Spok Mobile Android Release Notes

New Features and Enhancements

• PDF support. Messages can now include attached PDF documents, which are viewable directly within the application. For security purposes, PDF attachments can be opened in the Spok Mobile app but cannot be downloaded or shared outside of the application. PDF attachments can only be sent or received by users on Spok Mobile 4.9 or greater.

• EULA position change. The End-User License Agreement (EULA) button has been moved above the Sign In button.
• Improved crash logging. Enhanced the app's ability to automatically collect crash data, significantly improving our ability to diagnose and resolve production issues.
• Updated app code to meet Google Play requirements. Removed BOOT_COMPLETED receivers to eliminate potential app issues and meet Google Play Console requirements.
• Updated how the backend handles repeated notifications. The internal logic for handling repeated notifications has been updated to align with new Android requirements. These changes require all users to enable the Alarms & reminders permission to ensure that notification repeats work as intended. For more information, see the Spok Mobile for Android Introduction page.

Corrected Issues

• DE38114: Fixed an issue that could cause video sound to continue to play after closing the video player.
• DE38113: Fixed an issue where the top and bottom of the video player were not fully visible on some Google Pixel devices.
• DE38093: Fixed an issue where messages at the top of the screen were not fully visible on some Google Pixel devices.
• DE38077: Fixed an issue where push notifications were not displaying for some devices on Android 15.
• DE38059 and DE38056: Fixed two issues that could cause the application to crash.
• DE38295: Fixed an issue where notification tones would sometimes fail to repeat or would repeat only after delayed intervals, rather than following the configured settings.

Known Issues

• When a user on Spok Mobile 4.9 sends a PDF attachment to a user on an earlier app version (e.g., Spok Mobile 4.8), the recipient will see the file as a large .TXT attachment that cannot be opened and appears to be continually downloading. To prevent this issue, Spok recommends that all users in the facility upgrade to the latest version of the app.

Fixed Issues 

• Fixed a set of issues that could cause the application to crash.
• Fixed an issue that could cause Samsung devices on Android 15 to enter deep sleep mode. This could then cause the application not to send push notifications. The issue has now been resolved. Note that user settings which were updated following guidance Spok provided in last week’s notification do not need to be changed.

Fixed Issues 

• Resolved an issue where opening attachments in messages from legacy sites could prompt the user to open them in a third-party app.

New Features and Enhancements 

• Support for Android 15 and Android 16 have been added.

Security Updates

• Updated Spok Mobile for Android to reduce system vulnerabilities.

Fixed Issues

• Fixed an issue in Spok Mobile with Pager where the device keeps alerting even after the message has been acknowledged.
• Fixed an issue where the application could crash if a user logged in with unread messages.

New Features and Enhancements

No new features or enhancements.

Corrected Issues

•  Resolved a security issue by providing stronger access control and enhanced web security. See the Security Updates section below for more information. Spok Mobile 5.1.1 or later is required for this fix to take effect.

Security Updates

• Stronger access control has been implemented for API endpoints to eliminate possible exposure of configuration information. Spok Mobile 5.1.1 or later is required for this fix to take effect.
• Web security has been enhanced to prevent possible exposure of data when the application queries the database. Spok Mobile 5.1.1 or later is required for this fix to take effect.

Known Issues

• All messages are removed from the device when the user logs out.

Corrected Issues

• Alerting & Mobile - Android application version 4.6.5 notification issues. After upgrading to Android application version 4.6.5, users were no longer able to receive audible alerts or banners for any Alert-style message. This issue has been resolved.

New Features and Enhancements

• Spok Mobile now provides a validation message when a user sends a message while their device's internet is turned off.
• The Generate one time password button is now disabled while closing the app.
• Third-party libraries and components have been upgraded.
• Spok Mobile is now able to write a log to the device for better analysis of reported issues.
• Spok Mobile has a new security feature that prevents Android from taking screenshots when the app moves to the background.
• Spok Mobile now allows users to log out. This feature is only available when using Spok Mobile Enterprise 5.1 and the site mobile admin has enabled it for the user's device group.

Corrected Issues

• Fixed an issue where high-priority text displayed as HIG instead of HIGH.
• Fixed an issue where messages were displayed without prompting for an access code when the application was configured to use access codes.
• Fixed an issue where a red ERROR banner appeared on the message inbox screen even when the device internet connection was turned on.
• Changed the copyright year in About Info to 2023.
• Fixed an issue where the notification beep did not ring after continuously sending 51st message on the device. 

Deprecated Features

• Users are no longer able to sign up for Spok Mobile for free.
• Support for Box attachments has been removed.

Known Issues

• Spok Mobile stopped receiving message notifications for around 20 minutes after the user uninstalled and reinstalled the application. Users can only get the new messages using the Get Messages command.

• All messages are removed from the device when the user logs out.

New Features and Enhancements

• Added change and forgot password enhancements.

Corrected Issues

• Fixed issue where Spok Mobile badge counter disappears with a banner message.
• Fixed issue where Spok Mobile displays odd timestamp between midnight to 1 AM. (ex. 24:05)
• Fixed issue where Team/OnCall Role are not displayed properly on the mobile clients.
• Fixed issue where re-beeps do not work on locked Samsung Note 10 devices.
• Various defect fixes for Android 10,11, and 12.

Known Issues

• Samsung S10 Lite devices may display HIG instead of HIGH for chat priority. This is a device-dependent issue.
  
• The Spok Mobile app intermittently crashes when attaching content from a Box cloud account.
• If the Spok Mobile application is sent to the background after requesting the one-time passcode to reset the password, the user may not see the timer on the app screen. A workaround is to close the application from the background and restart the password reset process.

Corrected Issues

• Push notifications were not being sent to the device.
•  The app stopped responding if many push notifications were received at once.
•  Status changes from webXchange did not appear in the mobile app.

•  User name changes from webXchange did not appear in the mobile app.

•  If the tone volume was set low, but not muted, the tone volume would be set to maximum when a message was received.

New in Spok Mobile 4.6.1 for Android

• Spok Mobile for Android now uses the latest cloud notification service from Google. This robust service is the latest from Google, and it powers your users’ Spok Mobile message notifications as soon as they update.

• Several background jobs in the app are now optimized for performance. For example, finishing your registration and receiving administrator setting changes can finish quicker and require less cellular or Wi-Fi data.

Corrected Issues

• In some cases, Spok Mobile for Android users would be taken back to the Registration screen when they attempted to access the Settings on their devices. This could occur if the state of Host Projections was changed on the Spok Mobile Admin > Administration > Integrations screen.
• On Samsung Galaxy 9 and 9+, Spok Mobile would crash when attempting to access the Settings screen.
• In some cases, when Spok Mobile was set to use chat-style messaging, Android devices which did not have any lock screen set, or which were set to use Swipe to unlock, would not receive an audible alert tone when a message was received.

• If a device was locked while the application is in focus, incoming messages would not rebeep. This issue occurred because the device behaved as if the application was open, even when the screen was locked.

• Fixed an issue in which the application would become unresponsive in some cases.

New in Spok Mobile 4.6.0 for Android

• Improved compatibility with Android versions Oreo 8 and Pie 9.

Corrected Issues

• Spok Mobile will work correctly on Android devices if the Spok Notification Framework is enabled on-premises.
• If the Spok Notification Framework is disabled on-premises, Health Check provides correct results on a non-GCM/FCM device.
• The app no longer crashes when you tap a notification group while a message is open.

Known Issues

• In some cases, Spok Mobile for Android users will be taken back to the Registration screen when they attempt to access the Settings on their devices. This can occur if the state of Host Projections has been changed on the Spok Mobile Admin > Administration > Integrations screen. This issue is fixed in Spok Mobile for Android 4.6.1.
• In some cases, when Spok Mobile is set to use chat-style messaging, Android devices which do not have any lock screen set, including Swipe to unlock, may not receive an audible alert tone when a message is received.