Using mobile link with 2DS and iOS 6

[kevin]

With iOS 5.x on my iPhone 4 I would leave a browser tab with the mobile link loaded all the time. (I have a passcode lock enabled on the phone.) I was able to control the alarm panel without problem. I left the browser tab open for months and browsed hundreds of other sites on other tabs and never had a problem. I opened new tabs and closed other tabs regularly, leaving the mobile link open.

I've since upgraded the phone to iOS 6 and now after sending a finite number of commands to the panel, the panel seems to stop responding. The display in the mobile link changes appropriately, i.e. it shows me that I have added "arm stay" or "disarm" etc. to the command queue, but the command never reaches the panel. I am not sure whether the command fails to reach the Eyez-On server from the mobile link, or the command fails to reach the panel from the Eyez-On server. Since I can restore operation (see below) I would guess that the link between the 2DS and the Eyez-On server is not failing, and something has changed in the browser and/or its interaction with the mobile link.

I can restore operation by doing the following on the phone (running iOS 6):

• - If Safari is open in the foreground, press the home button to get out of Safari.
  - Double click the home button to display the running apps.
  - Scroll left/right to find Safari.
  - Press and hold the Safari icon to show the red X in the corner of the icon.
  - Press the red X to close Safari.
  - Press the home button to get out of app-management (wiggly) mode.
  - Go into phone settings (gear icon).
  - Enter Safari settings.
  - Clear history.
  - Clear cookies and data.
  - Enter Advanced settings for Safari.
  - Enter Website Data settings.
  - Clear all website data.
  - Exit phone settings.
  - Restart Safari.
  - Reload mobile link for 2DS, log in etc. to get to the interface for the alarm panel.
  - Access to controlling the alarm panel is now restored.

I don't think that cookies or other things from other websites are affecting the operation of the mobile link, because I have cleared Safari as above, and entered commands with only the 2DS mobile link open in Safari, and again after a finite number of commands, the panel stops responding again. When I say a "finite" number of commands, I mean maybe 5-10 commands. With iOS 5.x, I could send an infinite number of commands to the panel, and it would respond to each one.

When I say the panel stops responding, I mean after I enter a command, I wait several minutes, 5-10 minutes, and there is no response from the panel. I seem to remember that the polling interval for the 2DS is about 2 minutes -- the 2DS looks at the Eyez-On server every 2 minutes. This info is from doing some troubleshooting with one of the Envisalink engineers earlier, and using Wireshark.

Is there really something that has changed between iOS 5.x and iOS 6 that is interfering with the control of the alarm panel using the 2DS? Is anyone else seeing similar behaviour? The only thing that has changed on my end is the upgrade to iOS 6.

Since I can restore operation by resetting Safari, I don't think the 2DS needs rebooting.

I pre-ordered an iPhone 5, and will be running iOS 6 on it too. Hopefully I/we can get this problem solved.

Kevin

[EyezOnRich]

Hello Kevin,

We are seeing the same thing. Seems to be a bug in Safari on the new OS. We are testing a work-around until they can fix it.

We'll post an update soon.

[EyezOnRich]

OK. Workaround is active. Just continue using as normal and you shouldn't see any more issues.

[kevin]

OK. Workaround is active. Just continue using as normal and you shouldn't see any more issues.

Thanks for the quick response guys!

[billinaz]

get the opera browser app.

[gdrag]

Good day,
I am continueing to have issues with what appears to be IOS 6 on an apple Iphone 4 and communication with my alarm system. When I try to bypass a zone the command queue accepts it but as far as I can tell it never gets to the panel. I do the same thing with a laptop and it works fine....am I missing something?

[EyezOnRich]

It looks like our attempts at a work-around aren't going to be successful either.

Unfortunately Apple (who I'm normally a big fan of) really gaffed this time. Safari is quite broken on IOS6. It seems they have implemented a caching scheme that has killed half the web-services on the internet on the iPhone. The web is full of complaints about it.

In my mind I was wondering if they flew in someone from Microsoft to "help" them with the web browser.

I assume they will fix it... just soon I hope.

In the meantime (and while I hate to do this) all we can do is recommend that people use another browser app on their iPhone or iPad.

I have tested most of the alternatives (which are all free to download from iTunes) and Google Chrome seems to be the best choice. It is fast and keeps true to the formatting.

Again, we will stay on this issue and hopefully Apple will release an update soon. I do prefer to use Safari when it works.

[kevin]

Google Chrome seems to be the best choice

I have avoided Chrome because of all of the discussion of Google harvesting information about users. I guess I'll have to check it out now....

[kevin]

It seems they have implemented a caching scheme that has killed half the web-services on the internet on the iPhone. The web is full of complaints about it.

I'm no coder but this thread (and the two links at the beginning) seems to suggest a few ways to prevent Safari from caching stuff.

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgr ... WkgCXLi8tA

If this was part of the workaround you tried but it's not working, then I guess we'll have to keep looking for a workaround while people file their bug reports with Apple.

Here's a less-technical explanation of the main points:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/de ... e-caching/