Nasty New Years surprise from Swype/Nokia

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Technofreak

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#138393 2-Jan-2014 10:44

How many Geekzoners awoke yesterday to find their Symbian Anna or Belle device started to behave in a weird manner and they were unable to send texts and the phone needed to be restarted. What a most annoying way to start the New Year.

I'm not sure how many on here still use a Symbian device. In comparison to newer phones they might be sluggish but my E7 still does stuff and has features that other newer phones don't have. My wife regularly complains that while her 920 is smooth and fast it doesn't do what her old N8 could do.

Anyway I still use my E7 on a daily basis. Yesterday there was much angst as my E7 became almost unusable. Whenever I went to use the on screen keyboard the phone would lock up.

It took a while to figure out the problem was with the on screen keyboard and then the real issue was the Swype app. After some Googling I discovered that last year there has been a similar issue caused by an expiry date in the app. The problem was resolved with an update from Swype. It appears the update had an expiry date of 31/12/2013. As from yesterday Swype no longer works on Symbian devices.

One quick fix is the change the phones date back a year. There is another fix which is to install the previous version of the app and install a hack to change the expiry date. There's info on this on the Daily Mobile site. I haven't been successful in doing this yet. I am not sure I have the correct version and I keep getting an "Expired Certificate" message which stops me installing the older version.

The other option is to turn off the Swype option and use the normal QWERTY or T9 keyboards.

When I find out more information I will post it here.

However I am pretty annoyed that any software developer would put such a time bomb in their product. A great way to severely piss off your users. I'm not sure whether the problem starts with Swype or Nokia, but I hope they publish a solution very soon.

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#960559 3-Jan-2014 10:03

I wonder if it has anything to do with this: Nokia waves final goodbye to MeeGo and Symbian

In case you've missed the news, the dropped MeeGo/Symbian support and app publishing means developers will be no longer capable of pushing new apps or updates in the Ovi Store.

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Behodar

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#960561 3-Jan-2014 10:16

Did you install Swype yourself or was it part of Nokia's default software bundle?

Technofreak

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#960577 3-Jan-2014 10:34

Downloaded from Nokia Store originally then updated from the Swype site. It is an genuine app for the phone.

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Behodar

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#960578 3-Jan-2014 10:36

It looks like this is purely a Swype issue then, not a Nokia one. Is there any way to contact Swype support?

Technofreak

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#960607 3-Jan-2014 11:36

qraider: I wonder if it has anything to do with this: Nokia waves final goodbye to MeeGo and Symbian

In case you've missed the news, the dropped MeeGo/Symbian support and app publishing means developers will be no longer capable of pushing new apps or updates in the Ovi Store.

I don't think so. The version of Swype I have was never on the Nokia Store. It came from Swype via Nokia Beta Labs. I think it is a Swype issue. They put an expiry date in the software but don't tell anyone.

So far as the Nokia Store goes there's still a lot of user support/demand around the world.

By comparing WP sales figures with Symbian figures before WP Nokias were sold, I suspect many Symbian/Meego owners have stuck with their old phones rather than update/downgrade to a WP Nokia. I wonder that some enterprising person will start up their own Symbian/Meego Store to replace Nokia Store.

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claudemc

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#966737 14-Jan-2014 12:08

Hi, I have the same problem with nokia N8 (best phone ever :) and swype,
one year ago my main problem was to find a version with a french compatible keyboard cause the official link in ovi store had no french kb;
today it's worse, the official ovi swype isn't even able to be installed on my N8;

last year I used a N8FanClub.com_Swype v2.1.4435 Signed S60v5-S3-Anna-Belle with Fix 2.00-30110, if I find anything I will post here.
I'm disapointed cause on betalabs I found (the good life past time) developpers taking time to solve this kind of problem, but today I have to pray for My N8 to survive like I pray for Windows 7 to be still supported in 10 years...

Technofreak

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#966898 14-Jan-2014 15:42

Behodar: It looks like this is purely a Swype issue then, not a Nokia one. Is there any way to contact Swype support?

I started a thread on the Swype site the day I had the issue. There is no other way to make contact, the Contact Us link leads you back to the Forum.

14 days later there has not been one reply from anyone at Swype.

Claudemc

I'll post back here with any updates I can find.

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jevvv

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#970521 21-Jan-2014 11:26

I'll let hubby know to stick with his C5-03 then: no swype, still working ok, just old :)

Thanks for the warning though!

I have noticed his phone is too old for Ovi store to allow him to download anything there.

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webwat

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#982240 8-Feb-2014 12:30

qraider: I wonder if it has anything to do with this: Nokia waves final goodbye to MeeGo and Symbian

In case you've missed the news, the dropped MeeGo/Symbian support and app publishing means developers will be no longer capable of pushing new apps or updates in the Ovi Store.

Might be time to retire the N97 then, been getting annoying since I cant download the Ovi Maps app for it after it needed to be reinstalled.

Time to find a new industry!

Technofreak

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#982306 8-Feb-2014 15:47

i'm surprised you cannot download it. Is it not part of the OS? if so perhaps you could try reflashing the OS.

I have a 5800 which I'll see if I can copy the Map app files for you if you are interested.

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Technofreak

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#982481 8-Feb-2014 22:20

webwat:
qraider: I wonder if it has anything to do with this: Nokia waves final goodbye to MeeGo and Symbian

In case you've missed the news, the dropped MeeGo/Symbian support and app publishing means developers will be no longer capable of pushing new apps or updates in the Ovi Store.

Might be time to retire the N97 then, been getting annoying since I cant download the Ovi Maps app for it after it needed to be reinstalled.

Have you looked elsewhere for the Nokia (Ovi) map apps .sis file? I couldn't find it on the Nokia Store but the files do look they might be available elsewhere. Download to your PC then install using Nokia Suite. I think you need version 3.06.

Let me know if you'd need any more help.

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webwat

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#988156 16-Feb-2014 11:54

Technofreak:
webwat:
qraider: I wonder if it has anything to do with this: Nokia waves final goodbye to MeeGo and Symbian

In case you've missed the news, the dropped MeeGo/Symbian support and app publishing means developers will be no longer capable of pushing new apps or updates in the Ovi Store.

Might be time to retire the N97 then, been getting annoying since I cant download the Ovi Maps app for it after it needed to be reinstalled.

Have you looked elsewhere for the Nokia (Ovi) map apps .sis file? I couldn't find it on the Nokia Store but the files do look they might be available elsewhere. Download to your PC then install using Nokia Suite. I think you need version 3.06.

Let me know if you'd need any more help.

I might need some help but will have a go first...

Followed the "formatting" instructions but didn't work. A guy at a mobile shop said you need special gear to flash the Symbian firmware, and its not worth him digging it up since they don't do it anymore on such "old" models.

It seems that I may have deleted some library file or something thats not part of the actual maps app, so may not be part of the .sis file. Have to try it to find out though. It kept running out of main memory, hence me deleting anything that looked like wasting memory space. Have since found that messaging had been storing emails (with 5 megapixel photos) in main memory, but the whole system becomes unstable after using maps, so maybe reinstalling will fix that too.

Time to find a new industry!

Technofreak

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#988335 16-Feb-2014 16:51

As a result of the issues I had with Swype I ended up deleting some files, long story. Anyway some functions of the phone stopped working. I got it working again by downloading Phoenix, which is the software needed to reflash the phone, downloaded a copy of the firmware and reflashed the phone. Voila my E7 was like brand new again.

It's not super difficult to do but there are couple of things to watch out for. I'd be happy to help you if you decide to reflash.

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Technofreak

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#988341 16-Feb-2014 16:59

webwat: It kept running out of main memory, hence me deleting anything that looked like wasting memory space. Have since found that messaging had been storing emails (with 5 megapixel photos) in main memory, but the whole system becomes unstable after using maps, so maybe reinstalling will fix that too.

Memory leakage is a problem with some Symbian phones. My wifes N8 had issues yet I've not had any with the E7. Clearing browsers caches, texts and emails goes a long way to fixing the problem.

Also a factory reset works well though you then have to reconfigure your phone afterwards, though it seems a back up before hand and a restores afterwards can save a lot of time. You just have to be careful what you back up other wise you can put back a lot of crap you don't need and soak up unnecessary memory space.

Installing apps to the memory expansion card is a good idea and also making this card you default for saving photos etc is a good idea.

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webwat

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#990826 19-Feb-2014 22:58

Downloaded the Maps installer, then found I already had it and it seems to do an update as part of install. Haven't used it yet but hope its more stable than before. I try to install everything to "mass memory".

Time to find a new industry!

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