AndroidPit-Licensing unreliable

[Jollo]

Hello!
I recently bought Locus Pro at AndroidPit AppCenter (twice). First time i started up Locus Pro getting a message that this software isn't licensed properly (in german version the text of this message is: "Diese Anwendung ist nicht lizenziert. Bitte kaufen Sie die Anwendung aus dem Android Market."). At the same time i get a popup-message "ERROR_COMMUNICATING_WITH_APPCENTER".

The only solution by AndroidPit-support was to check for usage of current AppCenter-version (which i did all the time). I know that i am not alone with this issue when looking into the (german) comments in AndroidPit: see <//http://www.androidpit.de/de/android/market/apps/app/menion.android.locus.pro/Locus-Pro#auc21210>

I'm not sure what mechanism it is that forces this message to show up. At first i decided to reinstall the software which ended up in rebuying it in the AppCenter. before this i deleted all Locus-Content on SD-Card.
After this procedure all went fine...

...till the next day, when suddenly the same error appeared again.
I then started the AppCenter-Software again and after this i could successfully start up Locus Pro.
This happened more and more often and i am afraid, that Locus is getting unreliable if AppCenter has to validate it's license before usage online. In case this would mean, that offline usage of Locus Pro in areas without network can become dubious.

If this problem won't stop i will go back using the standard Locus-Version as my ad-blocker helps me with this a lot -- sorry. This issue relies on the need for a third-party appstore, as my primary Google-Account is a "Google Apps for Business"-account and i couldn't use this for any purchases in the Market. Even the price for Lcus Pro at AndroidPit isn't any better than in the Market.

I am sorry for this long text, but tried to explain it as clearly as possible.

[buergi]

Hey, same for me.
I bought it, it doesn't worked. But for me even after deinstalling removing all Locus stuff, rebuying and reinstalling it doesn't worked.
Hope the developer will fix this problem soon. Until then i'll reinstall Locus Free and keep hoping that it will work some day.
Anyway the nearly 5€ are well invested in such a great app, even when i have to keep using the free version for a while.

[Jollo]

OK, that's it... :-(
After yesterdays usage recording a track while doing a nice motorbike-tour Locus Pro suddenly doesn't wanted to start up again for saving the recorded track (<f#ck>).
Today i cannot even start it up successfully from within the "open"-Button in the AndroidPit AppCenter-Software.

So i will  return to the free version and won't buy anything else in this 3rd-party appstore.
Maybe if i get a new official firmware for my Defy in a few months i will set another Google-Account as default, so i can buy Locus Pro directly in the market.
Same issues may come up when using the amazon-appstore if available in europe some time. All these appstores like to renew some license tokens allowing the app to start or not, i think. If they do this to often you won't be able to use youre bought apps offline for some weeks of holiday for instance.

EDIT:
Details:
- AndroidPit AppCenter v1.5.6
- Locus Pro v1.4.2

[Menion]

grrr I'm very sorry for that troubles. I have to look on it today. Do you have any similar troubles with other apps from AppCenter or just with Locus?

[Jollo]

Sorry, this was the first (and maybe last) app i bought in the AndroidPit AppCenter. So i can't really tell you if other applications got similar problems on licensing from AppCenter.

Thanks a lot for looking after it!

I informed the service at AndroidPit yesterday and will give you the (translated) answer by PM, if i get one.
I just read about the remarkable licensing mechanisms that Amazon AppStore  is using. They are generating tokens on the bought apps needing to renew from time to time. So you can't be sure, that your apps will still start, if you stay offline for a while on holiday. Hopefully the AppCenter got better mechanisms.

If you are able to tell, what they are doing in the background, please tell us. I'm quite interested in this for decideng wether or not to buy further software in the AppCenter.

[buergi]

I've bought 4 other apps in AndroidPIT and had no trouble so far. Up to now the AppCenter works perfectly, except for Locus. I'll definitely continue buying apps in the AppCenter when possible, it's really great.

So I think this is really a Locus problem. I'm using the Locus Free Beta as Pro until Friday, hopefully the bug is fixed until then.
Thanks a lot to menion in advance!

[Menion]

fine, so it have to be problem in Locus. I created licence check exactly as is on their website now so please try new version

[Jollo]

Thank you for your work!

I've just updated to your new version and it started up without license-error message so far. Tried restarting some times, even after killing AppCenter-task. Till now everything seems fine.
I'll keep an eye upon Locus the next few days and will reply again if the errormessage pops up again or not.

Are there any general requirements to prevent license errors mentioned by the AppCenter-Team? E.g. starting Locus after restarting AppCenter every time befor usage.

[Menion]

hi, perfect. Don't know about any requirements. I just read somewhere some info that licence is cached only for a one day! That means that more then day without internet and licence will not be valid. I'm not sure if this is correct or just some misunderstanding on my side. So If anyone can during some holiday, please test and I also suggest to take with you a Free version. Just for sure

[Jollo]

[...] licence is cached only for a one day! [...]

:shock:
This sounds bad and AppCenter doesn't appear any more attractive if this is true and really means what you guessed.
Gladly AndroidPit gave me refund for this purchase.

Anyway, thank a lot for this good and fast work! Still got no further problems.

[Menion]

I'm not really 100% sure if I understand it correctly! Maybe you can ask on AppCenter forum. There is possibility for developers to turn off this caching, so it will require check every time! This is of course not active so check is caching. So question is for how long ...

[buergi]

Ok thanks menion, Locus Pro is working now. Yippie!
Hopefully this licence check is not really needed every day. This would be really annoying, especially when using it in foreign countries. Think i'll keep the Locus Free apk on my SD as a Fallback when the Pro Version is not working. Fortunately the free version has almost no limitations.

[buergi]

OK it definitly is extremely annoying! I did a mountain tour today, just behind the border of germany. For some hours Locus worked perfectly, but suddenly this licence message popped up and i had to close Locus. Fortunately i had the Free Version on my SD card.
Is there any better way to do this licence check, or is it really necessary. Is the concept with a simple serial number to unsecure?
Luckily one can use the Pro and the free version in parallel, while all maps and tracks are shared.
But nevertheless i'd appreciate some improvements for this licence issue.

[crazy-rat]

Hey, same for me.
I bought it, it doesn't worked. But for me even after deinstalling removing all Locus stuff, rebuying and reinstalling it doesn't worked.
Hope the developer will fix this problem soon. Until then i'll reinstall Locus Free and keep hoping that it will work some day.
Anyway the nearly 5€ are well invested in such a great app, even when i have to keep using the free version for a while.

For me it's the same. I always tried to deinstall the Free-Version and delete of the complete LOCUS-Files on the SD-Card.
Also I used the file of this forum. The software works, but not every time and also the licence note shown on the screen.
The software is the best in this part and I would like to know, what to do with that problem on my Wildfire.

Nils

[Menion]

hmm that's bad. Buergi wrote that all works fine. What should I do with this. Looks I'll have to write on support of AndroidPit