mikejeep

A new SignalCheck Pro update is now available on Google Play! Notable changes:

• Improved duplicate LTE GCI cleanup function. Duplicates with the greater number of recorded connection 'hits' will now be kept. Duplicate entries appear for a variety of reasons but can cause neighbor cell notes to display improperly. Strongly recommend running this cleanup function occasionally.

• Improved site note logging functionality. Better matching of co-located cells and prior Sprint sites.

• Overhauled display functions to fully re-sync all information when reopening app or with swipe-down gesture. The swipe-down gesture now essentially restarts the core functions of the app.

Other changes:

• Added 5G-NR band to notification pulldown title.
• Added accent colors for additional wireless providers.
• Added option to disable street address geocoding when editing a site note; coordinates will populate instead.
• Code optimizations and enhancements.
• Improved identification of unregistered 5G-NR cells.
• Improved LTE PLMN identification on some devices.
• Resolved issue with log import proceeding when log backup fails.
• Resolved issue with some 5G-NR connections displaying improper band.
• Resolved issue with some 5G-NR neighbor cells displaying improper band.
• Updated internal libraries.

As always, I appreciate everyone's support. Dual SIM bugs are *still* being ironed out but it is a priority to resolve. Thanks!

7 minutes ago, dkyeager said:

So the broken release is Beta 4.841b (Released 5/13/2024). What is the version with the fixed library?  Thanks

No, 4.841b is the fixed one -- 4.84b was the broken one. It was only available for the internal alpha group, and only briefly, so I didn't make a separate changelog entry for it.. sorry for any confusion.

Resolved the issue, an external library did not compile properly.. new version will be rolling out momentarily. Thanks for the immediate heads up, appreciate it!

36 minutes ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

This update just broke scp for me. I can't even load the app to send a report. I tried clearing cache to no avail.

1 minute ago, Trip said:

Same.  S21FE, Android 12.

Hmm.. using it myself at the moment but looking into it! Advise others to not update just yet, trying to pause the rollout but not sure how instantaneous that will be..

A new SCP beta is rolling out now, with minor changes but will also be followed by a public release including all of the changes up to this version once it clears Google Play review. Full changelogs available in-app or at https://signalcheck.app/changelog -- thanks as always for the help!

53 minutes ago, dkyeager said:

Finally got latest update within the hour. Duplicate GCI updates: Most used s24 ultra: none. S21 ultra #1:  0.3%, s21 ultra #2: 0.1%.  Networks: T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T.

All have dual sims, but recently disabled second sim given scp issues.  All with latest firmware.

Google Play has been slow at approving releases lately, but I did see it finally got cleared around 9:15 Eastern this morning.

Those seem like low duplicate numbers, that is good. Mine were worse but I also intentionally try to force behavior to trigger bad logs for testing purposes. If you run the "Clean up duplicate GCI" entry from the Logs > Clear menu, it will eliminate them.

6 hours ago, CrackedLCD said:

Am I crazy or were neighbor notes always available?  I know I've seen them on my device for what seems like a year or more.

After posting that my notes were back I've since discovered some that are still missing. I was driving so I couldn't send a diagnostic report but if I see it again I'll be sure to send one.  It seems my 2G and LTE notes are all intact but 5G ones are hit or miss still.

Neighbor notes have been available for a long time.. many years. Sorry if my post wasn't clear, I was saying I made improvements to that feature.. fixed some bugs and overhauled how the app looks for notes that may be recorded under a different PLMN (like T-Mobile/Sprint Keep sites/etc).

NR sites can be tricky depending on the provider because some use multiple NCIs per site.. and in my area, T-Mobile has changed a lot of them. For T-Mobile, I have not identified a pattern between old and new NCIs, so until you save a note under a new NCI, it's going to be blank.

If you long-press on the "Connected to [LTE|NR]" label, it will send diagnostics immediately. There's no ability to add a comment to that report but you can send a few when you're seeing an issue and then send one with a comment referring to the other reports so I know what I'm looking for.

A SCP beta update is rolling out now.. it includes more adjustments to site note features including saving notes and displaying neighbor notes. If you are seeing odd behavior with notes (especially those of you 'missing' notes that you know should be appearing), please send a diagnostic report soon after you observe this behavior. I have added additional logging that should capture what is going on (it can be seen on the Diagnostic Mode page).

A major improvement to the function to clean up duplicate LTE GCIs is included in this release. Instead of deleting all duplicate entries, it will now save the entry that has the highest 'hits' column value, and delete all others. It is not perfect, but should be a huge improvement over deleting all of the entries. Please keep in mind if you have duplicates, this could impact site note display.

Duplicate GCI entries are typically a product of quickly-changing PLMNs that the OS does not report in sync with other data, resulting in some information being logged with the wrong PLMN. Similar issues are happening on dual-SIM devices that I have not been able to resolve yet. Keep in mind that dual-SIM functionality is still in testing, and even the new option to disable dual-SIM logging is still buggy. I'm working on it! Thanks for all of the feedback, keep it coming...

1 hour ago, S4GRU said:

Thanks for all your contributions to network monitoring and cell spotting the past decade.  Can't imagine what it would have been without SignalCheck!!!

Thank you Robert, that means a lot -- especially coming from you. I appreciate everything you have done to host this site, notably allowing me to make it the de facto discussion forum for SCP. Thank YOU!

To be clear, I am not ending my efforts or looking to hand the app off.. just figured a user with more skills than me might be interested in lending a hand with some of the issues I haven't succeeding in resolving. It's more fun to add new features, but I find myself spending more and more time chasing bugs instead of doing cool stuff!

11 hours ago, dkyeager said:

Got the latest update. On my S24 ultra the NR-ARFCN display remains constant (which is inaccurate according to diags) while n41 and 38 toggle back and forth.  I updated then rebooted before testing. Two sims active.

Another beta is rolling out now with some more adjustments and additional diagnostics. The last two beta releases have taken 48+ hours for approval, hopefully this one clears quicker but that's up to Google Play..

As many of you know, SignalCheck is a side hobby for me. I taught myself Java when I began this project over a decade ago and I am still learning. I am far from a professional programmer, but I have figured enough things out along the way to get the app this far. Lately, I have been struggling to find the amount of spare time necessary to keep up with app development and bugfixes, but I am still enthusiastic about pushing SCP forward. If someone with experience in Java and Android app development would like to lend a hand, especially to help eradicate some of the most challenging issues I have been unable to resolve, please message me. Thanks!

Ahh then it sounds more like yet another dual-SIM bug! Thank you, that is a big help.. I've been working on trying to figure this out.

3 hours ago, chamb said:

I see everything correct. The two ARFCN's you mentioned earlier and they idenitify as n-41.  using 4.832b SCP.

Only using one TM SIM.

Did they previously hop between n38 and n41 in prior version of SCP, or have you always seen n41 displayed properly?

That's not good. Please back up your log databases in case an app bug is doing something to erase your existing notes.. with the changes made in that version, I suspect it's more of a search query issue, but it can't hurt to be safe. Strangely I'm not seeing the same issue myself.

Could you send me 1) screenshots of instances where notes are missing, a 2) backups of your log databases? PM or email is fine.

On 3/25/2024 at 5:48 AM, dkyeager said:

NP. FYI, No sign of beta yet.  Being in beta instead of alpha is no problem. Perhaps betas only get it once all alphas have been updated.

No, the beta is completely independent of that.. Google Play's review processes are just unpredictable. I don't see any specifics, other than the time I submitted it and the "In Review" status. This release took longer than usual to be approved, but it was not out of the normal range.

On 3/25/2024 at 4:40 PM, dkyeager said:

S24 ultra factory unlocked still switches back and forth from n41 to n38. Sent diags.  Will check other dual sim phones.

Other factor. Seems that when my bandwidth is 80 it shows n41 (nr-arfcn 502110), when bandwidth is 100 it shows n38 (nr-arfcm 520110).

New beta is rolling out now with some more adjustments to the NR band correction algorithm as well as some other NR bug fixes.. please let me know if it resolves this issue.

40 minutes ago, chamb said:

Strange.  I got it within a half hour after Mike posted here that it was available.

Depends on if you are in the standard Beta group or the Internal Test group. I roll all releases out to both groups simultaneously, but Beta releases get screened/analyzed/reviewed by Google Play first, in the same manner that production releases are. Internal Test releases become available immediately. When they came out with the Internal Test option (which has a limit on number of users), I offered it with the caveat that they're slightly riskier because of the lack of review and let users decide which group to be in.

41 minutes ago, dkyeager said:

I  have nit seen this beta update yet. Has anyone else gotten it yet?

Looks like the standard beta hasn't cleared Google Play's review process yet. Sometimes it clears within an hour, sometimes it takes over a day.

A new SignalCheck beta is rolling out now and should be available on Google Play shortly. It includes some new user-suggested features and several bug fixes. One change that should be noted is that secondary SIM cells are no longer logged by default; there is a new option under the Beta Crew menu to re-enable it if you prefer. I have not been able to get Dual SIM logging to be reliable yet, random entries mix and match the provider details and SIM number. Hoping this at least resolves the issue with inaccurate log entries for the primary SIM. Will continue to work on that.. it remains the final hurdle to open up Dual SIM support for all users.

On 2/10/2024 at 7:38 AM, dkyeager said:

I continue to watch the S24 Ultra SCP interaction with two sims. When n38 or n2 are reported, nothing else changes in the display.  Perhaps just a setting to change them to n41 and n25 when the plmn is T-Mobile?

I have workarounds that essentially do this, but it has taken some time to catch every instance in the code where things need to be adjusted, especially with dual SIMs in play. I have been making further improvements in a soon-to-be-released beta.

On 2/18/2024 at 5:15 PM, dkyeager said:

Two sims update:

When the primary carrier loses its connection, the last connection continues to be displayed. The time shows the last connect time and the IP address is no longer displayed. The second sim information is also displayed, correctly  (without the IP address). Can create at will. S24 Ultra  but other models likely.  On factory unlocked firmware. Diagnostics sent.

I see this frequently as well on my Pixel 8.. unfortunately, I have yet to come up with a workaround because the OS is still reporting it as a valid connection; at least the timestamp freezes so you have a clue that something is up. I'm still trying to find the best way to handle this.

On 3/7/2024 at 3:47 PM, dkyeager said:

Sent in diag on s24 ultra factory unlocked. T-Mobile "n38" not allowing note.

I overhauled the site note editing/saving/querying functions in the aforementioned beta in progress.. "coming soon"

Appreciate all of your feedback as always!!

On 1/17/2024 at 11:30 AM, stealth said:

Something I've noticed, device is a moto edge plus 2023. Scp doesn't fetch signal information very often when I have it open. when I have cell mapper open in back ground as well, scp updates every 2 to 3 seconds. Is this a bug or a setting not correct?

Sorry for the delayed reply, I missed the notification..

SignalCheck doesn't really 'control' how quickly the information refreshes. To oversimplify it, the app listens for signal changes, and displays them as soon as they happen. The rate depends on many variables, including device configuration, power status, radio programming, etc. The biggest driver of updates is flowing data -- if your device is idle and also not moving, not much will change because it's not going to "waste" effort updating signal metrics. But if you are sending/receiving data (streaming audio or video is a big trigger), or your location is significantly changing (drive faster for more frequent updates.. just kidding), you should see more frequent updates.

I don't know the inner workings of Cellmapper, but it's likely designed in a similar fashion; there is no native accessible "force the modem to refresh the information" command that I am aware of, but there could be. If you notice quicker updates when you have Cellmapper running, it could be because Cellmapper is sending/receiving data (I know there is an auto-upload function), or Cellmapper is configured to use more precise location information, so your device is more sensitive to smaller movement. You can adjust SCP location settings under Preferences > Location Settings; if you increase the priority or decrease the update interval, you will get more accurate and more frequent location updates, but be aware that this may increase battery usage.

Hope all that makes sense! Feel free to let me know if I can clarify anything further.

I've been very busy with other priorities lately, but I'm still keeping an eye on things!

24 minutes ago, RedSpark said:

Today, T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) announced 5G coverage and capacity enhancements inside the second most iconic Las Vegas sports venue, amping peak download speeds up to 1.2 Gbps...

I immediately noticed their subtle dig at the "second most iconic" venue.. presumably they are saying #1 is, of course, T-Mobile Arena down the street. 😆

A server update impacted SignalCheck diagnostic reports that were sent from 12/30/23 until a few minutes ago. If you sent something of value, please re-send it when you can -- it was never received. Sorry for the inconvenience!

An update to SignalCheck Pro is rolling out now to all users, and should be available on Google Play shortly! Here are the highlights of version 4.83:

• Added option to control LTE/NR TA display when reported value is 0.
• Added option to control LTE-TDD TA correction.
• Adjusted Dish Wireless 5G-NR site notes to be unique per sector (instead of per site) until proper site note linking can be implemented. Previously logged Dish Wireless note entries may be incorrect.
• Improved identification of unregistered 5G-NR cells.
• Improved permission request handling.
• Resolved issue with blank display on devices with restricted permissions.
• Resolved issue with incorrect 5G-NR bands displayed on some devices due to Android bug.
• Resolved issue with invalid LTE/NR data displayed on some Motorola Edge devices.
• Resolved numerous force closes, mostly related to permissions that were not granted by the user.

The full changelog can also be viewed here. I appreciate everyone's feedback and support!

Updates to SCP are rolling out now, including a new beta with some minor bugfixes. An update to the public app version that aligns with this beta is also being released today. Thank you for all of your support!