Note: Pretty Good Solitaire is (finally) approved! Look for it in the Updates section of the App Store. Goodsol Solitaire 101, Most Popular Solitaire, FreeCell Plus and A Little Solitaire have also been approved.
Apple released a new version of iOS yesterday, iOS 9.
Some users are reporting problems with our games in iOS9. Specifically, when they try to play a game by clicking on the game name on the main menu, the game crashes.
Unfortunately, we have been completely unable to duplicate this problem. The game works fine in iOS 9 on every iPad we have tested it on.
If you are experiencing this problem, we desperately need crash reports of it. Apple does collect crash reports from users who set their privacy settings to allow it, but unfortunately at this point no one who has the settings to allow sending crash reports to Apple has had the crash and we have no crash reports to look at.
So we badly need someone who is getting this crash to send us a crash report directly. This can be done by syncing your iPad to iTunes on a Mac or Windows computer as below.
Syncing with iTunes
To find crash reports, sync your device with iTunes. After syncing, crash reports will be copied to a specific location on your hard drive.
- Sync your device with iTunes on your desktop or laptop.
- After syncing, look for crash logs in the correct folder. See below for a list of folders for each operating system.
- In this folder, look for files starting with the name of the game that crashed.
NOTE FOR MAC USERS: ~/Library is hidden by default on Mac OS X. To easily get this folder, open the Finder application, then hold the "option" key while clicking on the "Go" menu. You should see a menu item for "Library." Click on that, then continue navigating to Logs, CrashReporter, etc.
Locations of Crash Report Folders:
Mac OS X: ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/<DEVICE_NAME>
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Application Data\Apple Computer\Logs\CrashReporter\MobileDevice\<DEVICE_NAME>
WIndows Vista/7/8/10: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\Logs\CrashReporter\MobileDevice\<DEVICE_NAME>
If you can find the crash report and send it to me at [email protected], it will really help us find the problem.
Update Sept 18 - 9 am: We now have a few crash reports and are looking at them to try to find the problem. We could still use more crash reports to help.
Update Sept 18 - 12 pm: If you can't send a crash report, it will also help us to know what model of iPad you have. To find the model number of your iPad, look on the back of the iPad in the small print, it has a model number. It starts with A and a bunch of numbers, such as A1458. We'd like to know what model numbers are having the problem. There is more on iPad model numbers here.
Update Sept 18 - 10 pm: So far *all* of the reports of crashing are from iPad model A1458 or related models. These are the 4th generation iPads. There are so far no reports of crashes from the first 3 generations of iPad or from newer models such as the iPad Air.
Update Sept 19 - 8 pm: It is now clear that the crashes occur only on the 4th generation iPad models. We have duplicated the crash on one of these iPads and are trying to find the problem. Something definitely changed for iOS 9 on these iPads. We hope to figure out what is wrong as soon as possible.
Update Sept 21 - 9 am: We still haven't been able to find the cause of the crashes, nor can we figure out why it is crashing on 4th generation iPads and not crashing on any other iPads. We haven't yet determined if it is a bug in the game or a bug in iOS9. We don't need any more crash reports (unless your iPad is not a 4th generation iPad, as that would be interesting).
Update Sept 22 - 9 am: It's found! It's a bug in iOS 9 affecting 4th generation iPads. We think we have a way around the bug that we can do and we will be testing that and hopefully submitting to the AppStore soon. Thanks for your patience!
Update Sept 22 - 6 pm: A fixed version of Pretty Good Solitaire for iPad has been submitted to the AppStore. It is now waiting for approval by Apple (unfortunately, this takes about a week usually). Now we need to apply the same fix to the other 4 iPad apps and get them in the queue as well.
Update Sept 26 - 10 am: We are still working on getting all of the app updates submitted to the App Store. Pretty Good Solitaire was the first submitted. It everything goes well it could be approved sometime around Tuesday, but that is just a guess (of course, that assumes it gets approved, and with Apple you never know. Just because it is identical to the previous version except for one little bug fix doesn't mean Apple will approve it - they reject for all kinds of crazy reasons). Thanks for your patience - hopefully you will be back playing solitaire in just a few days.
Update Sept 30th 12 pm:
As a developer working with Apple is so frustrating. In comparison Microsoft is like friendly, happy little teddy bears.
— Thomas Warfield (@goodsolitaire) September 30, 2015
So after a week of waiting for a review, Apple rejected our fix for Pretty Good Solitaire. We are not sure why, but it looks like version issues with their development tools, or maybe a corrupted build. In any case, we have re-submitted Pretty Good Solitaire to Apple to be reviewed again. Unfortunately, there are 2 issues:
- Because we had to update to Apple's latest development tools, we had to drop support for iOS 5.1.1, which means that the game will no longer update on the iPad 1. The current version will still play on iPad 1's of course, it is just that they will no longer receive updates. (and this particular crashing bug does not affect the iPad 1 anyway - but this affects future updates).
- Because of Apple's insane policy, it means it may be another week before Apple will review and hopefully approve the update. This is incredibly frustrating. I am trying to see if there is any way to get them to look at it faster, but Apple just doesn't really care about getting updates out fast.
In short, it is still going be some time before we get out the update (at least for Pretty Good Solitaire). The other 4 apps remain in the queue to get reviewed over the next few days - they may or may not have the same issues, we will see.
Update Oct 2 9 am: This entire affair has now moved into the surreal. We have had another rejection of Pretty Good Solitaire by Apple, this time saying that the game does not run on an iPhone 6. Given that it is an iPad only app that of course does not run on iPhones, this is the most bizarre rejection yet. We are waiting for a reply from Apple about this totally crazy rejection.
Given that essentially we are making a simple one-line fix to an existing app, the approval process should not be taking this long or be this complicated. This is simply the most frustrating experience we have ever had with Apple.
Goodsol Solitaire 101 should be getting reviewed soon, we will see how that one goes.
Update Oct 4 9 am: We have now had a total of 8 rejections from Apple for updates to the apps. It seems there is some new problem, apparently introduced in iOS 9.0.2 (released last Wednesday), that is causing the app to freeze on some iPads, but we simply haven't been able to confirm it. We are stuck trying to catch a moving target - as soon as one thing is fixed, Apple releases a new iOS version and more problems are created. Never before have we had to deal with anything remotely like this.
Update Oct 8 11 am: We are still unable to get an updates approved by Apple. We have been unable to determine what the problem is that Apple is having with the games - the games are identical to the previously approved versions except for a one line of code fix. But something involving iOS 9 is preventing Apple from approving them.
It appears we are not the only ones having problems with iOS 9. A number of companies are having so much trouble getting their apps to work with iOS 9 that they have pulled their apps completely from the App Store. See these links: Why So Many Games are Disappearing from the App Store, Here is Every Game that has Vanished from the App Store Recently, Now Telltale's Games Have Been Pulled from the App Store. There is not enough detail to tell if any of these other companies are having the same issues that we are, but it shows just how troublesome iOS 9 has been for developers.
At this time there is no reason for us to pull our games from the App Store, as the current versions work fine for most users and only crash on one type of iPad (the 4th generation models). We continue to look for a solution that will get our updates approved and hope that maybe Apple fixes some of its bugs in iOS 9 with future updates.
Update Oct 21 12 pm: Not much new to report, we seem to have fallen down a rabbit hole at Apple. Our latest build of Pretty Good Solitaire has currently been "In Review" for almost 7 days (note to developers who know the Apple review statuses, I mean "In Review", not "Waiting for Review"). Since normally apps remain in this status for a few hours, we have no idea what this means.
Update Oct 25 9 am: Pretty Good Solitaire has finally been approved. The ending was as surreal as the entire affair. Yesterday, it was rejected again (10th rejection) and again it was rejected because it did not work on an iPhone. Again, we replied to Apple that the game is iPad only, of course it does not work on iPhones. We asked why they persist on testing an iPad only app on iPhones when it is clearly set as iPad only. The response today was an approval. Why they couldn't have responded to this almost a month ago when we asked the same question is a complete mystery. Pretty Good Solitaire 1.41 is now available in the updates section of the AppStore, we now work on getting the other 4 apps resubmitted (and who knows what will happen there).
Update Nov 5 5 pm: Most Popular Solitaire just got rejected again, basically the same as all the previous rejections. It appears Apple didn't fix whatever is causing them to falsely reject our apps and we are going to have to fight out each one. I hope we get success on them soon. We know we can do it because we got Pretty Good Solitaire approved, but everything with Apple takes a long time.
Update Nov 5 8 pm: Goodsol Solitaire 101 has been approved. The update should now be in the AppStore.
Update Nov 6 12 pm: FreeCell Plus has been rejected. Same nonsense.
Update Nov 6 2 pm: After my appeal of yesterday's rejection, Most Popular Solitaire is now accepted and the update should be appearing in the AppStore this afternoon. Also, we may have had a breakthrough in discovering just why Apple has been rejecting our apps - I might have more on this later.
Update Nov 7 9 am: FreeCell Plus has now been approved and the update should be appearing in the AppStore this morning.
Update Nov 7 9 pm: A Little Solitaire has now been approved and the update should be appearing in the AppStore tonight. The whole affair is now finally over.
My model is A1458. It is an iPad 4. Both games crash on it. I also have an iPad mini 2, model A 1490, and both games work perfectly on it. Both have iOS 9.
Thanks.
Posted by: Ruby Bomboy | September 18, 2015 at 08:19 PM
My iPad is an A1458. Solitaire 101 crashes when I click on Options or select a game.
Posted by: Ken Buhr | September 19, 2015 at 12:12 AM
I should have noted that the crashes started after I updated to IOS 9.
Posted by: Ken Buhr | September 19, 2015 at 12:15 AM
My iPad is also A1458, and the clashes began with the iOS 9 update.
Posted by: Corinne Driscoll | September 19, 2015 at 09:58 AM
Mine is A1459, it crashes as soon as I open it!
Posted by: Isabel Labarthe de Elbers | September 19, 2015 at 02:41 PM
My iPad is an iPad 4
md525fd/a wi-fi cellular 16gb
I can open the App but as soon as a card game is picked the App Shuts down,
Unfortionally i am traveling untill October 3 and will not have iTunes availible.
Posted by: James Condlin | September 19, 2015 at 05:25 PM
I wrote to you about the problem, too. I,also, have A1458
Posted by: Betty Thomas | September 20, 2015 at 07:07 AM
My iPad is a model no MD513ZP/A. I have sent you an email just a short while ago, and hadn't realised you had a blog about this. Both games I have got on my iPad crash as soon as I open them.
Posted by: Penny Reynolds | September 20, 2015 at 12:30 PM
Sorry my iPad is an A1458, I checked in settings instead of looking on back of iPad!
Posted by: Penny Reynolds | September 20, 2015 at 12:35 PM
Mine is a 1460a
Posted by: James Condlin | September 20, 2015 at 01:26 PM
I have an iPad 513LL/A and the OS 9 update works well for everything except my solitaire app. The app looks like it is fine, but any game you click on sends me to my computer home page.
Posted by: Donna Kennedy | September 20, 2015 at 04:05 PM
Mine is A1460. I haven't updated the other iPad I have yet. All the apps on this iPad work fine except Pretty Good Solitaire. Hope you get it fixed soon. I'm addicted.
Posted by: Carol A Matthews | September 20, 2015 at 08:02 PM
I also use iPad 4 and the moment I tr to open a game or try to open 'options' it crashes
Posted by: Govert Deketh | September 21, 2015 at 01:32 AM
I have an iPad 4th generation model A1458, thanks!
Posted by: Gwen S-Ayoade | September 21, 2015 at 04:15 PM
Thanks for getting onto this problem so quickly. I have an ipad4 and am experiencing the crashing problem. Hope it doesn't take Apple too long to send us the update.
Posted by: Lee Michael | September 23, 2015 at 02:47 AM
Good to know. Thanks for working so diligently on this. I never realized how much I play this game until it was gone.
Posted by: AvalonPrep | September 23, 2015 at 09:21 AM
Any idea if the issues for solitaire 101 on the 4th generation iPads have been resolved. My iPad is still crashing.
Posted by: Donna Kennedy | September 26, 2015 at 08:53 PM
Thanks for your update. I really do appreciate your efforts.
Posted by: Donna Kennedy | September 27, 2015 at 11:03 AM
A1395 and it crashes just like these A1458s ... Will mine be fixed as well?
Posted by: Debb Bergsson | September 30, 2015 at 09:05 AM
Using iPad 4, still can't play any games. Does anyone know when this will be fixed. It's been sometime now without any solution.
Posted by: Andy | September 30, 2015 at 10:56 AM
Just installed iOS 9.0.2 on iPad model MD512LL/A. Both Pretty Good Solitaire and Most Popular Solitaire still crashing.
Posted by: Loretta Blankenship | October 01, 2015 at 03:04 PM
A 1460, just ran update and Pretty Good Solitaire now crashing, very sad
Posted by: Heather | October 02, 2015 at 10:50 PM
All was good until I downloaded the iOS 9.0.2, then Goodsol just crashes out
Posted by: Heather | October 04, 2015 at 09:54 PM
A1458 and now crashes after iOS 9.0.2 update.
Posted by: Judy | October 05, 2015 at 07:20 AM
jUst updated MD514BA to OS9 and pretty good sol now crashes
Posted by: Penny Norman | October 05, 2015 at 07:53 AM
Thanks for the update, at least I am getting more work done 😏
Posted by: Heather | October 08, 2015 at 07:11 PM
Crashes after face page comes up. I have 13A452 (iPad 4).
Thanks for your continual work with this issue. It must be super frustrating.
On my iMac I started with Snow Leopard; feels like OS upgrades have been bug-filled and shoddier as they 'progress' ever since. Now, an iPad issue- almost enough to drive me to (shudder) Microsoft.
Please don't let them defeat you; really miss plaing RGS.
Posted by: Robert C | October 10, 2015 at 11:33 AM
I have model A1458. I can see the page when I open pretty good sol, but it crashes upon clicking on a game. The game it crashes on is Klondike.
Posted by: Lillian M. Lynn | October 11, 2015 at 04:31 PM
Is there any news on this problem, it's now about 3 weeks that Good Solitaire is not available to me and other iPad 4 users, a true loss....You talked once about getting addicted to your games, Thomas, am I risking withdrawal symptoms? Cheers 😏
Posted by: Govert Deketh, Geneva, Switzerland | October 12, 2015 at 04:41 AM
I have model A1395 and downloaded IOS 9.0.2. Worked ok at first. Now my ipad is completely frozen. I was trying to play solitaire when issue arised. Screen is black and every so often the screen pops up with apps but system is frozen. Will the fix include this model and issue as well? Thanks for your help
Posted by: Stephanie Mitchell | October 14, 2015 at 08:03 AM
What is the chance of getting so apples link so to complain and/or try to get a copy of iOS 8 back on the iPads.
Posted by: Don | October 14, 2015 at 06:26 PM
I have updated my iPad, and intaled the 9.0.2 version. Now i can not play the games. Please, solved that bug, because i realy love your game.
Posted by: Ney Leal Lopes | October 15, 2015 at 07:04 AM
Since I have an Android tablet I wrote to you at the kick-off announcement about designing only for Apple "i" products. Your reply that you had opted to write only for Apple products floored me since I was certain that you must have many, many Android customers that were being neglected.
Now you have serious problems with Apple supporting your product. Que sera,sera!
Sorry to hear about that. Have you decided to support us Android users yet, or are you still resistant?
Posted by: Frank Edwards | October 16, 2015 at 10:39 AM
I have looked at some other, temporary replacement patience solitaire games, like Solebon Solitaire, and they work OK on my iPad 4th gen. Prefer Good Sol to work again though. Probably you have done this already, but why does Solebon work OK, and Good Sol doesn't? Cheers, Govert
Posted by: Govert | October 17, 2015 at 02:26 AM
With all the different iOS, OS X versions and hardware revisions, the advantages of the "closed ecosystem" of Apple and its supposed better quality experience are disappearing. As a small developer I cannot afford to keep 4 or 5 iterations of operating systems plus a closet full of iDevices to test each time a new release comes out of Apple. It seems obvious that not even Apple is diligently doing the same.
For example, El Capitan just broke one of my games and I'm looking at having to test SIX different OS X versions if I want to maintain compatibility back to 10.6 which is the case with my current release, not to mention the fact that I don't have hardware anymore to do any testing.
Add to this the fact that revenue for app developers is shrinking daily and it adds up to "why am I doing this?" fairly quickly.
Posted by: mmccullo | October 21, 2015 at 09:17 AM
Another A1458 crash with 9.0.2 - will we ever be able to use the program again?
Posted by: Bill Unterberg | October 21, 2015 at 10:58 AM
I have a MacBook Air and recently upgraded to El Capitan. I don't have any games on there yet but want to load Most Popular Solitaire on there or Prety good Solitaire. Can you please tell me if both are compatible with that system? I love the Most popular solitaire that is not working on my iPad but not sure if this is just for iPads and if it will work on the MacBook Air.
Posted by: Heather | October 21, 2015 at 06:53 PM
Just updated my iPad 4 to OS 9.2 hoping this might fix the crash problem - no such luck!
Posted by: Andy | October 22, 2015 at 01:16 PM
Thomas, IT WORKS! Many thanks for your persistency it pursuing this with Apple, quite an experience I must say.... But glad you did it, and that Good Solitaire works again, well done! Regards, Govert
Posted by: Govert | October 26, 2015 at 05:22 AM
Is there any way we could upgrade to pretty good solitaire since our Goodsol 101 still isn't working?
Posted by: Donna Kennedy | October 26, 2015 at 01:51 PM
>With all the different iOS, OS X versions and hardware revisions, the advantages of the "closed ecosystem" of Apple and its supposed better quality experience are disappearing.
I agree with everything you posted here, and wanted to highlight it.
From my personal experience, both on this iOS 9 issue and with El Capitan, the quality level certainly seems to be dropping. That, along with minimal concern for backward compatibility combined with falling revenues, the argument for supporting Apple products is rapidly fading.
El Capitan broke 2 projects here, and iOS 9.x broke 5 titles, each with demonstrable bugs in the OS. We should not have to spend extra resources and energy solving their problems.
Posted by: Gregg Seelhoff | October 31, 2015 at 06:41 PM
>Is there any way we could upgrade to pretty good solitaire since our Goodsol 101 still isn't working?
As indicated in the 'Note' at the top of this post, Goodsol Solitaire 101 has been resubmitted, so it should be the next game we hear about (any day now). However, with the vicissitudes of Apple...
Unfortunately, Apple does not allow publishers to provide upgrades between different products, so the only practical choices are to wait until the upgrade is approved or to purchase Pretty Good Solitaire, which now works around the iOS 9 bug.
Posted by: Gregg Seelhoff | October 31, 2015 at 06:52 PM
Thanks so much or your persistence with Apple. I tried some other games while waiting for the fix and had almost given up. Your Goodsol 101 is simply the very best and I'm really delighted to have it back. Thanks again, Donna
Posted by: Donna Kennedy | November 05, 2015 at 10:02 PM
Yay a thank you! It seems a bit jerky but sooo happy to have it back! Most popular solitaire my favourite is back! There goes the house work haha!
Cheers
Heather 😀
Posted by: Heather | November 07, 2015 at 09:32 PM
I think the few first rejection is human error to blame. Since there are so many apps resubmitted there are good chance the reviewer didn't put so much attention to the chit chat. But it's good that now you are approved.
Posted by: dgacom | December 14, 2015 at 12:06 PM