaded CWA v.2.16.2 from Google Play Store (manually check for updates from phone).
Congratulations! CWA Android 2.16.2 still seems to be in the process of staged rollout. I don't see it yet, and the test of viewing https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.rki.coronawarnapp in Incognito mode still displays 2.5.1 as current version. (Thanks to @treysis for that trick!)
2G+ should now work with a test certificate. But unfortunately not yet with "Full Vaccination" (= "Basic Immunization" + "Booster);
I suggest you check the blog Corona-Warn-App version 2.16 shows users’ current status evidence and the FAQ Questions and answers about the current status proof - "Will 2G+ take my booster vaccination into account?". There is some planned functionality missing at the moment.
see: Beim RKI gelten zweifach Geimpfte nicht länger als „vollständig geimpft“ / "At the RKI, people who have been vaccinated twice are no longer considered to be “fully vaccinated”.
That is interesting and should probably be in a different thread if it needs to be followed up.
@MikeMcC399 Roll out of Android 2.16.2 was set to 30% 19.01.2022 07:42, probably later today to 100%. Roll out was delayed for the hotfix 2.16.2, due to an issue with Android 6 devices.
@dsarkar
Roll out of Android 2.16.2 was set to 30% 19.01.2022 07:42, probably later today to 100%.
I appreciate the update! Thank you.
The blog says:
"The new version of the Corona-Warn-App will be available to users within the next 48 hours."
so in future:
- either the time frame should not be stated in such an exact number of hours or
- if there is a delay past the stated time-frame of 48 hours, then the blog should be updated with a new forecast for the time of rollout completion
@MikeMcC399, thank you. My note regarding '2G+ with test' vs. '2G+ with boosters' was only intended as information / changes about version 2.16.2.
Regarding "At the RKI, people who have been vaccinated twice are no longer considered to be “fully vaccinated”" I assume that the developers have already received this information. Or?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.rki.coronawarnapp is now showing 2.16.2 in Incognito mode. I can update to it now, and I assume that we are now at 100% rollout.
@Jo-Achim
Regarding "At the RKI, people who have been vaccinated twice are no longer considered to be “fully vaccinated”" I assume that the developers have already received this information. Or?
~~I will open a new issue for this point, as it does not belong in this thread.~~
@Jo-Achim I researched the point you mentioned. I could not see any change to the legal definition of "vollständig geimpft" according to www.pei.de/impfstoffe/covid-19.
The RKI Excel sheet of Tabelle mit den gemeldeten Impfungen nach Bundesländern und Impfquoten nach Altersgruppen uses the term "grundimmunisiert" whereas the RKI graphic on Digitales Impfquotenmonitoring zur COVID-19-Impfung uses the terms:
- Mind. einmal geimpft
- Vollständig geimpft
- Auffrischimpfungen
So in some places RKI now writes "grundimmunisiert" instead of "vollständig geimpft".
At this time I don't think this is problem. I will not open a new GitHub issue after all.
Yes @MikeMcC399, I also wanted to find a suitable RKI link and add it, but I haven't found anything at the moment. Either Prof. Lauterbach was too fast or the RKI was too slow. ;-)
Good morning @MikeMcC399
so in future:
either the time frame should not be stated in such an exact number of hours or if there is a delay past the stated time-frame of 48 hours, then the blog should be updated with a new forecast for the time of rollout completion
I will forward your suggestion.
@dsarkar
I will forward your suggestion.
Good morning and thank you!
It's difficult to know how many people actually follow the blog announcements related to CWA Android in real-time, since there is no direct subscription service to the website https://www.coronawarn.app/en/blog/ and https://www.coronawarn.app/de/blog/. I assume only very few subscribe to the GitHub source for the website.
The CWA Twitter channel has been mirroring version announcements though, and Twitter subscriptions can cause notifications to pop up. There are currently 34.7K followers, and perhaps half of these would be Android CWA users. So potentially around 18K users might be receiving information about a new Android CWA version and looking for this to be installable on their device in the timeframe announced in the blog.
@Jo-Achim
Regarding https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-android/issues/3698#issuecomment-1016550366, I suggest you take a look at https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-app-ios/pull/4155. "Vollständig geimpft" will be changed to "Grundimmunisiert".
@Ein-Tim
Thanks for noticing the PR! The issue is separately tracked in https://github.com/corona-warn-app/cwa-documentation/issues/816 where I noted that it should be fixed in 2.18.