Regression: Anonymous SMB authentication fails when Username is not set

[Delicates]

I had AerialViews working fine playing videos from SMB (Samba).

About half a year ago it stopped working.
AerialViews SMB "Test connection settings" returns an authentication error.
There were no changes on the Samba server side.

The other day I powered on a different Android device which was kept powered off for over half a year.

After the power on, the AerialViews which it had installed worked fine.
But after performing apps update on the device, AerialViews stopped working.

In SMB config I had Username field blank - "Not set. Optional".

After changing Username to anything (doesn't matter what) AerialViews starts working again.

So it's either:

• Username is Optional and this is a regression bug that should be fixed, or
• Username is no longer Optional, should not be described as such, and probably should have some default "Guest" value pre-populated for anonymous access.

[theothernt]

Thanks for reporting the issue.

Long story short, there was an issue with the SMBJ library I use. I was going to update Aerial Views to use an older version of the library but it looks like the bug was fixed yesterday (after a year of no updates!) so I'll use that.

Would you be willing to try a beta or debug version to see if it works ok?

[Delicates]

Never tried sideloading anything onto my TV, but I could give it a go.
Unless there is a way to publish Beta through Google Play?

[theothernt]

I haven't actually used the beta (open testing) feature of Google Play. I'll do a bit of research and get back to you!

[theothernt]

Ok, there should be a beta update available soon.

• Sign up on an Android phone: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.neilturner.aerialviews
• Sign on via the web: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.neilturner.aerialviews

[Delicates]

• The first URL on a handset doesn't provide any Beta sign-up options. Says "This phone isn't compatible with this app."
• The second URL in a web browser gives this error:

• Opening the app on the TV Google Play Store doesn't mentione Beta either.

[theothernt]

Can you try again - approval of the beta version took longer than I thought, but it's live now...

[theothernt]

I've just been reading that the update to the SMBJ library has issues so this update may not fix anything.

I may have to revert to an earlier version and try again.

[Delicates]

Tried v1.7.4-beta1 built on the 14th.
The authentication issue is still there.

FYI in terms of Beta experience...

Enrolled in Beta on my handset.
Normal apps update on TV didn't pick it up.
Looking at AerialViews in Google Play installed apps didn't show any beta update even after rebooting TV.

Only after searching for the AerialView in Google Play apps saw the beta Update option.

[theothernt]

Thanks for testing that.

I've just pushed another update which uses the older SMB library so it should fix the issue. I'll let you know when it's approved.

I'm new to the beta experience in the Play Store, so maybe it'll take a while for the the beta update to show up automatically - thanks for persisting and 'finding' the update manually!

[theothernt]

I've pushed beta 2, that's live now as well.

[Delicates]

Fixed, beta-2 works anonymously.

Nice touch with the β.

[theothernt]

Fixed, beta-2 works anonymously.

That's great, thanks for testing it!

Nice touch with the β.

It's something I should have done ages ago, I find it hard to keep track of all the debug and beta versions I have 😅