MAJOR BUG - Running Toddler Lock will break your Samsung Epic 4G

[rambo47]

You're all nuts for handing an Epic 4G to a toddler.

 

[novox77]

....and then I also see this as a bug for Samsung/HTC/Sprint because when I reboot the phone the customized rom is still loading the Toddler Lock application and doesnt give me an option to run in a safe mode where I could disable 3rd party apps.

This is the perfect example of why the end user should have ROOT access to his/her phone.

The Epic is getting there, but on the Evo, we have a custom bootloader and custom recovery image as part of a full-root. This allows us to boot into recovery and resolve problems like this (deleting the problem app and/or its settings). Worst case, we can restore a nandroid backup, which is essentially a ROM save-state, and it can put your phone back in the exact state of when the backup was made. Wouldn't it be nice if all this functionality just came with the phone? You did pay for the device, after all.

Also, glad to see the developer of the app speak up in this thread.

 

[Noyabronok]

Has anyone figured out a way to get Samsung Epic 4G into Safe Mode? I've tried every key combination I could think of or find online!

 

[4runneradam]

How about actually paying attention to your kids or get them their own toys instead of them using your phone as a toy???

You don't have kids do you?

I installed it on my Epic, and it did lock it up and I had to do a reset.

My 3yo daughter LOVES the talking tomcat, baby hippo, and larry the bird

 

[rambo47]

I guess the whole "it's not a toy" thing is out of the question? I have kids, and I can say "no" to them playing with my phone.

 

[Noyabronok]

I guess the whole "it's not a toy" thing is out of the question? I have kids, and I can say "no" to them playing with my phone.

You're just an excellent parent with a clear understanding of what is permissible and of impeccable moral judgement. All those other parents that give an expensive phone to a toddler are just asking for it to be broken. Obviously they're crazy. Now they are here on this forum, with a phone that doesn't boot up, and they're looking for information to help them fix their phone. Who can better support them than rambo47? You tell those idiots what they deserve!

Since you want to help out, and I take it that is your intent by commenting on these forums, could you tell us how to go into safe mode on the Epic 4G? If an app prevents the Epic 4G from booting (any app, doesn't have to be one for kids) then the only option currently known is to do a factory reset. Every other Android phone seems to have a known key combination for safe mode that allows to boot up the phone and uninstall the app causing the problem, but nobody knows the key combination for the Epic. Do you?

 

[Slick1020]

Its not the phone, but sometimes apps do not place nice with each other. Sounds like you have two apps in conflict with once another. Keep hearing the same sob stories on the EVO side. If people didn't go app crazy when they first get a phone this wouldn't happen. Its just like loading software on a computer and it causing problems with Microsoft Windows. Toddler Lock and another app has caused some problems for Android. Developers do not test to see if their apps will conflict with each other.

 

[Noyabronok]

Its not the phone, but sometimes apps do not place nice with each other. Sounds like you have two apps in conflict with once another. Keep hearing the same sob stories on the EVO side. If people didn't go app crazy when they first get a phone this wouldn't happen. Its just like loading software on a computer and it causing problems with Microsoft Windows. Toddler Lock and another app has caused some problems for Android. Developers do not test to see if their apps will conflict with each other.

No, it's the phone. I'm a developer of another app that's not quite so popular as Toddler Lock, but my app has the same problem with the Epic 4G, probably for the same reason as Toddler Lock. Samsung needs to fix this bug.

 

[onlyforandroid]

I am the author of Toddler Lock. Some comments:

• this is a phone bug. More specifically, it's a bug in the software that ships on some (but not all) Samsung phones.
• listing which phones an app is compatible with is not feasible, since there are around 80 different Android phone models these days. Even if I had access to all of them, there wouldn't be enough space in the Android Market description field to list them all
• the latest version of Toddler Lock warns against running it on Samsung phones

I just had to do a factory reset on my Epic 4g. I'll likely be more careful in the future ... I'm a first time Android user after many years of Palm loyalty and am just figuring out the risks and benefits of the Android app market. It sounds like a lot of people really like your app and I was interested in it for my two-year-old son. But until this bug is worked out, whoever's job that may be, I really think the warning needs to be featured prominently in the Market description, not just on your web page.