[Soundsgoodjoe]

Hi, all.  I have two Galaxy Tab ultras that I use for conducting college wind ensembles and two community bands.  An s10 and an s9 Tab Ultra, to be specific, connected via bluetooth.  They are also set up as trusted devices so they stay unlocked whenever they are near each other.  And I have mobilesheets set up to stay on all the time.  In concert settings, stage hands place the tablets on the podium, and they need to be ready to go when I walk out.  They get a LOT of use.

The ISSUE: I have randomly had an issue when I load the setlist for a concert, my secondary (non-leader) display goes black.  I can use the android back button on the "black" screen to go back to the main starting library page, double check the connection.  All is well.  But when I try again to load the setlist, same thing happens.  It has been infuriating, and has delayed multiple concert starts, embarrassingly.

However, I have now FOUND how to repeat the issue!  It occurs any, and every time, the devices have previously been connected, then disconnected, then reconnected within the same session of mobilesheets.  If I force stop mobile sheets on both, and redo the connection for the FIRST time, they connect and function as intended with both screens visible after I load the setlist.

I have fullscreen enabled on both, with mobilesheets set to never turn off.  I do a "new leader" setup every time... though using "connect with last settings" on the leader device seems to be exactly the same as going through the new leader dialogue each time.  On the secondary device, I just wait for the leader to be visible, highlight and "join group."

It will definitely be part of my setup now to forcestop and reload mobilesheets before concert/rehearsal start.  BUT, I'd love not to sweat this!! 

Any ideas what is causing the bug?

-Joe

[Zubersoft]

I'm sorry to hear that you've been encountering that issue. Using WiFi would almost certainly get around that issue, as the connection will be less fragile, but I understand that WiFi is not always an option. I will investigate this with my S8 Ultra to see if I can reproduce the problem. Let me ask this - you said the tablets have been left on, so I'm assuming they were connected over bluetooth long before you started trying to load the setlist, correct? How long do you think MobileSheets was sitting there before loading the setlist? I'm just trying to understand if there might be an issue with having a bluetooth connection that is sitting idle for long periods of time. Perhaps the tablet is actually letting the hardware go to sleep due to the inactivity and that causes a problem when MobileSheets finally goes to send/receive over the connection. If that's the case, I might need to force a heartbeat message of some kind to ensure the connection stays active the entire time (although this will use a small amount of battery). I am also looking to add bluetooth LE as a connection option, as this uses less power, and the nature of that connection may actually make it a better candidate for these types of scenarios. 

Thanks,
Mike

[Soundsgoodjoe]

Circling back here, and I appreciate the follow up, Mike!

Having gone through a concert where the second tablet kept cutting out no matter what, I don't think my above analysis is correct.  I think the culprit may be elsewhere.  

I have a portfolio cover on both.  These covers have magnets.  I don't have any of the above problems unless the tablets are positioned right next to each other (and I have the orientation locked on the RH table to portrait flipped 180.)  I think what is really happening is that the left hand tablet case magnets are triggering the "smart cover" lock option on the RH tablet, thus it thinks the cover has been closed.  When I separate the two tablets, I don't have the issue.  I have turned off the smart cover option on the second tablet, and that seems to have done the trick.

So, while my above message reported repeatable conditions relating to the Bluetooth connection status, I now think it was the accessory smart cover option turning off the display in error due to my setup position.

Really frustrating, and I'm very hopeful that this will prove to be the problem as it is easily managed.  I also know from researching the S9, S10 ultras that they magnet sensors can even be tricked by a cover folded up behind.

Anyway, reporting back, and very grateful for the engagement above!

-Joe

[Zubersoft]

Thanks for following up Joe! Great job on figuring that all out.

Mike