Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Old discussions related to the Android/mobile version of Pale Moon.
Hanell

Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by Hanell » 2019-09-03, 10:46

Been using Pale Moon on my Note 8 earlier which was running Android 7.0 Nougat. Today that I updated to Android 8.0 Oreo it only loads a white blank screen and automatically closes itself after few seconds. Anyone else encountering same issue? How do I fix it?

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Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by Moonchild » 2019-09-03, 10:52

You can "fix" it by no longer using Pale Moon. It's been a long time since the last version was released and use of it is not to be considered safe because it hasn't had any of the security issues addressed that have surfaced since its last publication.
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Hanell

Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by Hanell » 2019-09-04, 08:26

Ohh ok, thanks for the answer.

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Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by moonbat » 2019-09-04, 09:57

Off-topic:
Right now your best bet for an Android browser that supports extensions is Kiwi Browser - a Chromium fork that supports desktop Chrome extensions unlike the regular Chrom(e|ium) for Android, and has a few additional features (automatically not using AMP pages where possible, for example). I have it just so I can use uBlock Origin.
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Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by Trapper » 2019-09-04, 22:46

Another android option that almost nobody is aware of is Block This 3.0
It's not in the Playstore... Google threw him out years ago... so he setup his own website.

I guess it's similar in concept to uBlock Origin in what it does, but it works by blocking DNS requests. Root access is NOT needed. A huge advantage is that it can be used with ANY android browser.
Block This 3.0 is a FREE and Open Source ad blocker for Android that works in all apps and browsers! It provides the additional benefits of malware protection, increased browsing speed and reduction of mobile data traffic.
More info here:
https://block-this.com/

I've used this for years & years and have no complaints.

CharmCityCrab

Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by CharmCityCrab » 2019-09-04, 23:06

moonbat wrote:
2019-09-04, 09:57
Off-topic:
Right now your best bet for an Android browser that supports extensions is Kiwi Browser - a Chromium fork that supports desktop Chrome extensions unlike the regular Chrom(e|ium) for Android, and has a few additional features (automatically not using AMP pages where possible, for example). I have it just so I can use uBlock Origin.
Off-topic:
Or Firefox for Android, which also has extensions, including uBlock Origin, and is not Chromium based.

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Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by moonbat » 2019-09-05, 05:19

CharmCityCrab wrote:
2019-09-04, 23:06
Off-topic:
Or Firefox for Android, which also has extensions, including uBlock Origin, and is not Chromium based.
Heh, totally forgot about that. I wonder if it would be possible to make an Android client for Palemoon sync. Syncing bookmarks is what I miss, and the old PM for Android won't work with sync anymore.
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CharmCityCrab

Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by CharmCityCrab » 2019-09-05, 06:00

moonbat wrote:
2019-09-05, 05:19
CharmCityCrab wrote:
2019-09-04, 23:06
Off-topic:
Or Firefox for Android, which also has extensions, including uBlock Origin, and is not Chromium based.
Heh, totally forgot about that. I wonder if it would be possible to make an Android client for Palemoon sync. Syncing bookmarks is what I miss, and the old PM for Android won't work with sync anymore.
I think the initial obsctacles to that would be firstly that Pale Moon for desktop's sync is based off a pretty old version of Firefox's sync (Which isn't to say that its better or worse- just different) whereas of course Firefox for Android is using the current Firefox sync. Its been implied that at this point, there's not much in common between the two.

The other issue one might run into is that of course if you're syncing using the cloud (Which is basically what these sync services do), its got to run on somebody's server, and I would suspect that there would be some reluctance on both the part of Moonchild Productions and Mozilla to host a FFA to PM and back sync service on either organization's servers.

So, it would seem like step one would be getting software onto both browsers to sync that isn't part of either of their default built-in sync systems. Off the top of my head, it seems like one way to do it would be to create browser extensions (just like an ad-blocker or something, but in this case for your specialized sync scenario) for both Pale Moon for desktop and Firefox for Android, which are now two separate types of extensions, so they really would require someone to do it twice versus just making minor alterations to one and reuse them on tue other, to serve the purpose of a sync system but that don't tie into either browser's native sync systems.

Then, you'd want to figure out what the most basic data you need to have those extensions transmit back and back forth would be and how to do it. For example, maybe they could each run a task that executes commands to "Export bookmarks as HTML" and "Upload to server" once an hour while the browser is open. Then, you'd have a it execute a command to check the server for the most recent upload from your account to automatically download and apply upon browser startup (Both browsers).

You'd of course need a server or use of a server, and you'd probably want some sort of end to end encryption so you're not constantly sending people's bookmarks in the clear between browsers, or storing them in readable format on your server.

The Pale Moon folks have already said they aren't going to do it, and I think its safe to assume the Firefox folks won't either, but a third-party developer could conceiveably just to do it- anyone with the inclination and technological abilities is allowed to create and maintain extensions on both platforms- unless you'd need an API that they don't allow extensions to use in order read and write to the bookmarks folder.

I personally like to keep my phone and PC bookmarks separate, but I can see why sync would be something people would want.

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Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by moonbat » 2019-09-05, 06:21

CharmCityCrab wrote:
2019-09-05, 06:00

I think the initial obsctacles to that would be firstly that Pale Moon for desktop's sync is based off a pretty old version of Firefox's sync (Which isn't to say that its better or worse- just different) whereas of course Firefox for Android is using the current Firefox sync. Its been implied that at this point, there's not much in common between the two.
The main difference being that the encryption key for the older one (used now by PM) is generated locally within the browser, not stored anywhere on the server, and is thus more secure.
CharmCityCrab wrote:
2019-09-05, 06:00
I personally like to keep my phone and PC bookmarks separate, but I can see why sync would be something people would want.
I just want to be able to send the tab I'm currently reading on one device to the other one. There's an extension that does that between devices in one's sync account, I just wish I could connect my Android to it as well, to send a link from desktop to mobile and vice versa.
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CharmCityCrab

Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by CharmCityCrab » 2019-09-05, 08:20

moonbat wrote: I just want to be able to send the tab I'm currently reading on one device to the other one.
Something like Google Keep (There are a lot of similar services out there that are also cost free, that's just the one I thought of first) might work for that. You'd have to copy and paste the URL of the tab you want to send over onto either the service's app or the service's website on the device you're using first and then click on it with the device that's receiving, and presumably later delete the note, so its a bit more work than the type of functionality you're looking for, but some might find it an option worth considering for the time being.

I guess one could even open a text file with URLs on a cloud storage service like Dropbox, although then you wouldn't automatically have it translated into a clickable hyperlink on the device one is "sending to" and would require a second iteration of copy and paste- once on each device- instead of only on the "sending from" device.

I don't think the exact functionality you are looking for as you describe it is going to be possible unless someone creates it, though. Really, its a competive disadvantage for a browser not to be on both desktop and mobile in 2019, in part for the reasons we're talking about. It doesn't bother me, because that's not my usual use case, I like a bit of device separation, but a lot of people understandably want to or expect to be able to seeminglessly move from one device to another with each device's browser sharing the other's bookmarks, history, settings, recent tabs, etc.. I think Chrome, Firefox, and Edge all have that functionality now- Safari probably does too, but with Safari it probably, as per usual with Apple, only works if you have all Apple devices.

I could see a case for some sort of open standard for the format synced information should be stored and sent in, with browsers on all platforms adhering to it and jointly funding servers and making sure their browsers support the standard- so you could sync whatever desktop browser with whatever mobile browser you want, but the big browser companies don't seem to be showing any inclination toward going in that direction. I could see something like that being a logical outgrowth or side project of UXP for or from the browsers based on it, but so far there *are* no Android browsers based on it, so its a moot point.

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Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by vannilla » 2019-09-05, 08:34

There's no need to use Firefox Accounts to sync content between Pale Moon and a hypotetical mobile browser. The existing sync infrastructure can be used just fine without issues.
It's just that no one wrote a mobile implementation of the Weave protocol used by Pale Moon yet.
If that were to exists, "Pale Moon Sync-compatible" applications can sync data using the server provided by Moonchild (with permission of course) or something else.

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Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by Moonchild » 2019-09-05, 10:18

CharmCityCrab wrote:
2019-09-05, 08:20
I could see a case for some sort of open standard for the format synced information should be stored and sent in
Maybe you don't realize it but Pale Moon's sync client uses an open standard: Google Weave (from a time when Google was actually privacy conscious and was not doing the evil it's doing today). All it takes is for a mobile application to implement the Sync 1.1/Weave protocol to standard and it should work just fine. Yes, that means a Blink or Web View based browser (for Android) or Webkit-based browser (for iPhone) could Sync with Pale Moon, if only a weave client were to be written for it.

Providing a Pale Moon browser on Android is a completely different task than providing one on desktop. The entire application code is separate, for one. Android also has completely different constraints regarding files/application data access than desktop operating systems. Not to mention the fast-moving target the Android O.S. itself is with constantly changing requirements, APIs and rules, that won't allow easy maintenance of a custom browser engine on it.
In short: it'd be a completely separate project to publish something like that, which we simply can't provide.
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Re: Error with Pale Moon on Android 8.0

Unread post by Isengrim » 2019-09-05, 10:23

moonbat wrote:
2019-09-05, 05:19
I wonder if it would be possible to make an Android client for Palemoon sync. Syncing bookmarks is what I miss, and the old PM for Android won't work with sync anymore.
Off-topic:
Doable, certainly. You could write an Android client for PM Sync relatively easily. The challenging part would be importing that data into another mobile browser, because every browser stores its data differently.
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