All AIR apps crash on Android Q !

Report · Mar 14, 2019

It has been signaled before by some devs that they have got emails from Google stating their games no longer work on the upcoming version of Android.

With the explanation from Google:

"Possible Root Cause: Starting with API 23, shared objects must not contain text relocations. That is, the code must be loaded as is and must not be modified. Such an approach reduces load time and improves security. We haven't supported text relocations since API 23, and we are now moving to enforce this via SELinux."

(see this bug report: https://tracker.adobe.com/#/view/AIR-4198749

or this forum post: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2558904 )

Last night the first beta of Android Q was released so I installed it.

And what I feared is true: all my AIR apps and all AIR games by others that I know crash immediatly at startup...

(note: for the moment you can only install the Android Q beta on Google Pixel phones)

Help Adobe Air team!

Report · Mar 15, 2019

Yes this is urgent, we receive the same reports from the first users who installed the beta and our games crash immediately. We ordered a test device now but I assume this must be fixed by Adobe and we can not do anything about it.

Report · Mar 17, 2019

Could you all give the bug report a vote please, cause this impacts all of us.

Report · Mar 26, 2019

Started to get first user reports as well.I hope Adobe is on this.

This bug is the definition of critial: every AIR app crashes immediatlly on Android Q.

Report · Mar 30, 2019

Your bug tracker talks about the signal 11 crash.

This one occurs on other version of android than the last Q. I have the signal 11 crash on regular basis.

Do you mean that this bug is occurring all the time on android Q?

Report · Apr 01, 2019

What I mean is that as it is now your app will not even start on Android Q, every Air app crashes immediately when you start it.

Report · Apr 16, 2019

I wonder if there is any Adobe AIR Team yet. Looks like everybody disappeared in Flash. Soon there will be only Adobe Vacuum. 😞

Report · Apr 16, 2019

The bug has been accepted into the official Air release notes, so we know that they are aware of it and I guess we can expect a fix soon.

Report · Apr 16, 2019

I know... there are still occasional signs of life and thanks for them. The rest is simply very sad. For example labs.adobe.com site, which used to be the cutting edge is now without updates (funny like the release notes from the beta are still on the macromedia.com domain).

I use to remember times when Adobe was actively evangelizing its technology. The current lack of communication is simply wrong. Not surprise that Adobe is losing battle with Unity and soon they will lose with Affinity too for the same reason. I don't know how stable is position of Premiere as I'm not in video business. I think, that real Adobe staff should be able to communicate not only on MAX once per year.

(sorry for the lamment, but I'm sure that I'm not alone with such a opinions)

Report · Apr 21, 2019

All our AIR apps will now crash at startup because they use the insecure and long deprecated WORLD_READABLE file attribute setting, which has now been completely removed from Android Q. If Adobe do not address this by the launch date of Android Q (in August) it will kill every AIR app quicker than the other issue of their 64 bit requirement 😕 See: Context | Android Developers

Report · Apr 25, 2019

Actually this one is more important than android 64 bits. Because if there is one issue or delay on the 64 bits, if the crash isn't solved before the august deadline, the app will crash without being able to fix it because 32 bit upgrade will be refused.

Unless Adobe will try to have an arrangement with Google as Unity seems to have.

Report · Apr 25, 2019

Indeed. Even worse - imagine existing users of your app (who may have paid for the app) upgrading to Android Q. Now the app doesn't work and they are not sure why - worse than your app being unavailable, that user is likely to give you a bad review and probably ask for a refund.

Report · Apr 25, 2019

Well you can argue that Q is still in beta till august.

Report · Apr 25, 2019

Correct - but don't be fooled into thinking this means that Google might 'fix it' before then. This is a very much an Adobe bug; nothing for Google to fix. WORLD_READABLE has been long deprecated; Adobe has known about it; whether or not they care enough to do anything about it remains to be seen.

Report · May 09, 2019

The Android Q bug has been identified as a Known Issue by Adobe in the latest release notes for AIR (not the beta release notes - as the last beta was released before the last release) - so Adobe are clearly working on it.

Report · May 10, 2019

Good news. As of Android Q beta 3 apps no longer crash. I've had three users email me today to confirm. Looks like this issue is put off until Android R. So Adobe has a year to get this sorted. Hopefully they get around to 64bit asap.

Report · May 11, 2019

That's great news! And I just started to get a trickle of emails coming in saying "Hey, your app doesn't work now", me: "Um, did you just install Android Q?" 😕

Report · May 15, 2019

Hey folks,

In the official Android docs for Android Q I do see mentioned that this change was only included in beta 1 and 2, not 3. I can't find any statements from Google about why it was excluded though and that it won't be reintroduced. Are you assuming it's been moved to Android R or did you find some sort of confirmation from Google?

Official docs (see text relocations): Behavior changes: all apps | Android Developers

It also states here that from API level 23 and onwards text relocations will prevent the app from being started: Android changes for NDK developers .

Can we get any official confirmation/info on this? Otherwise how can we be sure that this feature won't be back in beta 4 and in Android Q when it releases?

Report · May 16, 2019

Have posted a question to google here: https://www.reddit.com/r/android_beta/comments/bluwtw/android_q_beta_3_now_available/

Report · Jun 05, 2019

Have also posted an issue for google here: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/134526657 , asking for confirmation that the changes were in beta 1 and 2 but not 3, and asking if they will be reintroduced before release.

Report · Jun 06, 2019

Good news! Have got a reply from Google:

"Yes, from beta 3 the restriction applies only to apps targeting API level 29.

I agree we should update the docs to say that."

So, looks like we're safe with Android Q devices as long as we target API level 28 or below .

Report · Jun 06, 2019

It also means, that the issue is still there, just postponed a little bit.

It should be definitely in the Harman' s TODO list -> ajwfrost75

Report · Jun 06, 2019

Yes, we're aware of this one and it should be sorted with the v33 SDK. Thanks!