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Mojo Compatibility Mode On HP TouchPad Shows Long List of Limitations

By: , 6/30/2011 4:03 pm | 12 comments

As webOS devolopers submit their existing Mojo apps to HP to test their compatibility with the HP TouchPad, some are being refused, or at the very least, warned of various issues running the apps in “Mojo Compatibility Mode” on the TouchPad. Mojo apps originally developed for smartphones can run on the TouchPad in this mode, which provides a window that is sized for the app’s original resolution, contains an on-screen gesture area, and access to the virtual keyboard.

Below is a list of items that was sent to a developer recently by HP about some of the limitation of the emulator. Sadly, the list is long and distinguished…

The known problems with Mojo compatibility mode on the TouchPad include:

  • Video playback is not currently working properly in Mojo compatibility mode.
  • WebView widgets are not currently working properly in Mojo compatibility mode.
  • The PeoplePicker API for choosing contacts is not currently working.
  • The Media Capture API is currently working only for audio, not for video or still images.
  • Some apps freeze momentarily after a back gesture is performed.
  • Some apps do not launch successfully from the App Catalog, though they do launch from the webOS Launcher.
  • The cross-application Messaging API for starting a new message is not currently working.
  • The cross-application Calendar API for launching the calendar app and showing a specific date is not currently working.
  • The performance of some SQL transactions is currently slower than on previous devices. The difference does not noticeably affect most apps, but apps that perform individual SQL transactions for large numbers of records may be significantly impacted. Apps should limit the number of transactions by batching operations whenever possible (e.g., inserting multiple rows in a single SQL statement rather than executing a statement for each row).
  • The SQL RANDOM() function is not currently working.

As for the differences between the TouchPad and previous webOS devices affecting some apps:

  • There is currently no Camera app on TouchPad, so apps using the cross-application Camera API will not function properly.
  • There is no GPS hardware on WiFi TouchPad models. On these models, the webOS Location API provides location fixes sourced from Google Location Services, but this may be insufficient for some apps.

We hope we haven’t scared off any blossoming devs just yet. Here is what HP recommends you do to make sure your app is good to go:

  • We recommend that you develop an app specifically for TouchPad using the webOS 3.0 SDK available in Early Access, which positions you to take advantage of our big summer launch.
  • Please test your app – the TouchPad emulator in the webOS 3.0 SDK should be sufficient for testing most apps.
  • If you cannot or do not wish to address the issues with your app and prefer instead to make it unavailable to TouchPad users for now, submit a metadata update to indicate that your app is not TouchPad-compatible.

Update: The head honcho of Hedami Software (and one of our favorite people) was involved in this same discussion. He shared a few more bullet points in the comments. So they don’t get lost, we are reprinting them here.

  • Mojo.DeviceInfo screen width and height don’t return 320 and 480 (resolution of emulation window).  They return 768 and 1024 (TouchPad full-screen resolution).  HP acknowledged this as a bug.  This will cause display issues for any Mojo apps that uses these values for dynamic resizing.  I had to modify Quick Post to work around this bug.
  • Forward gesture is treated like a back gesture.  Any apps that used forward gesture for any actions will not function properly.
  • Tapping the gesture area simulates a back gesture instead of a “meta-tap”.  So any apps that assume a meta-tap event can be detected will fail.  Of course webOS 2.x has had this bug since its release, so really this one is nothing new.  However I still think HP should document and communicate the bug to Mojo devs.
  • As mentioned above, the Mojo emulator window has a gesture area below the screen which when tapped or swiped will perform a back gesture.  The problem is that new TouchPad owners who have never used webOS will not be aware of the gesture area’s “go back a screen” function since the TouchPad itself has no gesture area.  So if a new TouchPad owner runs a Mojo app, they may not know how to go back a screen.  I reported this to HP and they said they considered adding some type of visual indicator that the gesture area was used to go back, but decided not to (which makes no sense).  So I’ve modified my Quick Post app to display a one-time info popup explaining the back function.  I suggest other Mojo devs do something similar or else be prepared for negative reviews stating the app is stuck.
  • Any app that detected key press events on the window/document would not work.  For instance, Music Player (Remix) has an in-app “type to search” feature.  This will not work since the virtual keyboard only appears if a textfield has focus.  HP should have included a “display virtual keyboard” button in the Mojo emulator considering all Mojo devices have had hardware keyboards.

 

Thanks Phil and Dan!

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About Jesse Mendoza

Certified Computer Geek by day, WOR contributor & radio DJ by night. Loves indie music, Toyoto FJ Cruisers, and running marathons. He still owns all of his Palm devices and will probably go to the grave with them. Follow him on Twitter @JesseJstreet
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  • Guest

    Mmmm, so it’s actually a piece of s**t emulator… Are they planning to imporve it in newer releases or simply abandon, like with Classic on webOS 2?

  • Anonymous

    One more reason I am holding off on getting a Touchpad. This is not how you handle a huge launch of something that NEEDS to be great. Not even “The best” but great. Amazing the number of backward steps taken by HP with WebOS. Ugh…aggravating doesn’t begin to describe my feelings right now toward this launch. HP has a lot more work ahead of them, than I originally thought, at this point.

    • http://www.webosroundup.com/ David

      Keep in mind that the emulator is a temporary solution. The TouchPad’s goal is to have full screen TouchPad apps. Even though the iPad supports iPhone apps, you don’t here people talking about running them on the device.

      The emulator will be important for a short while until the TP apps can catch up. No worries.

      • Anonymous

        I agree and I think it is a somewhat reasonable solution for the situation at hand. My comment above just goes along with all my other comments here, and on other sites, in regards to the TP. I get more and more cynical with each post and I think it’s because of two things.

        First, I (obviously) set my hopes way too high for the Touchpad at launch. And second, I wanted, just as bad as every other supporting WebOS user, to have this be the answer to all (or most) of our tablet wishlists. I think it has missed the mark today. That’s not to say 6 months or a year down the road a TP2 may blow everything out of the water or even with software updates the TP will do the same. But for now, this only has me looking elsewhere and that is HUGE for me considering how much I really like WebOS.

      • Dude

        Just because it’s a temporary band-aid, doesn’t mean they have to make it so buggy. You don’t hear people talking about running iPhone apps on the iPad because the iPad has a hefty 90,000 apps available. The Touchpad has a paltry 300 tablet apps. Every other app is severely limited, so they can’t claim they have 6000 apps available at launch.

  • http://twitter.com/hedami Hedami Software

    I received this email as well.  However it’s missing several issues/caveats all of which were discussed in the early access forum, so I’m not sure why HP decided to omit them from the communication email.

    These include:

    -  Mojo.DeviceInfo screen width and height don’t return 320 and 480 (resolution of emulation window).  They return 768 and 1024 (TouchPad full-screen resolution).  HP acknowledged this as a bug.  This will cause display issues for any Mojo apps that uses these values for dynamic resizing.  I had to modify Quick Post to work around this bug.

    -  Forward gesture is treated like a back gesture.  Any apps that used forward gesture for any actions will not function properly.

    -  Tapping the gesture area simulates a back gesture instead of a “meta-tap”.  So any apps that assume a meta-tap event can be detected will fail.  Of course webOS 2.x has had this bug since its release, so really this one is nothing new.  However I still think HP should document and communicate the bug to Mojo devs.

    -  As mentioned above, the Mojo emulator window has a gesture area below the screen which when tapped or swiped will perform a back gesture.  The problem is that new TouchPad owners who have never used webOS will not be aware of the gesture area’s “go back a screen” function since the TouchPad itself has no gesture area.  So if a new TouchPad owner runs a Mojo app, they may not know how to go back a screen.  I reported this to HP and they said they considered adding some type of visual indicator that the gesture area was used to go back, but decided not to (which makes no sense).  So I’ve modified my Quick Post app to display a one-time info popup explaining the back function.  I suggest other Mojo devs do something similar or else be prepared for negative reviews stating the app is stuck.

    -  Any app that detected key press events on the window/document would not work.  For instance, Music Player (Remix) has an in-app “type to search” feature.  This will not work since the virtual keyboard only appears if a textfield has focus.  HP should have included a “display virtual keyboard” button in the Mojo emulator considering all Mojo devices have had hardware keyboards.

    • http://www.webosroundup.com/ David

      Thanks Hedami, I will update the post.

    • http://www.webosroundup.com/ David

      Thanks Hedami, I will update the post.

  • http://thesmartphoneappreview.com Simon Burns

    This is a genuine shame

  • Dude

    I don’t understand, this is supposed to be simple javascript. How did they manage to screw it up so spectacularly?

  • Addiarmadar

    I don’t think a whole lot of time was invested to the emulator for they want us devs to rewrite the apps in enyo for it simply works better that way and gives best customer experience.  They are in a tough pickle of do they want to improve the emulator and risk that devs wont convert to enyo or leave it be and get posts like this.   Pretty certain we’re going to see an OTA soon after launch to address some of these issue either way.

    • Dude

      First they’re going to have to get all those devs back who developed most of the current apps and then left. They won’t risk that devs won’t convert to enyo if the emulator is great. Most devs don’t develop with deprecated APIs, and those that don’t convert are more than likely those devs who left.