Issue with Appodeal (reward) video listener + Android home button

Solar2D Monetization (in-app purchases, ads, etc.)
#1

Hello guys,

As stated in the post title, I’m having some issue with Appodeal (reward) video listener behavior on Android

when using the device ‘home’ button.

Basically, everything works fine in classic use cases.
I show a rewarded/interstitial video, wait for the ‘playbackEnded’ or ‘closed’ event in the listener
then proceed with my game core loop.

I also tested pressing the device ‘overview’ button (i.e. the square one) during ad playback
then get back to the game: the ad restart playing as intended, so far so good.

Where things go wrong is when pressing the ‘home’ button while the video ad is playing
(and not skippable yet for the interstitial).
There is 2 ways to get back to the app in this case:

  • pressing the ‘overview’ button and select the game in the list: works fine, ad resume playing

  • pressing the game icon to re-open it: well, here come the issue

When re-opening the game using its icon on the Android homescreen, Appodeal listener receives:

  • ‘playbackEnded’ then ‘closed’ events for a reward video

  • ‘closed’ event for an interstitial video

The ad has disappeared while in the middle of playing (while not skippable in theory),

and I receive the same events as if it finished playing normally (no error or any other event).

Looks like the perfect bypass technique for impatient users if you ask me :stuck_out_tongue:

So I’d like to know if anybody noticed the same behavior on their app ?

Did I miss something or does my app does something it is not supposed to for this use case ?

Thanks in advance for your responses. Hope this will help others who may have the same issue :slight_smile:

Test environment:

  • Corona build 2017.3068

  • Device: Nexus 5 with Android 6.0.1

  • Appodeal: plugin version 1.3 (according to adb log)

If you need more information about my code or my test env, please feel free to ask !

#2

Unfortunately I can’t reproduce the behavior.

For me, after pressing the ‘home’ button while a rewarded ad is playing I get the following behavior:

  • Pressing the ‘overview’ button and selecting the game in the list: works fine, ad resumes playing.
     
  • Pressing the game icon to re-open it: The ad disappears, however no ‘playbackEnded’ or ‘closed’ events are sent. 

 

Corona build 2017.3117

Galaxy S3, Android 4.4.4

Nexus 9, Android 7

Appodeal plugin version 1.3

#3

Hello Ingemar,

Thank you for your quick answer.

I’m glad to hear that’s not standard behavior for Appodeal plugin.

I just tested it again with my secondary device:

  • Nexus 7

  • Android 4.4.4

  • Corona 2017.3068

  • Appodeal 1.3

Unfortunately, I got the same result, the listener receiving;

 Provider: appodeal

 Phase: init

 ----------------------------

 Provider: appodeal

 Phase: loaded

 Type: interstitial

 ----------------------------

 Provider: appodeal

 Phase: loaded

 Type: rewardedVideo

 ----------------------------

 Provider: appodeal

 Phase: playbackBegan

 Type: rewardedVideo

 ----------------------------

 Provider: appodeal

 Phase: loaded

 Type: rewardedVideo

 ----------------------------

***** Pressing home button then app icon

 Provider: appodeal

 Phase: playbackEnded

 Type: rewardedVideo

 Data:

 table: 0x6f5967f8 {

   [name] => “reward”

   [amount] => 0

 }

 ----------------------------

 Provider: appodeal

 Phase: closed

 Type: rewardedVideo

 ----------------------------

The only difference seems to be our Corona version (I’m using latest release version).

I will test with your version and let you know if anything different.

If possible, could you also test with 2017.3068 version on your side to be sure ?

Thanks again !

#4

@GoG

I was able to reproduce the behavior. I was using testMode=true before, however when using live ads I can see the behavior you have reported. I’m not sure what can be done about it though as the Appodeal SDK controls the events given.

I’ll have a look to see if there’s anything that can be done about it.

#5

I’m having the same problems

#6

@ingemar,

Thanks for your support.

Good to know you were able to reproduce the issue on your side.

Looks like on bug on the Appodeal SDK side indeed (I doubt the server would validate a half-viewed ad).

Do you need me to fill a bug report as well ?

Let’s keep in touch on this forum thread so others can check updates as well.

@maximo97,

Thanks for your reporting.

Hope the team from Corona/Appodeal will find the issue and fix it soon.

#7

Hello @ingemar,

Any news from engineering about the bypass issue ?

Did the team managed to track down the bug root cause ?

I was planning to release my app next month but don’t feel comfortable

shipping a game with this kind of loophole, hurting revenues from Appodeal.

Hope to hear from you guys soon

#8

It’s still being investigated.

I’ve involved a few more people from the Appodeal team to see if anything can be done.

#9

Thanks for the update.

Good to know people from Appodeal are investigating this too.

Please let us know when you’ll have a release date for the bug fix.

#10

Hello @ingemar,

Still no news nor release date for this bug fix ?

It’s been one month since the Corona/Appodeal teams acknowledged it’s existence and were able to reproduce it.

I thought such issue would have been labelled as critical and fixed asap

as it hurts revenue for both sides, developers and ad providers alike.

Beside this loophole not being addressed yet, and other problems with memory allocation on Android

(see: https://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/69894-appodeal-and-memory/ )

I’m starting to reconsider using Appodeal as my primary ad provider for my apps.

I understand that finding and fixing a bug can sometimes be tricky.

Still, as product owner of the Appodeal plugin, I was hoping for at least some kind of timetable

from you guys so developers like me could plan our apps releases accordingly.

Hope to hear good news from you soon

#11

I find myself in the same situation as @GoG. 

As I mentioned in the other post if it does not resolve within a short time i will have to abandon appodeal.

These two issues are too important…

#12

I’ve bumped this with the Corona engineering team.

#13

I am experiencing the same problems and if there is not a solution in the short term, I change plung.

The problem with the home key could go away.

But that with the memory is very serious would cause many deletion apps and negative comments.

That’s no good :frowning:

#14

@jake1987.jj and @Sig.g1,

Thanks for your feedback guys.

I agree, theses issues are quite critical indeed.

@ingemar_cl,

Thanks for the bump with the team.

Hope we will hear good news soon.

#15

I am hoping the Appodeal SDK announcement (2.1) today will fix these - how long until this can be confirmed and the plugin ready for a re-build of an app? 

#16

@sonyayllc

It’s live on the build servers. You should be able to try now.

#17

@sonyayllc,

Thanks for the follow up.

@ingemar_cl,

Thanks for the plugin update.

Unfortunately, even after rebuild, the bug is still here.

I just tested and I am still able to bypass video and reward video ads by pressing home button then re-open the app.

Did you had time to re-test it yourself ?

Do you have any news regarding a release date for the fix ?

#18

Even for me the problem persists …

#19

Hello guys please help me out, I am also facing the same problem.

:frowning: :frowning: :frowning:

#20

So here we are, 2 months after the bug report and still no info, no plan, no fix.

A lot of us work (or used to) in the tech industry and I think we can agree this no serious customer support.

As far as we know, no engineer is even looking at it.

How are we supposed to move forward with ZERO visibility ?

Could you please communicate your plans with the +300 persons who already read this thread ?

Thanks