New: Covenant Eyes for the iPad (plus some updates to the iPhone app)
Our iPhone browser is now a Universal app that can run on the iPhone, the iPod touch, and now the iPad: one version that runs on any of these devices.
Thousands of people have been using our app since it came out. This update will improve or fix a number of features for it:
- Saving bookmarks – You can now save your bookmarks like normal. For those who have an iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, or a fourth-generation iPod touch, this may have been a problem for you before. No longer!
- iPad size – The app now runs at full size on the iPad and it will be compatible with any new screen sizes that might be released in the future.
- Improved tabbed browsing – As you swipe through your open tabs, pages move in a much smoother fashion than before.
- Improved landscape view – Some screens had a problem resizing to fit the landscape mode. That has been fixed in this update.
We are actively exploring ways to improve this app even more. Thanks to all our members who have helped us with their comments.
49 Responses to New: Covenant Eyes for the iPad (plus some updates to the iPhone app)
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Thank you for this update! I’ve been using Covenant Eyes on the iPhone since 1.0, and this update fixed several issues – the Google search box in the corner now works, the keyboard doesn’t appear each time you start, etc. Thank you!
I do want to report one new issue with this latest update that was not an issue before. In version 1.0 I never had a problem with the browser crashing, however this version does crash occasionally.
There are a handful of ‘wish list’ items that didn’t make it into this release that to me would make it perfect – (a) There’s currently no way to move an existing bookmark into a folder – you have to move it into the folder when you create the bookmark, (b) Deleting history can only be done one item at a time rather than clearing all history at once, (c) Every so often I get an ‘incorrect username and password’ prompt when logging on, even though I’m connected to the Internet.
Once again I appreciate this app so much! Thank you again.
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@Tim – Thanks for your comment! We are aware of some of these issues already and we’ll continue to make improvements to the app.
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It has been crashing all the time. Every single time I open it it freezes… Is this a problem that is common?
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@Jacob – No, I don’t believe this is a common issue. Perhaps our Customer Service Reps could help you out. Call 877.479.1119. We might be able to get this fixed for you.
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I have a new ipad2 running the latest iOS and ce freezes immediately upon launch, every time…. Waiting for an update…. Thanks!
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It is common for me. I constantly lose access to this app after many deletes and downloads because the app will crash and then not let me back in with out crashing. So very frustrating as this is my only browser on my iphone and ipad and I can not quickly delete the app and re install to use again as my devices are under parental control restrictions through my wife to keep me from having free reign to the app store. Please fix this app for the ipad!
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Thank you for this update! This was a very nice improvement to the iPhone app that fixed several issues with the previous version. It’s possible to save bookmarks again, the browser normally opens to the page last visited, and the keyboard is no longer an issue. The new tab handling is also much improved.
There is one issue since v1.0 that remains unresolved, and that is when logging in, there will occasionally be an authentication error even though credentials have not been changed. Usually this only happens once and then the program will authenticate correctly again. Sometimes though, the program seems to get in an “authentication error loop” where credentials need to be re-entered for the program to authenticate correctly – again, this will occur even though the credentials have not been changed.
This update also introduced a new error where the program will inexplicably crash for no apparent reason (I have yet to find a pattern for this). Sometimes it will only crash once and then resume normal behavior, but often, just like the authentication issue, the browser seems to get in an “endless crash loop” where every time you attempt to navigate to a site after starting the program, the browser will crash. This occurs even after shutting down and restarting the phone. (This would seem to be similar to Jacob’s issue above.) The only solution I have found when this happens is to delete and then reinstall the program. This would normally be a hassle, but is even moreso because I have “Installing Apps” disabled through iPhone Restrictions to avoid the temptation of downloading apps that would allow me to view sinful material unmonitored. I have to have my accountability partner unlock my phone for me every time I need to reinstall the CE app.
For what it’s worth I’m running iOS 4.1 on a 32GB iPhone 3GS. Crashing apps is a known issue with iOS 4.x on older iPhones, but the amount of crashing that I experience with the new CE app is excessive and far beyond what I experience with the other 80+ apps on my phone. I also have not experienced the “endless crash loop” issue with any other app.
As far as “wish list” items, I agree with both of TIm’s:
-As Tim pointed out, it would be nice to have the ability to rearrange bookmarks without having to delete and recreate them.
-It’d be nice to be able to delete all history all at once rather than one at a time.
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Dear Mark,
I haven’t upgraded to the new CE app yet. With the previous version I found I could cure the app from it’s endless crash loop by powering off my iPod touch 4g device. Have you tried this?
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Hi Peter,
Unfortunately, in my experience, the endless crash loop will resume even after rebooting the phone. If my iPhone is 100% totally frozen by the CE crash, I can reset it, but whether or not I do this… If my phone is experiencing the crash loop and I turn my phone off and then back on and try to run CE without uninstalling CE and reinstalling it first, the app will just crash again as soon as I try to point it at a URL.
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@Mark – Does the crash loop stop after you uninstall and reinstall CE then?
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@Luke
Yes it does. At least temporarily. It generally only takes a few days before the crash loop will start again though, and then I’ll have to uninstall and reinstall again.
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Hello,
Just want to add my comment to what others are saying, including the numerous reviews since the recent update. I have an iPhone 4 and the new update continuously freezes up. I’ve re-installed (and lost bookmarks) and it worked a few times and then started freezing up again. It seems to me that this is clearly an app update issue. I sure hope you are able to fix this soon. I love CE! Our family has CE installed on all computers and phones and, as a pastor, I promote its use in our congregation. Please fix soon!! Thanks.
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@Todd – Thanks, I’m having our product development team look at the problem.
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I agree with some of the above comments. My CE app freezes every time I open it now, whenever I click a link or type URL. I can close the app, stop it from the multitasking bar then reopen it, none of this fixes the problem. I’ve been forced to use Safari and I feel rather nervous about that. A fix would be super appreciated.
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It seems like it’s an iPhone 4 issue from the comments… I guess I’m not the only one. It’s really frustrating because I don’t have an app store or safari, so CE is all I have, but it doesn’t work at all. Like, other people said if I uninstall and reinstall (after getting the password from my friend) it works for about half a day.
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I just started experiencing the “crash loop”, and came to the CE website to see what info was available. I’ve got a 3GS running iOS4.1. I too only have CE available on the phone and have set up it up according the recommended settings, so this is incredibly frustrating. I guess I’ll start with an uninstall/reinstall, but it sounds like this is only temporary. I hope this gets corrected soon!
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For the record, if this helps with troubleshooting, I have a 3GS that is NOT upgraded to 4.x. I experience an occasional, infrequent crash, but nothing like the crash loop that all of the iOS 4.x users are mentioning. It is true that I don’t believe I ever experienced a crash in ce 1.x. I do experience the occasional prompt for credentials, however this issue is the same as it was in 1.x for me. Closing and reopening almost always works for me in that situation.
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My iPad crashes continually. Thanks for a version that fits the iPad screen.
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I used the new CE app with my iPod Touch 4g for a week or so with only occasional crashes.
But now it is basically frozen up and will not move from one website to another.
I prefer not to re-load the app because this leads to the temptation to restore the iPod’s to it’s original settings.
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@Peter – Have you called our customer support team? They might be able to suggest something: 877.479.1119.
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iPhone version of the app crashes continually as well. 100% of the time now that I try to pull up a web page (no matter how, even your own button linking to your support page).
Every workaround has failed. Just called customer support and informed them, though there was no solution.
Please help fix this :)
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Does anyone have a recommendation for a good PDF reader for iOS-4 that does NOT have a built in browser?
Thanks
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The Apabi Reader is a Chinese pdf reader app that works pretty well, and, as far as I know, does not have a built in browser. Hope this helps!
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i have the iphone 3gs and the CE browser app crashes daily, customer support is no help, and asking my wife to continually unlock the app store to re-download it is frustrating for both of us.
Can you re-release the old version while you fix the current one? I’d rather have the old problems like the keyboard issue and having to type my user id and password each time than no browser at all!
thanks.
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@Tom – We are getting ready to release some more updates to fix the bugs.
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The root of the issue is in the iOS 4 upgrade by Apple that supported multitasking, but it didn’t appear in our app until the latest upgrade. Unfortunately, this minor change was also the tipping point in a house of cards. Before multitasking existed, when someone closed the app it freed the memory from it. Now with multitasking, closing the app doesn’t free memory, it just suspends the app. Then, when you re-open, it starts where it left off, and the amount of memory it’s using picks up from the last time. Within a few days usually, the app gets to the point where it chokes on memory and dies.
The iPhone crashing issue is the #1 priority for our iPhone developers and we are close to releasing a new fix.
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@Jeff I use iBooks as my PDF viewer or my Kindle app. Use Google to search on the best way to do that.
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Quick question. Can you add a feature that allows me to send the link as an email or copy the URL to clipboard at least? I know I can try to click up above to copy but a option in the Bookmark button would be nice.
Also is Apple going to allow people to configure a different app than Safari as the default browser so link from email for example work?
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@Kevin – The ability to send a link as an email is a feature we’ve been asked to create before. This is currently on our backlog of things to create. A button to copy the url to clipboard is a good idea and we’ve seen browsers implement this rather well on the iPhone. Thanks for the idea!
Sadly, there is no news from Apple about setting a different default browser on the device. That is one of those thing that we don’t expect to happen any time soon. If it ever does, we suspect we won’t really have any advance notice about it. It’s something they would either announce at an iOS announcement or maybe even not announce it at all and just have it show up in the iOS after an upgrade. There isn’t a lot of transparency from Apple with regard to timelines for new features in iOS or even with regard to what new features are planned or being worked on. Even as iOS developers, we find out things at the same time as the public. We may get to play with advance versions before they do, but we don’t learn the new features any earlier.
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Luke,
Can you give us an update? I have a 3gs and am holding off on upgrading to the 4.x software only because of the ce issues on 4.x discussed in this thread. Have you guys had any luck with patching the issue?
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@Tim – We have have made a lot of progress and it’s in late stage testing internally and with a beta group.
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Looks like the new version is available. How are all the iPhone 4 users faring now?
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@Tim – We released the new version on December 15. So far, no news is good news. We’ve not received any complaints.
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All you have to do is read the reviews on the app page. They are horrendous. This is just the worst app ever – and has been for a long time. It lacks many features which are standard on modern browsers, is slow when it works and crashes /freezes constantly. Always have to do the delete/reinstall shuffle. About to just give up and keep Safari on. This app, as is, is unusable.
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@Todd – Yes, we’ve seen the reviews. Which is one of the reasons we are currently looking into possible solutions. Have any of the recent updates helped?
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I have just got and ipod touch 4th gen. I put covenant eyes on immediately as I have trusted this software on my PC for some time, and got my accountability partner to set a password and restrictions for safari as advised on your website. The covenant eyes web browser worked very well for the last two days and I was happy with this setup but now the covenant eyes app is frozen in an “Authentificating…” mode and I have no internet access. I only installed this 2 days ago 3/3/11. What should I do to get past this problem?
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@John_p – Sounds like something we should troubleshoot with you. Please give our customer account reps a call: 877.479.1119.
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Are you guys still working on an update to correct the continual and frustrating freeze-up problems? I don’t want to give up on it but I am in need of internet access and it does prove to be a problem. Let me know when the next update is available. From the looks of the comments a lot of people have been waiting a long time. Include me in their number.
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@Doug – We will be updating the app today. Be on the lookout for the newest version of the app.
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Hello everyone. Just a quick notice: We have made some upgrades to our iPhone app today. Check out version version 1.4.6 in the app store.
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Am running latest iOS on iPad2 with ce 1.4.6 and it freezes upon every launch…
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@Jonathan – Try uninstalling the app completely and reinstalling from the app store. Have you tried this?
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I have an iPad with CE as the only browser. Is there any way to open a pdf file into GoodReader. The Safari browser has a button that you can click that gives you an option of where you would like the pdf file to open. This option allows me to save the PDF into GoodReader where I can read the article, file it into the correct folder for later use, and make notes on it or highlight it. Thanks for your help.
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We have the same question. Our kids are using school-issued iPads, and they need to be able to open assignments (provided through Edmodo) and select where a PDF will open. It worked with Safari but does not seem to work with CE. We would like to keep CE on their iPads, but they need to be able to do their homework.
Thanks for your help.
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Yeah. Apple really puts limits on these kind of things. It’s a shame they don’t allow other browsers to be your default.
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I require a web browser that allows a download option. There may be one currently on the browser and i just cant find it. if there is isnt currently then can you please make an update with this in mind.
Thankyou
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So, you want to be able to download something within the browser, correct? Great question. Right now, you are the first person to request this feature, so I’ll make sure it gets to the developers so they can look into this. Thanks for the idea!
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I’ve been a member with Covenant Eyes for quite a few years. My life would have been destroyed by porn but for the grace of God, the fellowship of Christian men, and the tools provided by CE. Well done and thank you to Ron and the whole team.
The iPad browser app is still a sore disappointment. As other commenters have pointed out with numerous examples, it lacks basic features of a modern browser.
Having done some iOS programming myself, I’m familiar with the limitations Apple places on integration with their OS. Additionally, building a full-featured browser is no small task. Even so, other third party browsers (Opera, Chrome, Atomic to name a few) have done a great job and have even taken market share from Safari.
I have an idea that I’d like to share, but I don’t think the comments board is the place to be taken seriously. This idea has in mind the business interests of Covenant Eyes and the needs of this community. Luke, I’d love to discuss with you or Ron via e-mail. I assume you can see my e-mail address. Would you be willing to contact me?
Dan
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Hi Dan,
Thanks for your comment. I understand your frustrations with the browser. We’ve received many suggestions over the years.
I will talk to our Technology team and User Experience team about setting up a time to talk to you!