Instant Upload based on folder observance instead of broadcasted events

[owncloud]

Instant Upload based on folder observance instead of broadcasted events

[cschwarz007]

@davivel Thanks a lot - this solved the issue on my (meanwhile) Sony X5 Compact (and I am sure it would work on Samsung too).

[AndyScherzinger]

Which camera app are you using? Stock android camera app or any third party?

[davivel]

The fix has been merged. Due to its historical importance, I'd like to keep the issue open for a while to get some feedback when the fix is released.

That will be very soon. We will reschedule the current plan and release a version 2.1.1 with the current job done in the milestone 2.2.0. The total loss of instant uploads of pictures in Android 7 is too serious to wait more time.

I will update milestones in a while. Stay tuned :)

[Fukurokudzu]

@davivel well, maybe, but i'm just a user, i've just learned what SAF is and can't recall any settings, connected to this technology.

[rperezb]

Yes, we are awared of that. Instant uploads does not work on those devices, such HTC ones, whose camara app is not the Android original one.

[simonbuehler]

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4571461/broadcast-receiver-wont-receive-camera-event

especially

http://code.google.com/p/picasaphotouploader/source/browse/trunk/src/com/android/picasaphotouploader/PicasaPhotoUploader.java?r=4

its basically monitoring the sd card for new images, should work for htc devices (app seems to eat event)

[rperezb]

Thanks @simonbuehler we will look into this

[daliusm]

i can confirm, there is same problem with HTC Desire S Android 4.0.4, HTC Sense 3.6.

[simonbuehler]

https://github.com/meltedxice/InstantUpload should have everything needed

[jimlepoulpe]

Same problem here...

[pascalBokBok]

So what is the status of HTC camera instant upload?

[simonbuehler]

still not working =[

[Webdroid]

Same on HTC Evo 3D & HTC One SV

[UlkUpp]

Not working on HTC One X either.

[mhellwig]

I seem to have a similar problem on a Motorola Droid 4 (XT894), which also brings its own camera app.

"instant upload" just does nothing. On my old phone (a Sony/Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro) it worked fine

[alfsoft]

Instant upload does not on HTC One S. I've manually created the InstantUpload folder - no effect. I've changed my android device language to English - no effect. The Auto Upload option simply does nothing.

[davivel]

Please, let me edit the title.

[simonbuehler]

is #181 the solution for this?

[davivel]

No, it isn't. That branch name can be improved a lot :) .

Work for this issue is being addressed in the branch fixCameraTrigger. Don't know how available is @zerginator to keep on working on this. And maybe we should test and merge the changes previous to the last commit there, since the problem would be solved at least for HTC devices with Android 4.0 or later.

Are you there, @zerginator ?

[pmolaughlin]

Chiming in on this issue. Obviously same behavior on my HTC EVO 4G.

[elforesto]

This also affects the Evo 4G LTE.

[LukeOwlclaw]

A while ago I proposed a fix for Android 4 devices which has no impact on older devices.(--> #111)
Now I have write-access and I will merge my changes into develop branch.

[WilliamFromTW]

owncloud app can only detect picture taken from android built-in camera.
so I disable new picture receiver and write a service "ObserveNewPhotoService".
this service use com.owncloud.android.utils.RecursiveFileObserver
to watch new media file created in directory "DCIM" , "Pictures" and all sub-directory,
, if media files were created , ObserveNewPhotoService will upload these media files to owncloud server.

owncloud_new_photo_observer_src.zip and compiled apk can download from
http://mail.pumpkin-village.tk/owncloud/public.php?service=files&t=df53555ce62fbb2e6f8385a700e1f355

ps. not only picture. video file can also be detected and upload to server.

---

2013/09/26
i had open one repository for this solution , source code can be found in
https://github.com/willyann/owncloud_new_photo_observer

basically this service will observe new media(image, video) created in two directory and it's sub directory
Environment.DIRECTORY_DCIM(api level 8)
Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES (api level 8)
confirm cell phone : hTC desire z (2.2), hTC desire HD(2.2), some android phone(no brand) , hTC J , hTC one X , hTC new one , nexus s , galaxy nexus , nexus 4 , hTC sv , moto me860(2.2),samsung s2,s3,note2,hTC Wildfire S

[davivel]

@willyann , thanks for your collaboration.

Could you tell us if noticed worse battery performance with your modification?

[WilliamFromTW]

@davivel
, no , just use service instead of "com.android.camera.NEW_PICTURE" receiver.
maybe you concern with cpu or battery performance , this new service "ObserveNewPhotoService" just start recursive fileobserver (observe a few directory in DCIM or Pictures , can also modify observe one directory).
fileobserver use inotify (Linux kernel system) , so it is not always scanning file system , is waiting for inotify to trigger.
this method is very similar with dropbox.
dropbox can detect DCIM and all subdirectory.

[simonbuehler]

great work 👍

[schiessle]

@willyann Sounds like a great solution. 👍 Personally I no longer have a HTC device but there are a lot of HTC devices out there. So it would be really great to fix the issue and to make the whole process of detecting new pictures more independent from a specific camera app.

[mellynce]

讚 👍

[jsteel44]

@willyann it works on my HTC Wildfire S, Android 2.3.5 thanks! However if my (local) server is off, the upload fails (as expected) but it does not try again when the server is back up.

[WilliamFromTW]

@jsteel44 i test as original app (1.4.4 ) , have the same issue ..

[davivel]

@jsteel44 , the retry of failed uploads (instant or not) at network recovery is a different problem. There are other issues describing it, such as #165 and #64. There is also some work in progress in the branches starting with 'offline'.

[rperezb]

Hi! On the latest version, 1.4.5, published yesterday it has been included a bug fixed in this sense. Right instant upload works on HTC devices with Android 4.0 or greater.

[davivel]

Hi everybody.

Would be great that all of you with an Android 4.x device check the 1.4.5 version and tell us if instant uploads are working now.

Thanks in advance.

[mhellwig]

Motorola Droid 4 (XT894 aka maserati): still not working.

[tun0]

Instant image uploads work on HTC One. Videos don't get uploaded, but not sure if that's supposed to be like that or not.

[davivel]

Videos are not added, just pictures. There is other issue about instant upload of videos, but we won't adress it until instant uploads of pictures is better.

@mhellwig , may I assume that your Motorola is upgraded to Android 4.0?

[mhellwig]

@davivel indeed, 4.0.4

[elforesto]

This feature works on the HTC Evo 4G LTE with Android 4.1.1 and Sense 4+ running stock firmware.

[davivel]

@mhellwig , it should work, the new solution is based in catching the official action http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/Camera.html#ACTION_NEW_PICTURE , that was introduced in Android 4.0.

Was your device originally shiped with Android 2.3? The problem could be caused by a bug in the update, or directly by a customization of the camera software by Motorola. Is very difficult to us know what happens in this point without a Droid 4 to test.

We can search other solutions, the proposal of monitoring the folder where photos are stored is very interesting (it covers devices from Android 2.2), but there is no grant that it works in any device, because the location of that folder could be other point of uncertainty in devices "customized" by the manufacturer.

Besides, we probably should choose between the monitoring and the current solution, keeping both would increase the complexity of the code to avoid duplicated uploads.

[LukeOwlclaw]

@mhellwig, could you download this app to check whether the action broadcast:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=lt.andro.broadcastlogger

After starting the service and taking a picture you should see:
"android.hardware.action.NEW_PICTURE" in the list.

Does it show up?

@davivel

Besides, we probably should choose between the monitoring and the current solution, keeping both would increase the complexity of the code to avoid duplicated uploads.

How about letting the user configure which option to use? The monitor path could also be set manually. Sure, that makes it more complex, but it would make sure that instant upload also works before Android 4.0

[davivel]

@LukeOwncloud , we are trying to evolve the app in the UX so that it's as easy to use as possible. Adding deeply-technical configuration options is not convenient in this sense. We want the app is friendly for not technological-savvy users.

And thanks for the link to the app, that's cool!

[davivel]

Ok, it's official. We fixed instant upload HTC 4.x devices and broke them in Samsung 4.x devices.

Oh, happy day...

Fix coming very soon.

[mhellwig]

@LukeOwncloud OK installed the broadcast monitor.

Took a picture.

Showing up after that:
android.hardware.action.NEW_PICTURE
and
android.intent.action.MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE

[davivel]

@mhellwig , this is still more crazy. Since android.hardware.action.NEW_PICTURE is there, the update to 1.4.5 should work. Handling that event is the key in this update.

What happens exactly? There is no reaction from ownCloud when you take a new picture? Does your device have access to the server? Is there any other problem in your ownCloud app?

[LukeOwlclaw]

Bad news:

Just tried Broadcast Monitor on an HTC Desire C, Android 4.0.3 (stock):
No action at all is received when taking a picture.
(Did not try owncloud 1.4.5, yet. 1.4.4 did not instant upload anything.)

[davivel]

O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o O_o

[davivel]

Hi everybody here.

ownCloud app 1.4.6. was released on Friday. If fixes instant uploads for all the devices with Android version 4.0 or greater.

Those of you having problems with this, could you check how is the app doing now in your devices?

Thanks in advance.

[LukeOwlclaw]

HTC Desire C still does not work (Android 4.0.3 (stock) ):
But as I said before: No action at all is received when taking a picture.
So here only helps the file system watcher solution.

[davivel]

Thanks HTC and Samsung for removing standard API events from your systems. :(

Maybe somebody here wants to integrate the watcher solution in the code of the app, try it a while and make a pull request? @willyann? Somebody else ?

[pmolaughlin]

Still does not work on HTC Evo 4G because it is running Android 2.3.5

Is there any progress? I see the task is still open and not assigned to any milestone.
I am using HTC Desire with android 2.3.5 and the latest owncloud app 1.5.7.

When taking a picture with the built in app, there is NO event triggered.
I used https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=lt.andro.broadcastlogger
to verify the events.

Hi there, I just signed up to watch this issue closer. I own only HTC devices and the owncloud client photo sync (while connected to wifi) does not work on them. My current device is an HTC Desire SV (dual sim). I also migrated from Dropbox with hopes of synching my photos.

Please fix the instant upload issue for HTC devices. Btw, what makes the dropbox client so different that it works?

[LukeOwlclaw]

@davivel I see there is a class FolderObserver now. Any plans to apply it for the photo folder as well?

android.os.Environment.DIRECTORY_DCIM should be the gallery path. Supported since API 8. Is that good enough?
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/Environment.html#DIRECTORY_DCIM

[redfave]

I can confirm this issue on the Sony Xperia T runnig stock Android 4.3.

[davivel]

@LukeOwncloud , android.os.Environment.DIRECTORY_DCIM is at least good enough to take as a starting point.

FolderObserver should help. If I'm not wrong it's used in keep-in-sync files. That's the way go with this problem.

[tobiasKaminsky]

This idea would solve the problem as it allows any folder to act as a source of instant upload: #744

[davivel]

I renamed the issue and adde a summary of the current knowledge in the first comment.

[Fukurokudzu]

Hi. I've the latest 2.0.0 on android 6 and instant upload works only from local storage and does'nt work when photo storage is set to sd card. I guess that's what this bug is about, right?

[Fukurokudzu]

It's huawei honor 7 stock camera.

[davivel]

This is one of the two viable alternatives to solve the "instant upload of pictures" shutdown that we'll suffer with Android N.

Advantages: this solution is valid for any Android version 'til the day.
Drawbacks: Doze could make the observer service is killed too often; or maybe not, but it's something to be tested.

For the record: the second alternative is what Google recommends to replace the subscription for NEW_PICTURE and NEW_VIDEO broadcast events; ref: https://developer.android.com/preview/features/background-optimization.html#new-jobinfo

[malkomich]

We could implement a new way to schedule instant uploads for a new photo or video, with the recently JobScheduler.

https://developer.android.com/preview/features/background-optimization.html?hl=en

The problem is that this is only available for API 21 or higher, the same in which NEW_PICTURE and NEW_VIDEO broadcasts began to be deprecated.

So we still need the solution for lower APIs, and implement this new one for 21 and higher to avoid Doze shutdowns like @davivel said.

[gw0]

On Samsung Galaxy S6 using the default Camera app usual photos and videos get uploaded as expected, but Camera Collage and some custom features/effects do not, although there also get stored into DCIM/Camera. Same goes for apps, that store photos/videos in their own folder. A folder-observing solution (even if triggered only every now and then) would solve this.

[davivel]

Going for it.

[davivel]

Release 2.1.1 is out now. Please, take a look to the option 'Camera folder' in instant upload settings to select the folder where your camera app stores the pictures, and give it a try. The new implementation will observe that folder and upload new pictures or videos in it.

We expect this solution works with most of the camera apps that were already working, and with most of the camera apps that were not working at all.

Looking forward your feedback :)

[Fukurokudzu]

Just tried it on my Huawei Honor 7 (android 6.0) with stock camera and didn't succeed.
Camera is set to store photoes on ext_sd, so i set owncloud to look into /storage/6F4B-1E08/DCIM/Camera (photoes goes there, i checked) with no luck. Right after installation OC asked permission access for sdcard, if it matters.

[davivel]

Thanks, @Fukurokudzu . There are some things pending to check about permissions and ext_sd, probably your problem is about that.

The camera stores the pictures there by default, or is it configurable? In the second case, could you change it to a location in emulated external storage (public internal) and make another test? Just to know about the Huawei camera app.

EDIT: I just saw your previous comments, I guess that for you it's the same as before, right? Working form local storage but not from SD Card. Can you see failed uploads in the 'Uploads' list with the new solution, or nothing at all?

[davivel]

@gw0, could you try Camera Collage with ownCloud 2.1.1? Thanks.

[davivel]

@mhellwig , @rlaban , @LukeOwncloud , @redfave , some feedback from you would be really awesome :) . Thanks

[cschwarz007]

I tried on my Samsung A3 (2016) with Android 6.0.1 Neither storing the pictures on the SD-Card nor on the internal storage works. Tried both OpenCamera and the Samsung stock camera app...

[davivel]

OpenCamera is one of our test apps. Could you double check with it, please? Remember to chose in the app settings "DCIM/OpenCamera" as camera folder.

[cschwarz007]

Hi David, it works with OpenCamera but only if I set "Use Storage Access Framework" to off. Does not work with OpenCamera if Storage Framework is enabled (regardless where the pictures are saved) nor with the built-in Samsung camera app (which always uses the framework I suppose)... Hope this helps and/or let me know what other info I can provide to support...

[davivel]

Sure it helps, @cschwarz007 . That's a variable we didn't take into account. I'll think a bit about it, probably we'll need to open a new issue to deal with it.

[Fukurokudzu]

@davivel ok, i set camera to store photos on internal storage. OC shows /storage/emulated as empty folder, so i just can't select internal storage there. I set OC to look into /sdcard/DCIM/Camera (new files are there) and still no luck with instant uploads. Uploads list is empty (i reinstalled the app last night just to be sure).

[davivel]

Thanks, @Fukurokudzu . I expected that /sdcard/DCIM/Camera worked fine... Will have to research a bit more, maybe the Storage Access Framework is related, as in the case of @cschwarz007

[davivel]

@cschwarz007 , @Fukurokudzu , maybe you are interested in #1795 (comment)

[davivel]

Thanks for the feedback. Version 2.1.2 is already pushed to Play Store, will be soon in your devices with the combined solution (FileObserver + broadcast event).

For sure, this is not the last word in improvements about instant_uploads. There are plenty of things to do in https://github.com/owncloud/android/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Async%3A%3Ainstant_upload , and we'll continue to address them, with your help.