Release 5.8 is a maintenance release for the DPS Mobile Android app, addressing a broad set of stability, reliability, and usability issues raised through the ALCM Mobile App Bugs & Maintenance epic.

The release delivers a general optimisation pass to make the app faster and more stable, alongside targeted fixes across dictation, time recording, offline working, swipe menu actions, and Crime matters.

Dictation reliability has been improved: a pause/resume issue that could silently lose recorded audio has been fixed, playback within the app no longer sounds unnaturally high-pitched, offline dictations are no longer blocked by a prefix error, and the app no longer randomly closes while browsing matters or dictating on Android devices.

A number of offline and sync issues have been resolved so that private time and Crime time entries can be added while offline and sync automatically once a connection returns, without needing a further entry to trigger the sync. Sync status is now shown as an on-screen label, consistent with the iOS app.

Swipe menu actions have been fixed across contacts, file history, private time, and expense lists, so options like Delete and Send are available and respond correctly. Matter search has also been improved, so scrolling to the bottom of results correctly loads more matters, and returning from file history no longer clears an active search.

Several smaller usability issues have also been fixed, including date and duration pickers that showed the original value instead of the value being edited (both generally and in Crime matters), a private time note field that couldn't be scrolled to the end, a missing mileage pop-up in Crime, a private time entry that could be saved without a required note, and a settings screen that couldn't be scrolled down to on some Android devices.

This release also includes an internal security hardening item, tightening the configuration of an in-app screen that uses a WebView, identified through routine static-analysis review. This has no visible impact on how the app looks or behaves for users.

Dictation Lost When Pausing and Resuming

Summary: Pausing and then resuming a dictation could trigger a "something went wrong" error while the app tried to save the file, and any audio recorded since the last pause point was lost. In one reported case, this cost a user around 20 minutes of dictated evidence that had to be redone.

Root Cause: The app didn't reliably save the dictation file to the device when a recording was paused and then resumed.

Fix: The pause/resume save process has been made more reliable, so recordings now save correctly and dictated audio is no longer lost when pausing and resuming.

Internal Security Hardening - In-App Screen Configuration

Status: Internal security hardening - no customer-facing change

Summary: A routine internal security review flagged the configuration of an in-app screen that displays local content, as a precaution against a general class of web-content security risk.

Root Cause: The screen's configuration had not been explicitly reviewed and locked down in line with current security standards.

Fix: The configuration has been reviewed and tightened accordingly. This is an internal hardening change with no visible impact on how the app looks or behaves.

Unable to Start a Dictation Offline When the Prefix Failed

Summary: When working offline, if the app couldn't generate a dictation reference prefix, users were unable to start a new dictation at all, blocking mobile dictation while offline in that scenario.

Root Cause: The dictation start process depended on a step that could fail while offline, with no fallback available.

Fix: Dictations can now be started while offline even if the prefix step encounters an error, so recording is no longer blocked.

Delay Opening Private Time from the Matter Swipe Menu

Summary: Opening "Private Time" via the swipe menu on a matter took noticeably longer than expected, slowing down a task performed many times a day.

Root Cause: The private time screen was taking longer than necessary to load when opened this way.

Fix: Opening private time from the matter swipe menu is now faster.

Private Time Could Not Be Added Offline

Summary: Users working offline were unable to add a private time entry at all, forcing them to wait until they had a network connection before recording their time.

Root Cause: The private time screen didn't support saving entries locally when no network connection was available.

Fix: Private time entries can now be added while offline and sync automatically once a connection is available.

Pending Time Entries Did Not Sync Automatically

Summary: Time entries created while offline sometimes stayed "pending" and didn't sync back once the connection returned, unless the user happened to add another entry, which triggered the sync as a side effect.

Root Cause: The sync process only ran when a new entry was created, rather than automatically whenever connectivity was restored.

Fix: Pending time entries now sync automatically as soon as a connection is available, without needing to add a further entry first.

Sync Status Shown as a Pop-Up Instead of an On-Screen Label

Summary: The app's offline/sync status was shown as a pop-up message rather than a persistent on-screen label, making it less consistent with the DPS Mobile iOS app and harder to check at a glance.

Root Cause: The Android app displayed sync status differently to the established iOS design.

Fix: Sync status is now shown as an on-screen label, matching the iOS app.

Delete and Send Missing from the Swipe Menu

Summary: The Delete and Send options were missing from the swipe menu on private time and expense list items, limiting what users could do directly from those lists.

Root Cause: These actions hadn't been enabled in the swipe menu for private time and expense entries.

Fix: Delete and Send are now available in the swipe menu for private time and expense entries.

Contact Swipe Options Not Working

Summary: Swipe actions on contact list items didn't respond, preventing users from acting on a contact directly from the list.

Root Cause: The swipe gesture handling for the contacts list wasn't functioning correctly.

Fix: Swipe options on the contacts list now work as expected.

File History Swipe Options Not Working

Summary: Swipe actions on file history items didn't respond, preventing users from taking quick actions directly from that list.

Root Cause: The swipe gesture handling for file history items wasn't functioning correctly.

Fix: Swipe options on file history items now work correctly.

Matter Search Did Not Load Further Results

Summary: When searching for a matter and scrolling to the bottom of the results, the app failed to load additional matters, effectively capping search results at the first page.

Root Cause: The "load more" trigger at the end of a searched matter list wasn't firing correctly.

Fix: Scrolling to the bottom of a matter search now correctly loads additional results.

Returning from File History Cleared the Matter Search

Summary: After searching for a matter and opening its file history, pressing back cleared the search and returned to the full matter list, forcing users to search again. This was inconsistent with contacts, private time, and dictation, where an active search was preserved correctly on return.

Root Cause: The file history screen didn't preserve the prior search state on return, unlike the other swipe destinations.

Fix: Returning from file history now preserves the matter search, consistent with the other swipe actions.

MSG File History Items Failed to Open

Summary: Attempting to open a file history item saved in MSG (Outlook email) format failed, preventing users from viewing that content on mobile.

Root Cause: The app didn't correctly handle this file type when opening it from file history.

Fix: MSG file history items now open correctly.

Date and Duration Pickers Showed the Original Value When Editing

Summary: When editing an existing date or duration entry, the picker displayed the original saved value rather than the value currently being edited, making it easy to lose track of an in-progress change.

Root Cause: The picker component wasn't correctly refreshing to reflect the value being edited.

Fix: Date and duration pickers now correctly reflect the value being edited.

Private Time Could Be Saved Without a Note

Summary: The app allowed a private time entry to be saved with no note attached, when a note should always be required.

Root Cause: Validation on the private time form didn't enforce a note before saving.

Fix: A note is now required before a private time entry can be saved.

Unable to Scroll to the End of a Long Private Time Note

Summary: When a private time note was very long, users couldn't scroll all the way to the end of it, making it impossible to review or edit the full text.

Root Cause: The note field's scrolling behaviour didn't account for very long content.

Fix: Long private time notes can now be scrolled to the end.

Amount Not Shown When Going Offline Mid-Entry

Summary: If the app went offline while a user was filling in a private time entry, the amount field stopped displaying a value, making it unclear what would be recorded.

Root Cause: The amount calculation relied on a step that didn't run correctly once the app went offline.

Fix: The amount now displays correctly even if the app goes offline while a private time entry is being filled in.

Date Pickers Showed the Original Value When Editing in Crime Matters

Summary: In Crime matters, editing the added date or next appearance date showed the original saved value in the picker rather than the value being edited - the same underlying issue affecting general time entries.

Root Cause: The same picker refresh issue affecting other date fields was also present in the Crime workflow.

Fix: Date pickers in Crime matters now correctly reflect the value being edited.

Mileage Pop-Up Did Not Appear in Crime Matters

Summary: The mileage entry pop-up failed to appear for Crime matters, preventing users from recording mileage in that workflow.

Root Cause: The mileage pop-up trigger wasn't wired up correctly for Crime matters.

Fix: The mileage pop-up now appears correctly in Crime matters.

Offline Crime Time Entries Did Not Upload Automatically

Summary: Time entries recorded offline against Crime matters stayed pending and weren't automatically uploaded once the connection was restored, requiring manual intervention to send them.

Root Cause: The automatic sync-on-reconnect behaviour used for other time entries hadn't been applied to Crime time entries.

Fix: Offline Crime time entries now upload automatically as soon as a connection is available, matching other time entry types.

Unable to Scroll Down to Settings

Summary: On some Android devices, reported on Samsung phones, users couldn't scroll down far enough to reach the app's Settings screen, blocking access to configuration options.

Root Cause: The settings screen's layout didn't scroll correctly on certain device and screen configurations.

Fix: The settings screen now scrolls correctly, so all options can be reached on every supported device.

Dictation Playback Sounded Higher-Pitched

Summary: Listening back to a dictation within the app made the recording sound higher-pitched than the user's actual voice. This was a playback-only issue - the audio ultimately sent to and heard by typists was unaffected and sounded correct.

Root Cause: Audio played back within the app used a different sample rate to the one it was recorded at.

Fix: In-app playback has been corrected so recordings sound natural, matching what the typist ultimately hears.

App Randomly Crashing on Android

Summary: The app was randomly closing on some Android devices, reported on Samsung models, while browsing matters or dictating. The issue occurred without a reliable trigger, and reinstalling the app or signing out and back in did not resolve it.

Root Cause: An underlying stability issue in the Android app could cause it to close unexpectedly during normal use.

Fix: The stability issue has been resolved, so the app no longer crashes in this way.

App-Wide Optimisation for Speed and Stability

This release includes a general optimisation pass across the DPS Mobile Android app, aimed at making it run faster and crash less so users can rely on it to complete their tasks without interruption. It underpins many of the individual fixes in this release - including the random crashing, sync, and swipe menu issues - rather than introducing a single standalone feature, and reflects a broader push to bring the Android app's stability in line with user expectations.