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Troubleshooting

Important
Helpshift’s Legacy SDKs (SDK Version <=7.x.x) reached their end of life on 31 Dec 2022, and end of support on 31 March 2023. Please upgrade to the Latest SDKif you haven't already.

Troubleshooting

SDK Integration

UI issue with Androidx libraries

We found a bug in following scenario when androidx fragment library is used by the client app:

  • Conversation history is off or enableFullPrivacy flag is used when opening chat screen.
  • Smart Intents are enabled.
  • Resolve an ongoing conversation.
  • Click "New Conversation" button.
  • When new conversation starts, smart intents selection sheet is collapsed automatically and user is not able to select any option.

Androidx Fragment library, above version 1.2.0, has delayed the lifecyle callback of "onDestroyView" until transitions are completed. This broke lifecycle management for the SDK and some UI glicthes were found.

To fix this issue, please disable transitions in the SDK by using the following config when initializing the SDK:

Only fragment transition animations will be disabled, all other animations will work as expected.

InstallConfig.Builder config = new InstallConfig.Builder();

Map<String, Object> map = new HashMap<>();
map.put("disableAnimations", true);
config.setExtras(map);

Core.install(this, "apiKey",
"domain",
"platformId",
config.build());

7.9.0 SDK Update

We found a bug for the following scenario - for SDK 7.9.0, when New Issue Automations(NIAs) are used to assign to a Custom Bot and if the first step in the bot is a Get Info from User step with Options, the Options don’t show up to the end user till they go back and come to the conversation screen again.

Action needed:

  • If you are planning to integrate or are in the process of integrating SDK 7.9.0, we recommend integrating with 7.9.1 instead.
  • If you have already released any of your apps with the affected SDKs and your New Issue Automation triggers options bot, we recommend that you upgrade to 7.9.1 SDK.

Duplicate class error for apache/commons/codec/language

If you get a dex error like below which indicates that the apache/commons/codec/language classes are being added to the app more than once

You can remove these classes from the Helpshift.jar in two possible ways :

command line

    zip -d Helpshift.jar org/apache/commons/codec/language/**

custom ant task

<target name="clean-apache" >
<mkdir dir="./backup"/>
<copy file="./libs/Helpshift.jar" todir="./backup"/>
<jar destfile="./libs/Helpshift-temp.jar">
<zipfileset src="./libs/Helpshift.jar" excludes="org/apache/commons/codec/language/**"/>
</jar>
<rename src="./libs/Helpshift-temp.jar" dest="./libs/Helpshift.jar"/>
</target>
<target name="restore-helpshift" >
<move file="./backup/Helpshift.jar" todir="./libs"/>
</target>

Once done you can run a clean & compile. As these classes are already included in your application lib; they will be compiled into the final APK build and will work fine with Helpshift.

Dex merger error

If you get a dex merger error like below, enable the jumbo mode.

    UNEXPECTED TOP-LEVEL EXCEPTION:
com.android.dex.DexException: Cannot merge new index 68218 into a non-jumbo
instruction!

To enable jumbo mode in Gradle add the following to your build.gradle -

    android {
dexOptions {
jumboMode = true
}
}

To enable jumbo mode in Ant add the following to your project.properties -

    dex.force.jumbo=true

Duplicate class error for Lcom/helpshift/BuildConfig

If you get a dex error like below,

    UNEXPECTED TOP-LEVEL EXCEPTION:
com.android.dex.DexException: Multiple dex files define
Lcom/helpshift/BuildConfig;

This indicates that two BuildConfig files are getting added to the App, once via the Helpshift.jar file and then via the helpshift-android-sdk resources

You can resolve this by deleting the BuildConfig file which comes with the Helpshift.jar by using the following command -

    zip -d Helpshift.jar com/helpshift/BuildConfig.class

InflateException: Binary XML file: Error inflating class com.helpshift.views.HSTextInputEditText

If you get a crash with the following error, check the android support library version you use:

    java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to resume activity {com.sampleimpactanalysis/com.helpshift.support.activities.ParentActivity}: android.view.InflateException:
Binary XML file line #7: Binary XML file line #35: Error inflating class com.helpshift.views.HSTextInputEditText

Suppressed: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Failed resolution of: Landroid/support/design/widget/TextInputEditText;

Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: Didn't find class "android.support.design.widget.TextInputEditText"

Helpshift SDK uses the "android.support.design.widget.TextInputEditText" class. Since this class was introduced in android support library v23.2.0, you would need to add dependencies for android support libraries equal to or higher than v23.2.0.

Push notifications

In case the app is not receiving push notifications, you can look at the following sections.

IP whitelisting

In order to receive push notifications from Helpshift, please note that that there should be no key restrictions on the key used with Helpshift. To ensure this:

  • Click on the API key to be used with Helpshift on your Google console dashboard.
  • Set the Key restriction option to None

Multi-process apps

In a multi-process Android app, the Application.onCreate() is called for every process. As the Helpshift SDK is initialized inside the Application.onCreate() method of the app, multi-process apps will lead to multiple instances of the SDK being initialized, which can lead to unexpected behavior. We recommend that the Helpshift SDK be initialized in the main process only. This can be done by checking the process name in which Application.onCreate() is called. You can refer to the example below for this:

Application.onCreate() {
ActivityManager activityManager = (ActivityManager) getSystemService(ACTIVITY_SERVICE);
List<ActivityManager.RunningAppProcessInfo> infos = activityManager.getRunningAppProcesses();
int myPid = android.os.Process.myPid();
for (ActivityManager.RunningAppProcessInfo info : infos) {
if (myPid == info.pid) {
if (info.processName.equals(getApplicationInfo().packageName)) {
// This is running in the main process of the app.
Core.init(All.getInstance());
try {
Core.install(this,
"YOUR_API_KEY",
"YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME",
"YOUR_APP_ID",
installConfig);
} catch (InstallException e) {
Log.e(TAG, "invalid install credentials : ", e);
}
}
}
}

Miscellaneous

Helpshift Logs with low priority DEBUG

    02-19 20:35:49.853: D/HelpShiftDebug(7651): org.json.JSONException: No value for pr
02-19 20:35:49.853: D/HelpShiftDebug(7651): at org.json.JSONObject.get(JSONObject.java:354)
02-19 20:35:49.853: D/HelpShiftDebug(7651): at

You can safely ignore the Helpshift SDK debug logs (log priority "DEBUG" / "Log.d") that are seen in DDMS / Android Monitor. These will not cause any issues with the proper functioning of the SDK.

Helpshift Warning with low priority

    03-13 16:49:52.667 30615-1447/? W/MessageQueue : Handler (com.helpshift.HSApiData$4){427f1eb8} sending message to a Handler on a dead thread

This is just a warning, and this has been handled by the helpshift SDK. You can safely ignore it. These will not cause any issues with the proper functioning of the SDK.

UI Issues

Cannot scroll FAQ list, cannot switch FAQ tabs, keyboard input not working when creating a new conversation etc.

These UI issues are caused when hardware acceleration is turned off for Helpshift's activities. To ensure that hardware acceleration is turned on, add this to your AndroidManifest.xml file.

    <activity
android:name="com.helpshift.support.activities.ParentActivity"
android:hardwareAccelerated="true"
android:theme="@style/Helpshift.Theme.Activity"/>

Known Issues

No.Known IssueSDK
Version
Device OS VersionOccurs When & FrequencyWorkaround
1On Android 11, Helpshift SDK will always operate in non full screen mode even if the host app is operating in full screen mode.Viewv7.9.0 Android v11

Frequency : Always

2Menu items for conversation screen and faq screen are shown together after device orientation changes when SDK is integrated with 23.x support library versionv6.0.0All

Frequency: Always

Use support library version 24.x and above
3Clicking on search icon in FAQs screen causes an ANR when appcompat library version 25.1.0 is used. This happens due to unprecedented fragment lifecycle changes introduced in appcompat 25.1.0.Link herev4.7.0, v4.8.0All

Frequency: Always

Use appcompat library version 25.0.1
4Helphift SDK redraws layout with animations in multi-window mode when user resizes the window v4.7.0 Android v7.0

Frequency: Always

5Issue due to storage permission invoke-revoke actionv4.1.0 Android v6.0
  • Help -> Contact us -> Report conversation
  • Perform action like Revoke - invoke storage permission multiple times
  • Go to chat screen via help
  • You will notice that attach screenshot icon is not visible
  • Go back from chat screen.
  • Here you will have to press back button multiple times to go in main screen

Frequency : Rare

6Crash due to FragmentTransaction animation on Samsung S3 v4.1.0 Samsung S3 (v4.3)

Frequency : Always

7Chat screen goes up with keyboard while typing reply v4.1.0 Any

Frequency: Rare

8Orientation for the Helpshift Activity launches in portrait and then switches to landscape when the calling activity is in landscape mode but the device is held in portrait mode. v4.9.0 Android v7.1.1
  • use `setScreenOrientation()` in InstallConfig to set the Helpshift screen to LANDSCAPE
  • Set orientation for app's activity to LANDSCAPE as well.
  • Now your activity is in landscape mode. Hold the device in portrait mode and call a Helpshift API like showFaqs().
  • The Helpshift SDK screen is first started in portrait mode and then switches to landscape mode, which was the requested orientation.

Frequency : Always