Imported conversations have incorrect timestamps #146
Description
Checklist
- I can reproduce the bug with the latest version given here.
- I made sure that there are no existing issues - open or closed - to which I could contribute my information.
- I made sure that there are no existing discussions - open or closed - to which I could contribute my information.
- I have read the FAQs inside the app (Menu -> About -> FAQs) and my problem isn't listed.
- I have taken the time to fill in all the required details. I understand that the bug report will be dismissed otherwise.
- This issue contains only one bug.
- I have read and understood the contribution guidelines.
Affected app version
1.0.1
Affected Android/Custom ROM version
Android 8.1, Android 14
Affected device model
Moto G5 Plus, emulator
How did you install the app?
Built from source
Steps to reproduce the bug
Import messages from a .json backup (Settings > Import messages). Sample file:
[
{"subscriptionId":1,"address":"6505551","body":"Message 1","date":1704067200000,"dateSent":0,"locked":0,"protocol":null,"read":1,"status":-1,"type":1,"serviceCenter":null,"backupType":"sms"}
,{"subscriptionId":1,"address":"6505552","body":"Message 2","date":1704070800000,"dateSent":0,"locked":0,"protocol":null,"read":1,"status":-1,"type":2,"serviceCenter":null,"backupType":"sms"}
,{"subscriptionId":1,"address":"6505553","body":"Message 3","date":1704074400000,"dateSent":0,"locked":0,"protocol":null,"read":1,"status":-1,"type":1,"serviceCenter":null,"backupType":"sms"}
](This has three conversations with messages dated 1 Jan 2024.)
Expected behavior
In the main view, the conversations should be sorted by the time of the last message as usual, with the most recent at the top (in the sample file, the most recent is "Message 3"), and the dates shown on the conversations should be correct (for the sample file, they should all be 1 January).
Actual behavior
The timestamps of the conversations are set to the time of the import rather than the time of the last message in the conversation, so the conversations appear in a random order.
Screenshots/Screen recordings
See #88 (comment)
Analysis and workarounds
This is a bug in Android, see Stack Overflow. The suggested workaround is to insert a dummy message and then delete it, because that causes the conversation's date to be recalculated.
One of the answers uses getContentResolver().delete(Uri.parse("content://sms/conversations/-1"), null, null);, which works on Android 8.1, however it fails on Android 14 with
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Unknown URL
at com.android.providers.telephony.SmsProvider.delete(SmsProvider.java:1138)
at android.content.ContentProvider.delete(ContentProvider.java:1995)
at android.content.ContentProvider$Transport.delete(ContentProvider.java:546)
at android.content.ContentProviderNative.onTransact(ContentProviderNative.java:227)
at android.os.Binder.execTransactInternal(Binder.java:1339)
at android.os.Binder.execTransact(Binder.java:1275)
Looking at the Android source, I think we'd have to actually insert a dummy message. One idea is to insert & delete a dummy message in each conversation. But it might be possible to update all the conversations using a single dummy message -- see the SMS_ALL branch. I'm still investigating.
Update: I found a workaround (comment, rough commit), turns out there is another way to update threads and the app's code already made use of it, but it had a bug that needed to be fixed. I need to do some more work on my patch (make it faster and document it), then I'll open a PR.
Credit
Issue originally reported by @abcd1234-dot in #88 (comment)