Conversations: [MUC] reconnect is not working

[sokai]

Hi! – Today I investigated a little mystery (for me), that exists for a while …

Mystery
If I stay in a MUC/chat-room and the server (for the domain where the MUC is running) becomes n/a (for example becaus the sever restarts) I will never automatically reconnected to the MUC. I only have the option to leave the MUC.

Expectations/Wish
I wish that Conversations polls the MUC-server for (re-)availability (after the mostly very short off-time, caused by the restart).
_Or:_ Conversations gives me the option to retry to connect (instead only offering the leaving).

As far as I got the information from the Prosody help chat there are no specifications for MUCs in XMPP, where a standardised reconnect behaviour is defined. So the client has to poll the MUC server to get information about the (re-)availability of a MUC.

Thanks and best regards!

[sokai]

Thanks @iNPUTmice for making a first step (with commit a3e1141) for fixing this issue! :-)
But may it possible automatically retrying to connect to the muc instead of showing an error message? (I think it would be more comfortable...) _thx_

[vanitasvitae]

I encounter the exact same issue (I guess). Sometimes I wonder, why MUC messages appear on my desktop client, but not in conversations. If I reconnect to my account from "Manage Accounts", the messages do arrive. It would be nice if Conversations reconnects automatically. Sometimes even the status indicator is green when in fact the chat is not connected, which is really annoying.

[sokai]

@iNPUTmice: May there any updates to this _problem_? (I'm sry if I annoy you …!)

[stevenroose]

Seems like this could have a quite easy fix. I think simply doing an exponential backoff'ed retry for all disconnected MUCs would be sufficient..

[licaon-kter]

Yes please, something. Sometimes even a short connection interruption breaks them, 1:1 are ok, buc MUCs stay disconnected.

[stevenroose]

XEP-0410 seems like it's targeted to fix this: https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0410.html

[sokai]

Thanks @stevenroose!
I enabled the Prosody module "muc_ping" on my server but that doesn't solve my issue. – Has XEP-0410 become implemented at the client (= in Conversations)?

[contrapunctus-1]

Bump? This is causing issues for all fledgeling XMPP communities - users get disconnected, effectively getting silently dropped out of the chat. Non-geek users don't even know something has happened, let alone what or how to fix it.

[licaon-kter]

I keep seeing these too (even made https://github.com/siacs/Conversations/issues/3397 to explain)

[sbrl]

I've got a device with a reconnect issue, and it's not limited to reconnecting to MUCs - its the main connection to the server.

1. Ensure conversations is connected & the persistent notification is active
2. Close conversations, and note that the notification shows that it's still connected
3. Switch from WiFi to mobile data or vice versa
4. See that conversations is now disconnected via the notification
5. Notice that conversations won't reconnect again until you open the app itself again

Would this be a new issue, or related to this one?

Ping @licaon-kter

[licaon-kter]

@sbrl Device? Android version? App source? Version 2.5.3? Battery optimizations ignored?

[iNPUTmice]

@sbrl this has nothing to do with the issue at hand. This issue is specifically about MUC. I encourage you to ask in the Conversations channel. This is most likely a device issue instead of a Conversations issue. (In that there is nothing Conversations could do about it.) Or you are just too impatient. After switching networks it might take a moment for the reconnect to happen.

As an update to this issue. This is nothing Conversations can fix on it's own. On the contrary this issue could even be solved completely on the server side which is what Prosody currently attempts to do (since 0.11). However e467fe341e6f10566a6aee42cc582573ce2d7cbb implements another approach (not the one the Prosody is doing) that might be a bit less resource consuming for the server but also requires server support which currently no server has.

[sbrl]

Ah, I see @iNPUTmice. Not sure what you mean by "the conversations channel". Is that a MUC?

@licaon-kter Ah, yes. I was in such a hurry to ask about the issue that I forgot essential details :P

The device isn't actually mine, but it belongs to a family member.

• Battery optimisations are disabled for Conversations
• Keep WiFi on during sleep is turned on
• Device model: Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) (SM-J510FN)
• Android Version: 7.1.1

I guess I should open a new issue?

[licaon-kter]

@sbrl yes muc xmpp:[email protected]?join

Where is the app from? If F-Droid is expert settings->Foreground service on?

[sbrl]

@licaon-kter: Ah, I see. I can certainly join that chat when I get a moment.

It's the official paid-for version from the Google Play Store, and the persistent notification ("keep service in foreground") is enabled.

[stale[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[licaon-kter]

I actually disconnect before a restart, then reconnect hours later. Else rooms get stuck and multiple swipe offs and rejoins don't help. :(