Is a mixed use of Eye-Fi iOS app and ShutterSnitch possible

[Wim.Koornneef]

I wonder if a a mixed use of Eye-Fi iOS app and ShutterSnitch on iPad is possible.
The Eye-Fi iOS app is working fine but when I switch to ShutterSnitch I get a message from the app "Error - Unable to start the Eye-Fi server"

Wim

[berend]

I wonder if a a mixed use of Eye-Fi iOS app and ShutterSnitch on iPad is possible. The Eye-Fi iOS app is working fine but when I switch to ShutterSnitch I get a message from the app "Error - Unable to start the Eye-Fi server"

No. Both apps would try to use the same TCP port for receiving media from the Eye-Fi Card and the one that was started first would block the other one from starting (or working correctly).

Berend

[TheBrew]

At the moment the only way is to "pull the plug" on the other app. Double-click the home button, tap and hold any icon, and press the red minus-button on both the Eye-Fi app and ShutterSnitch. Press the home button again and then start the one you want to use.

@ berend : do you think you could ask the developer on the Eye-Fi app to contact me? I may have a way we could gracefully handle this without troubling the user

[Wim.Koornneef]

Thank you, Berend and TheBrew for your answers.
Berend in case you don't know it, TheBrew is the developer of ShutterSnitch....

Wim

[berend]

@ berend : do you think you could ask the developer on the Eye-Fi app to contact me? I may have a way we could gracefully handle this without troubling the user

That would be me, at least for the Eye-Fi Card receiver portion, so feel more than free to PM me. I'll warn you a priori, though, that we don't intend to give up the TCP port when we're switched to the background, as our app is perfectly capable of receiving content from Eye-Fi Cards while it's running in the background (for as long as iOS allows it to run).

Berend

[TheBrew]

I'll warn you a priori, though, that we don't intend to give up the TCP port when we're switched to the background, as our app is perfectly capable of receiving content from Eye-Fi Cards while it's running in the background (for as long as iOS allows it to run).

I don't see how is this good for the end-user? And yes, that was my idea, to have the apps request the other to give up the server role.

[MikeV]

I'll warn you a priori, though, that we don't intend to give up the TCP port when we're switched to the background, as our app is perfectly capable of receiving content from Eye-Fi Cards while it's running in the background (for as long as iOS allows it to run).

I don't see how is this good for the end-user? And yes, that was my idea, to have the apps request the other to give up the server role.

How about Shuttersnitch checking for the Eye-Fi app process, and if it finds it, warn the user that the Eye-Fi app is still running and that Shuttersnitch won't be able to receive pictures from the card while the Eye-Fi app is running in the background?

[mackmgg]

I'll warn you a priori, though, that we don't intend to give up the TCP port when we're switched to the background, as our app is perfectly capable of receiving content from Eye-Fi Cards while it's running in the background (for as long as iOS allows it to run).

I don't see how is this good for the end-user? And yes, that was my idea, to have the apps request the other to give up the server role.

How about Shuttersnitch checking for the Eye-Fi app process, and if it finds it, warn the user that the Eye-Fi app is still running and that Shuttersnitch won't be able to receive pictures from the card while the Eye-Fi app is running in the background?

Or just assuming that if the port is in use, it's the Eye-Fi app. If it runs into an error, tell the user that the Eye-Fi app is running and they need to quit it

[berend]

I'll warn you a priori, though, that we don't intend to give up the TCP port when we're switched to the background, as our app is perfectly capable of receiving content from Eye-Fi Cards while it's running in the background (for as long as iOS allows it to run).

I don't see how is this good for the end-user? And yes, that was my idea, to have the apps request the other to give up the server role.

I don't have the time to recompose everything I said in the PM I sent to you (I didn't even realize you had posted to the thread, too, until after I sent the PM), so please forgive me for posting the body of the PM here:

we don't intend to give up the TCP port when we're switched to the background, as our app is perfectly capable of receiving content from Eye-Fi Cards while it's running in the background (for as long as iOS allows it to run).

Is this the company policy? No hard feelings from me, business is business, but I just don't see how this will benefit anyone?

I'm not sure what you mean by "company policy," but if the implication is that what I've said is an underhanded way to shut out other apps, then I'm sorry you misunderstood what I said, but you couldn't be further from the truth. There were a number of other things that would have been possible if we wanted to break compatibility with 3rd-party apps that are using a non-formally-specified reverse-engineered version of our protocol (usually implemented only partially), but we obviously did not do that.

What I said was simply what it said: if the mechanism you'd like to suggest is to rely on the existing mechanisms in iOS to detect when the user switches away from the app and giving up the TCP port, then the answer is no, we can't do that because we consider it a design feature of the app to be able to receive media when it's not in the foreground. I'm also skeptical that a meaningful usage model exists for both apps to be used "simultaneously" because each app would need to know the upload key, and if the app is properly designed, then as soon as the one app gets the key, the other one would have to give it up. I haven't assessed it fully, but unless I'm mistaken, ShutterSnitch does not implement this portion of our system that has it realize when a destination other than itself has been elected as the destination of a card by the user.

My idea was to basically just send the service on the specific port a request to shut down.

Through what mechanism? An IPC mechanism among the apps within iOS or via the TCP port? If via the TCP port, then I have reservations. Not only does it not belong really to the definition of our card transfer and configuration protocol, the "request" to shut down the service would need to be authenticated in some manner (lest people start connecting to the port and ordering random people's apps to shut down). Can you think of an IPC mechanism that would work here?

Come to think of it, the situation is far more complex under iOS because there's no guarantee that the other app is running, even if it has the TCP port held (i.e. it may have reached the end of its 10-minute background allowance and been suspended by the OS).

I think ShutterSnitch is a perfectly-capable app that offers a number of features that our app doesn't, so folks will keep buying it and using it. I am, however, really having a hard time understanding the co-existence need or scenario, in trying to assess the ROI of the work that may be required to pull it off.

I think some of the suggestions in this thread about both of our apps explicitly asking the user to quit any other "Eye-Fi receiver" apps they may have running if the TCP port is taken is a good one, but don't overlook the meta point in my PM. When the apps are designed properly, as our protocol stands today, an Eye-Fi Card can only be paired with one app at a time. This is the mechanism by which your Mac or PC stops receiving content from the card when you pair it with an iPhone or iPad, so the question of "is meaningful co-existence (on the same device) possible?" still remains.

Berend

[motoed]

At the moment the only way is to "pull the plug" on the other app. Double-click the home button, tap and hold any icon, and press the red minus-button on both the Eye-Fi app and ShutterSnitch. Press the home button again and then start the one you want to use.

@ berend : do you think you could ask the developer on the Eye-Fi app to contact me? I may have a way we could gracefully handle this without troubling the user

I can't get this to work... when I double click home, I got to the iPod application. If I go to the "home screen" and tap and hold any icon, I don't get a red minus button. Just a gray/black X to completely remove the app. (using iPhone 3G, not sure if this is an iPad or iPodTouch/ iPhone 4 feature.)

[berend]

I can't get this to work... when I double click home, I got to the iPod application. If I go to the "home screen" and tap and hold any icon, I don't get a red minus button. Just a gray/black X to completely remove the app. (using iPhone 3G, not sure if this is an iPad or iPodTouch/ iPhone 4 feature.)

Correct. Background applications are available only on devices running the full version of iOS 4. iPhone 3G runs a cut-down version of iOS 4 that does not permit background applications at all due to hardware limitations. The double-tap of the home button to see the list of backgrounded apps is therefore not available on the iPhone 3G.

Berend

[aryalan]

Your comments are rather interesting and useful for me. I could find the solution to my problem.Thanks for sharing it.

[LordThanos]

No. Both apps would try to use the same TCP port for receiving media from the Eye-Fi Card and the one that was started first would block the other one from starting (or working correctly).

Aha! That answers my question. So, should I just choose one program over the other and leave it at that? Any reason to use both programs?

[jsun]

Aha! That answers my question. So, should I just choose one program over the other and leave it at that? Any reason to use both programs?

Yes, choose whichever one you prefer and make sure the other is not running.

If you want your media files saved to the iOS camera roll automatically so any app can access them, use the Eye-Fi app. If you don't need that, some users prefer ShutterSnitch for its unique features. We're not able to offer any official support if you have trouble uploading to ShutterSnitch, but hopefully it will work fine for you.