Google is actively removing functionality from Android. In 2019 they removed to access call logs and to send SMS messages. Now, starting November 2020, user apps must target Android 10 and are no longer allowed to query coarse (=city level) location in the background (more info).
This affects the following features of Bubble Cloud:
- Local Weather bubble needs general (coarse) location
- Sunset / sunrise is calculated based on general location
- Sunset / sunrise is shown in Live Info bubble and also used for automatic day/night brightness control of the watch
With Google’s new policy it is not even allowed for apps (which are available in the Play Store) to ask for a permission to do this, they simply cannot do it.
Workaround
I now moved this and similar functions into a separate app, the Summary plugin. You can install it from the Play Store, but you will need version 5.0 or higher of the plugin installed on your phone. (You also need v9.86beta or newer of the Bubble Cloud app!)
Google does not allow me to update the plugin in the Play Store, but you can get the latest updated version from here:
It needs to be installed on your phone. Notes:
- make sure to open the Summary app at least once for it to be available for calls from Bubble Cloud.
- the watch component of the Summary app still installs from the Play Store. The two components don’t need to have the same version number.
Important: make sure to turn off Battery optimization for the Summary app, otherwise the Android system will eventually stop updating it when new apps get installed on your device, and your auto-populating clouds and other features will stop working:
For more information about the affected features please see:
Other features recently removed by Google:
