How to get apps to work, when they appear to require google play

kd92jew

I'm trying to use Avenza (shows USGS topographic maps, downloaded from https://apps.nationalmap.gov/downloader/) on my Graphene OS (pixel7).

It works fine, but ONLY if I have a connection. If I'm in airplane mode or have no connection, as soon as I try to open it, it tries to do something in Google Play Store, can't connect, and says "you're offline, check your connection or get a notification when you're back online".

However, if I open Avenza before going offline, then it works fine, and shows me my map.

This is not the case with my old google pixel phone, it works fine both online and offline.

Thoughts on how I might fix this?

de0u

kd92jew This is not the case with my old google pixel phone, it works fine both online and offline.

Are both phones running the same version of the app?

Which OS and OS version are running on the old phone?

TRInvictus

kd92jew Hello, you may consider to use another app instead, if "Avenza" is causing such issues.

I use "All in one Offline Maps", it has built-in support for 7 different USGS map types, and lots of other map sources, its free, has no trackers, a pro version which is called "Alpine Quest" can be bought from the website (one time purchase) as an option to the play store.

Here's a list of features / comparision between the free version "Offline Maps" and the pro version "Alpine Quest":
https://www.alpinequest.net/compare

kd92jew

Ah...I should have checked.
Yes, it's a different version on my old phone. Much older.

Okay, so I just upgraded the version on the OLD phone. And...now it has the same behavior. So, it was not a problem with the graphene, but rather a problem with the app.

I was able to get around it. You can skip registration, and it'll work, if you're online. But if you want to use it offline, you have to register an account in the app, while you're online.

After that, you can open the app offline, in airport mode, without a problem.

Thanks for the help!

de0u

kd92jew It was not a problem with the graphene, but rather a problem with the app.

Thanks for reporting back!

kd92jew

Okay I think I spoke too soon. I was out and about today, trying to use while offline Avenza with a geo-tagged map, and it failed again. It says "To continue to use Avenza Maps offline mapping get it on Google Play".

I actually DID get it on Google Play. But that's the message I'm getting.

It looks like, if I open up Avenza BEFORE going offline, I can use it. But otherwise it doesn't work.

After restarting my phone, and trying the same thing, I'm now getting the message "Something went wrong - check that google play is enabled on your device and that you're using an up-to-date version before opening the app. If the problem persists, try reinstalling the app.

(But after I closed that and restarted the app, I get the original message (from Google Play), "you're offline, check your connection or get a notification when you're back online".

It's as though Avenza is doing some kind of check on Google Play, to see if it's running a recent version (or something) and it's not passing this check.

Would love to hear some ideas.

de0u

kd92jew It's as though Avenza is doing some kind of check on Google Play, to see if it's running a recent version (or something) and it's not passing this check.

That is a thing that apps can choose to do. An app might be willing to run for some amount of time without being able to check in, but might decide to be firm after that amount of time has elapsed.

Would love to hear some ideas.

I suspect contacting the app author may be necessary.

PaulDavis

If the app is screwed anyway, then you could try Luckypatcher to remove the google dependency. It couldn't make it any worse. If it is still screwed, then download the the app again

other8026

PaulDavis Luckypatcher

Haven't heard of this, but quickly searching online it looks like this app requires root.

We actively discourage people from rooting. Rooting is bad for the security of the OS.

If an app depends on Google Play, the best thing to do is to install Google Play. Or contact the app developers to try and convince them to make changes to their app.

kd92jew

Another update - I emailed their support, because it started having the same issues on my OLD (non graphene OS) phone.

Turns out it's a known issue with the newest upgrade. Support was very helpful, and asked me to test out an APK file, I did and now it's working fine (with the APK that has a fix) on my old and new phone.

So, was not a problem with Graphene OS at all.

Thanks for all the feedback.

de0u

kd92jew I emailed their support [...] Turns out it's a known issue with the newest upgrade [...] So, was not a problem with Graphene OS at all.

Thanks for taking the time to provide the community with this update!