Manual GPX export not working

There seems to be a problem with the manual GPX export for a day. The file is not created, and some apps show that the file size is 0 KB (and fail to create it).

Hi @Tumix!

I just tried exporting today’s timeline to GPX on my phone, and it worked. So I’m guessing there’ll be a problem with some specific days (or rather the data within those days).

For one of the days having the problem, could you try exporting to JSON, and emailing me that JSON to matt@bigpaua.com? Thanks!

Not work too here. only share to eamil shows file, other app all got no file

Export fails from every day. Even the days I have exported succesfully before. It fails if I try to export to Files or Documents App for example. I tried to export to email, and it worked. I’ll send you gpx file

And forgot to say that the export fails also for the json file. And this also works when exporting to email

This is the same thing that seems to be reported here in April. And it has been this way maybe about a month.

Oh weird. I’ll try a few other export destinations. For my test I did AirDrop to my laptop, just because that was the most convenient.

Ok, “Save to Files” fails. That’s super weird. The type of destination isn’t something that Arc knows about - it’s all abstracted away, and Arc just provides the file. So it feels like an iOS bug. Not that that’s any help.

I’ll do a bit more testing. Maybe it’s reporting an error to debug console or something.

This bug was previously reported here:

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Heh. Yep! And I totally forgot. But when I went to add it [again] to the todos, I found it was already there :grimacing:

I really need to get through the backlog. Too many things slipping through the cracks.

I spent some time yesterday trying to fix this manual GPX export bug, and unfortunately had no success. But I did learn a few things.

The most useful thing I learnt is that if you keep trying, or just wait longer after tapping the “Save to Files” button, sometimes the Files sheet does appear! So repeat attempts can sometimes get you there.

Although obviously that’s only marginally better than “doesn’t work at all”. But if in desperation, and you really need to get a GPX file exported, you can eventually get it saved to Files.

You can also send the GPX/JSON files successfully by AirDrop, by email, etc. All of the top app icon share options work - it’s only the “Save to Files” option, in the list below, that doesn’t work. So if you really do need to get a file exported, try AirDropping it or sending it to yourself by email, and you’ll get it straight away.

In my investigations I did find a whole bunch of developer discussions (going back as far as 2017 in some cases!) complaining about various unfixable problems with the share sheets and related APIs. I didn’t find a discussion that exactly matched the problem Arc is having, but there’s a whole bunch of similar ones, and all of them unresolved. So there’s clearly underlying iOS issues, at least some of which haven’t been fixed for many years. That’s not a good sign :grimacing:

Anyway I’ll have another attempt at it soon. Maybe I’ll discover some tricky way to work around the problem in my next attempt.

I found a workaround. I created an iOS shortcut that takes the shared file and then lets me choose which app to open it with. The shortcut can be set to be visible in the iOS export list. This way, I can open the file in any app I want.

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Nice trick!

It really does seem to be a problem specific to the folder selection sheet that appears when you choose “Save to Files”. All the other share methods work properly every time, in my testing. But unfortunately knowing that it’s only that one specific sheet hasn’t helped in fixing the problem. That sheet is way off in Apple Land, far from anything that Arc gets to interact with directly. Arc doesn’t even know which share option you’ve chosen - that’s all outside of Arc, invisible to the app. Sigh

Came here to post this! The export has failed for every method I’ve tried. Attempting to save to files results in the directory selection sheet appearing briefly from the bottom but instantly going away. I’m also unable to Airdrop, send as a message with iMessage, send as a Signal message, etc. Signal notably gives the error “Unable to Prepare Attachment”. Attempting to export any of the other types individually is equally unsuccessful.

Sorry I don’t have any better insights for you, but this is still quite broken!

Hmm. @hwilkinson that sounds worse than my test attempts! I can at least get it to work when using AirDrop, Messages, basically anything with an icon in the first two rows of the share sheet. I just tried again now, and yep, those still work for me.

So something’s different there. But I’ve also got no guesses as to what. The mystery persists.

At this point my main focus is to just rush ahead with getting the new Arc Editor app ready. Many of the mystery bugs in Arc Timeline app are related to the mixing of old UIKit code with new SwiftUI code, and I suspect this export bug is one of those. With Arc Editor being built in pure SwiftUI these mystery bugs should just disappear. Or least that’s my hope! I’m certain that many of them will, and this export bug seems like it should too. Fingers crossed…

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This bug is still present in the latest build

Yep :disappointed:

I’m not far away from having Arc Editor app ready to go into beta, so I’ll prioritise having the Export menu available in the new app in one of the earliest releases.

There’s not much hope for fixing it in old Arc Timeline app, because it appears to be some mystery failure in the way that new SwiftUI and old UIKit work together (or in this case fail to work together). No one seems to know either why it happens or how to fix it.

But Arc Editor is pure SwiftUI, so there’s no such problem there! Fingers crossed I can have a public beta ready next month.