[BUG] <title> Fail to sync/fail to send

[NullMeDev]

Code of conduct

• I have read and agree to adhere to the Code of Conduct

Self-training on how to write a bug report

• I have learned how to write a bug report

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Current Behavior

Fail to sync on IOS as well as Android, when sending a message Failed to Sync stays consistent, as well as messages do not send. Once they do send after an extremely long interval they fail to sync and then a message of failed to send under the messages bubble appears leading the user to believe that the message either did one of two things and/or both (Fail to send, failed to sync, both), happening on updated Android as well as Updated IOS devices, these issues only started happening after the most recent Session update on May 18, 2025.

Expected Behavior

No response

Steps To Reproduce

No response

Android Version

No response

Session Version

No response

Anything else?

No response

[NullMeDev]

Android Version: 15 One UI 7 on Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, reported on other devices as well.
Steps to reproduce: Sending a message
Session version: Recent May 18, 2025
Anything else: N/A

[ThomasSession]

Android Version: 15 One UI 7 on Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, reported on other devices as well. Steps to reproduce: Sending a message Session version: Recent May 18, 2025 Anything else: N/A

Hi there. Can you check if your path is showing a green or yellow light please?

[FreddyJones88]

Android Version: 15 One UI 7 on Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, reported on other devices as well. Steps to reproduce: Sending a message Session version: Recent May 18, 2025 Anything else: N/A

Hi there. Can you check if your path is showing a green or yellow light please?

@ThomasSession
I can confirm what they are saying and just to answer your question quickly it has always shown a green light/status.

I created an account just to get the word out to the developers. Since the end of May, it seems like everyone is complaining about messages not being sent or received in many communities and in the feedback reviews. Check out the last three weeks of reviews on the Google Play Store to see for yourself.

---

On June 6, 2025, our team first became aware of the glitch.

• Our team uses Session on almost every platform, and initially, the Windows and Linux users said everything seemed normal.
• Only the users on mobile Android or iOS were having the problem at first.
• Initially, the problem wasn't as bad, as a mobile user could send ten messages, and only one of them wouldn't get sent and received to other mobile users.

A few days later, once the weekend was over, it appeared that the sync for sending and receiving messages was broken.

• I can't confirm this, but I'm not sure if the problem is on the network or back-end side, since I had only tested the most up-to-date Linux and Windows versions.
• However, the members of our team said that they had auto-update disabled, and it hadn't been updated since mobile users had experienced issues, which they had also started to experience.
• Finally, last weekend, one of my teammates and I ran multiple tests.

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The Testing

• I have a Samsung Galaxy 21+, and he has the latest model. We did not have an iOS device available for testing.
• I had him delete the Session app, clear the cache, and restart his phone. I did this just to make sure it was totally gone.
• Then, he downloaded the standard Session app from the Play Store, created a new account under the new network, and kept all the default settings.
• This was our base unit.

Mobile Testing

• Throughout the day, I sent multiple messages quickly, as if I were copying and pasting.
• Then, I sent a few long messages that took time to type out.
• 75% of the messages did not get sent or received while the status was green the whole time and connected.

1. I tested the version I had already installed, which was the standard Google Play Store version.
2. Next, I signed up for the beta version on the Google Play Store and tried it.
3. Then, I tested the APK version that I had downloaded directly from GitHub.

While running these tests, there were variables in each one. For example:

• I tested each one by sending it over Wi-Fi and then mobile data.
• I tested them with the default carrier DNS settings and then custom DNS settings.
• I also tested with the VPN active and then off.

Computer Testing

• Similar factors were used when we switched from my phone to a Windows 10 laptop.
• Then, we switched to a desktop running Windows 11.
• Finally, we tested it on a Linux system.
• We only tested the latest version by downloading it from the website.

---

Side note: I mainly use another app for private messaging. For work, however, our studio (game development) uses Session for quick responses within the team. We are a small indie team with many nationalities, and many team members work remotely. Due to the actions of certain countries, not their people, we rely on Session to keep in contact with our team members, as many phone number-required apps will not work during the sign-up process. That's why I created an account, to get this problem fixed ASAP. I'd rather not switch apps.

[ThomasSession]

@FreddyJones88 Thanks for the detailed testing.
We're looking into and will see if we can reproduce these issues.
Thanks for using the app with your team, hopefully we can sort this out asap.

[ThomasSession]

@FreddyJones88 Are you using fast mode or slow mode?

[ThomasSession]

@FreddyJones88 Could you also export your logs, especially right after you've had issues sending something?

[FreddyJones88]

@FreddyJones88 Are you using fast mode or slow mode?

Sorry for the late response. Been trying to hit a hard deadline on our game this next week.

Everyone had their app/program on the fast mode when it first started having issues with our team.

For our testing it was on the fast mode by default since its the recommended setting, and I kept it on for all the platforms I had testing.

[FreddyJones88]

@FreddyJones88 Could you also export your logs, especially right after you've had issues sending something?

Uhhh. @ThomasSession
Well, for all the testing we did, I wiped each device clean every time, including resetting the cache.

I didn't think about that; I was just trying to narrow down where the issue was coming from.

My buddy and I, who were doing the testing, probably don't have any original logs.

Personally I just switched back to the default Google Play Store build, and I think a hotfix was pushed recently that I downloaded, but I haven't noticed that it was fixed yet. Because we're on a tight deadline, we had to temporarily switch to another platform until it's 100% fixed. So I'll see if any other team members have used their Session app since we had problems, and I'll ask if they've updated it with the hotfix. Most of them had only used it for work-related talk.

I only asked one coder/buddy if he received the messages I sent, and he said no. But he uses a Win desktop. I know for sure that mobile users were affected by the issues first, followed by Windows users a few days later. This Windows Desktop coder is a tester for us so he has automatic updates disabled in the Session Application, and the same applies to everything on his PC. In the settings menu, he has disabled them, and he has a program that blocks automatic updates and startup processes.

He hasn't updated the program since we started talking about our issues. He told me that he installed the Windows version from the website in mid-May. However, he is still not receiving my messages. (We needs a base unit for our game testing, and we have learned that updates, especially Windows updates, can mess things up.)

My networking guy on the team says it indicates an issue on the back end. He mentions that it could be an issue that happened when something was modified on the new network, since there were no problems before the switch was fully completed.

He told me that, at first, everything appeared fine when the messages were being sent over the new network. He first experienced the issue when the token pop-up update was pushed to his Android phone, and a pop-up about the token coin/network appeared. He thinks that whatever was modified on the backend/server side during that timeframe could be the cause.

(I don't networking at all, Im sorry just copying and pasting my chat messages summed up I had with him after work today)

I will ask around for logs .