Boom, Crash!

Scrivener Scrivener for iOS
1

I have a 100% recurring crash happening semi-frequently on (2) different iOS devices. I’ll try to articulate the conditions as best I can, but please feel free to ask questions or guide me further if you need more info.

I use Scrivener on:

  • iMac (latest OS and app version)
  • Macbook pro (latest OS and app version)
  • iPhone SE (currently on firmware 9.3.2)
  • iPad Mini (9.3.3)

I use Dropbox integration. I use subfolders inside my Scrivener folder. My Dropbox hierarchy looks something like:
Dropbox > Apps > Scrivener > Book 1
> Book 2
> Book 3
> Book 4
> etc

(Note: The problem occurred without subfodlers as well. I get the sense they are not related, but heck, I could be wrong)

Symptoms
On several occasions, usually after I’ve been opening a project on my desktops, save, and switch to and iOS device, Scrivener for iOS will immediately crash as soon as I attempt to load the app. I see the Projects page flash very briefly (< 1 second) and then the app closes and I am returned to the main iOS finder.

If I try to reload Scrivener, the same crash occurs. If I force quit (“swipe out”) the app and re-launch it, it still crashes. The only way I’ve found to restore functionality is to fully delete the application >> download it again >> re-sync with Dropbox.

I’m actively working on a project with a deadline, so I had to re-install my iPad to get things working. My iPhone, however, is still actively crashing. I am going to leave it in this state in case you want more info.

Are there logs I can provide? What else can I gather for you? I’m sorry I don’t have a more precise list of steps I took to get it into this crash condition.

2

Thanks for the report.

I’ve run into this one as well, only once on two different devices and not since then. In both cases I resolved the problem by resetting the Dropbox cache, in Scrivener’s reset tab, within main Settings.app. So there is no need to fully reinstall, if it happens, it takes a few seconds to reset and get back to work.

I’d love to figure out what is causing it. I don’t use hierarchies at all and yet I saw it. Like I say though, I have not seen it since a few hours after launch (I had chalked it up to an upgrade-from-beta problem).

Logs: go into Settings, Privacy: Diagnostics & Usage: Diagnostic & Usage Data. Scroll through that list looking for reports from Scrivener around the time of the crash, tap on it and copy and paste the text and get it saved to a file you can send us (you can PM me if you want with a .txt attachment).

3

Thanks, AmberV, I will PM you.

4

Thanks, got it. I’ll have Keith take a look at it, but to my layman’s eyes looks about as uninformative as the ones I’ve been getting. Funny thing is that I managed to get it happening on my iPad last night, shortly after writing my response to you, and at that point in time I didn’t even have anything synced with Dropbox—it was still linked though, so that means it was running the customary check it does when the app activates, to look for recommended uploads/downloads. So hopefully that narrows the potential source of the problem down to a few routines.

5

Great, thanks. I can confirm that purging the Dropbox cache resolved the issue. Hopefully Keith catches it!