ios app unable to retrieve existing posts on server

[McColdewey]

Describe the bug

Self-hosted writefreely, single user instance, installed behind nginx reverse proxy as per instructions. Logging in to the blog via the web user interface works fine, all posts and functions fully accessible. Logging in via the ios app (same user name and password) also works, and I am able to post new articles to the write freely instance. However, when I log in via the app, I am not not able to see (and therefore also not able to edit) any of the existing posts on the server, only those created with the app.

Steps to reproduce (if necessary)

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Use ios app to log in on server that has existing blog posts.
2. Go to 'All Posts', 'Drafts' or 'your-blog-name' under 'Your Blogs'
3. Already existing posts or posts subsequently created not using the writefreely app are not visible in the app! Even after refreshing all pages, logging out and in again, etc.

Expected behavior

What should've happened: I should be able to see and edit and manipulate existing posts on the server when I log on using the app.

Application configuration

• Single user mode
• Database: sqlite
• Open registration: no
• Federation enabled: no

Version or last commit:
writefreely v0.13.1, current ios app version as 27/01/2022, v1.0.8 (build 646)

[thebaer]

Thanks for reporting this bug! From the description, it sounds like this is an issue with the iOS app more than the backend server, so I'm going to move the report there.

[AngeloStavrow]

Hey @McColdewey, thanks for reaching out and sorry for the trouble!

As I understand it, there are posts that you've created via the web app that are not showing up when you log in to your WriteFreely instance from the iOS app. I've a couple of clarifying questions for you:

1. If you log in to your WriteFreely instance from another computer, are you still able to see these same posts?
2. Are you able to see these posts on your published WriteFreely blog when you're not logged in?
3. Could you give me ballpark estimate of how many blogs and how many total posts you have on that WriteFreely instance?

[McColdewey]

Hi Angelo The blog is currently only at its inception. It’s a single user single blog. There are as of right now 10 posts, of which 4 are pinned (for privacy policy, terms of service, contacts, etc). Two are test posts created and posted with the ios app. These are the only posts I can see and manipulate (move, edit, etc) with the app. Using a browser, I can see all posts, from multiple clients, including iphone and ipad, mac, linux and windows clients. The host resides on a cloud-based linux host (ubuntu 20.04 LTS). All posted (non-draft) posts are visible to visitors not logged in to the blog. Kind regards, Jon

…

On Sun, 30 Jan 2022, at 15:31, Angelo Stavrow wrote: Hey @McColdewey <https://github.com/McColdewey>, thanks for reaching out and sorry for the trouble! As I understand it, there are posts that you've created via the web app that are not showing up when you log in to your WriteFreely instance from the iOS app. I've a couple of clarifying questions for you: 1. If you log in to your WriteFreely instance from another computer, are you still able to see these same posts? 2. Are you able to see these posts on your published WriteFreely blog when you're not logged in? 3. Could you give me ballpark estimate of how many blogs and how many total posts you have on that WriteFreely instance? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#200 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AD2CZ7EU43MVXYMGXBO2UFDUYVDUJANCNFSM5M6F2QPA>. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[AngeloStavrow]

Thanks for the follow-up, Jon! What I was looking to confirm was that the posts that aren't showing up in the iOS app were nonetheless published posts—and since you can see them on other clients, they clearly are.

When you successfully log in, the app fetches all of the user's blogs (internally referred to as "collections" of posts) and all published posts, whether they are associated with a blog or not (the latter being "anonymous"-type posts). Tapping the reload button at the bottom-right of the post list triggers the same action. Once the data is fetched, it's stored in the device's local database, and the app updates the list of blogs and posts shown in the UI. It sounds like something in this process is failing.

What's curious is that you're nonetheless able to connect to (and interact with) the WriteFreely instance, by virtue of your having successfully published posts from the iOS app. When the app publishes a post to the instance, it gets back a response with things like the published post's ID, which is updated in the device's local database entry for that post.

If you log out on the app and then log back in, do you still see those posts that were published from the iOS app?

Another thought: have you changed the name of the blog since creating it, or otherwise tweaked any configuration on the WriteFreely instance?

We don't do any logging in the iOS app, but I'm wondering if exposing some stats on what's in the device's local database would be helpful.

[McColdewey]

Just to make sure the aberrant behaviour isn't do to a relict of previous installs or configuration changes, I have just now nuked the installation and set it up clean, from scratch, and subsequently not altered any configuration details. I also deleted and then reinstalled the ios app. The behaviour is exactly the same: I can log in via the ios app and create new posts, but I cannot see any posts already present on the writefreely instance.

We don't do any logging in the iOS app, but I'm wondering if exposing some stats on what's in the device's local database would be helpful.

Any suggestion how to go about obtaining the ios device's local database? Jon

…

On Sun, 30 Jan 2022, at 17:03, Angelo Stavrow wrote: Thanks for the follow-up, Jon! What I was looking to confirm was that the posts that aren't showing up in the iOS app were nonetheless *published* posts—and since you can see them on other clients, they clearly are. When you successfully log in, the app fetches all of the user's blogs (internally referred to as "collections" of posts) and all published posts, whether they are associated with a blog or not (the latter being "anonymous"-type posts). Tapping the reload button at the bottom-right of the post list triggers the same action. Once the data is fetched, it's stored in the device's local database, and the app updates the list of blogs and posts shown in the UI. It sounds like something in this process is failing. What's curious is that you're nonetheless able to connect to (and interact with) the WriteFreely instance, by virtue of your having successfully published posts from the iOS app. When the app publishes a post to the instance, it gets back a response with things like the published post's ID, which is updated in the device's local database entry for that post. If you log out on the app and then log back in, do you still see those posts that were published from the iOS app? Another thought: have you changed the name of the blog since creating it, or otherwise tweaked any configuration on the WriteFreely instance? We don't do any logging in the iOS app, but I'm wondering if exposing some stats on what's in the device's local database would be helpful. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#200 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AD2CZ7G37EJRXSRRNS537BTUYVONHANCNFSM5M6F2QPA>. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[McColdewey]

PS: Yes, the posts created on the ios device remain visible, but only posts created on the **very same ios device**: i have an ipad and an iphone. The iphone can't see posts created by the ipad and vice versa. All posts created anywhere else (web interface or on another ios device) are invisible. J.

[AngeloStavrow]

Just to make sure the aberrant behaviour isn't do to a relict of previous installs or configuration changes, I have just now nuked the installation and set it up clean, from scratch, and subsequently not altered any configuration details. I also deleted and then reinstalled the ios app. The behaviour is exactly the same: I can log in via the ios app and create new posts, but I cannot see any posts already present on the writefreely instance.

That's very strange. I will dig into why this is failing silently in the iOS app, but frankly this is really unexpected — on login, your device should fetch all available blogs and posts. Could you provide me with some details on what devices you're using the iOS app with?

Any suggestion how to go about obtaining the ios device's local database?

I'm not too sure about this, but maybe a way to export this data (as, e.g., JSON files) would be a useful addition to the app.

[McColdewey]

One device is an ipad pro 9.7 inch software version 15.2.1, the other is an iphone SE software version 15.0.2 I could try to set up another instance of writefreely on a different server. If it showed the same issues, i could then give you access to it, in order to determine if it’s my clients or my servers that are somehow „special“. However, this would involve a bit of work with setting up dns and certificates, etc. Jon

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On Wed, 2 Feb 2022, at 14:18, Angelo Stavrow wrote: > Just to make sure the aberrant behaviour isn't do to a relict of previous installs or configuration changes, I have just now nuked the installation and set it up clean, from scratch, and subsequently not altered any configuration details. I also deleted and then reinstalled the ios app. The behaviour is exactly the same: I can log in via the ios app and create new posts, but I cannot see any posts already present on the writefreely instance. > That's very strange. I will dig into why this is failing silently in the iOS app, but frankly this is really unexpected — on login, your device *should* fetch all available blogs and posts. Could you provide me with some details on what devices you're using the iOS app with? > Any suggestion how to go about obtaining the ios device's local database? > I'm not too sure about this, but maybe a way to export this data (as, e.g., JSON files) would be a useful addition to the app. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#200 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AD2CZ7GEZ24S5U4UNEMKH3TUZEVJNANCNFSM5M6F2QPA>. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[AngeloStavrow]

Let me see what I can determine might be happening before you go to the trouble of setting up a new instance. I'm investigating a couple of possibilities, which might at least give us a little more information on what's happening for you.

Once I have something ready, I'll be in touch!