WeChat not connecting in background

[tai4ji2x]

I believe ever since the latest (English) version of WeChat (Android), it seems not to stay connected very well in the background.  I rarely get new messages unless I'm currently onscreen with WeChat.  Any time I'm working on another app, or when the screen saver goes on, for more than, let say, 30 seconds, I almost never get new messages from friends.  Indeed, when I switch back to the WeChat window, I usually see the pink warning bar up top that says, "Unable to access server", which then goes away in a few seconds, as the app then floods in with all the messages I've missed in the meantime.

 

What's happening?  Why does WeChat no longer work nor seem to stay connected in the background?

[fabiothebest]

I have the same issue. I often don't get message or calls unless I open the app (on iOS).

[Shelley]

I have never had notifications unless I open the app.

[DernierVirage]

Same problem here, it started a while back but I can't remember when exactly. Previously, I always got notifications in real time whereas now I get nothing until I open the app.

[LiMo]

Same here. Do you think there's somewhere we can complain to? (In English, preferably )

[Shelley]

This from wechat help:

 

"I'm not getting notifications when I receive new messages.

Troubleshoot this problem by the methods below:

1. Check whether WeChat is running in your phone's 「Settings」 -> 「App Management」 -> 「Running」. If WeChat is not in the "Running" list, you must re-open it. If you find WeChat is not running all the time, check whether any installed security apps have blocked WeChat, or check whether WeChat is closed due to insufficient storage.

2. Check whether your WeChat account is logged in. If not, re-open WeChat and log in again with your account and password.

3. Check whether your message notification is enabled in 「Me」->「Settings」->「Notifications」-> and enable 「Notifications」

4. Check whether Do Not Disturb is disenabled in 「Me」->「Settings」->「Do Not Disturb」-> and disenable 「Do Not Disturb」

5.Check  whether Mute Notifications is enabled in a single chat. Click in a chat session，tap the icon on top right  then disenable 「Mute Notifications」

6. Check whether you've allowed your Android device to notify you of new messages in 「Settings」 -> 「Sounds」 -> 「Volume」 and 「Vibrate」.

Note: If this problem persists, you can uninstall WeChat and download a new version  to install it again; We suggest you backup your chat history before uninstalling to prevent data loss."

 

I am going to check these things, I thought I had but I will double check.

[tai4ji2x]

@Shelley any luck?

[Shelley]

I have been very busy and haven't checked yet. I will later this evening. How about you? Did you check any of these things?

[Mati1]

I don't know the exact background service mechanics on Android and iOS and if and how Wechat uses those features.

Keep in mind that these operating systems close programs (not speacial background services) silently in the background if a newly opened program (or maybe all since then opened programs) require more free memory than your device has available.

These means that program updates, not only of Wechat but of all your daily used software, which increase the memory footprint can lead to a situation where you can not multitask on your device with the same programs in the same efficient way that might have been possible in the past.

 

Also, the earlier Wechat crashed sometimes. Is the newest more stable?

[tai4ji2x]

@Shelley yeah, i tried/checked them all.  nothing that i can find to help.

[tai4ji2x]

Quote

I don't know the exact background service mechanics on Android and iOS and if and how Wechat uses those features.

Keep in mind that these operating systems close programs (not speacial background services) silently in the background if a newly opened program (or maybe all since then opened programs) require more free memory than your device has available.

These means that program updates, not only of Wechat but of all your daily used software, which increase the memory footprint can lead to a situation where you can not multitask on your device with the same programs in the same efficient way that might have been possible in the past.

 

Also, the earlier Wechat crashed sometimes. Is the newest more stable?

 

@Mati1 i have a feeling wechat programmers themselves must have screwed something up in the english version, considering all the above other commenters reporting this being a recent development, and assuming all of us have different phones, setups and operating systems.

[Mati1]

Out of curiosity, how much memory does it use? Mine currently uses 260 mb (main process), but I think it's not the newest version.

[niajef]

ya im getting the same problem too, and i tried to look for settings that might have triggered it, but the only thing i could find is the enable data in background thing, which has been enabled the whole time, i didnt even touch any settings recently, so its just the software itself that started doing it

 

the only thing that i can suggest tho, maybe we have this in common, is that i recently started using wechat desktop version, both at work and at home, at work cuz i dont wanna be seen texting on my phone all the time, if i do it on the computer, nobody suspects anything, lol, and at home because sometimes im playing a game on the phone, so i can text ppl on my desktop, and mostly, i type much faster on a keyboard than with my big ass thumbs...but anyway, i dont know if u guys have been doing that too, maybe that could be the reason? it doesnt make much sense if it is, but i really havent done anything else differently lately...

 

although, have any of u guys tried changing the app language to chinese? since u specified it was the english version of wechat that has this problem, maybe the chinese one doesnt? im gonna try it tomorrow and see if it helps

[DernierVirage]

Just to add to my miseries, for a couple of weeks now, any photos/videos that I send or receive disappear after about 24 hours, for no obvious reason. Grrrrrrr.......

[niajef]

ya that i dont have...altho i do have the problem of not being able to download some videos properly, or not at all, either in group chat, or in moments, it just doesnt download, even tho i have super fast connection

 

and for unable to connect server thing, i tried everything, like changing system language to chinese, or not have windows wechat logged in, or using the home key to minimize it instead of the back key, or even just literally leaving it on, and lock the screen, but nothing works...after like 10 mins or so, i unlock my phone, it still takes like 2-3 seconds to load up all the new msgs...i mean not that i mind the 2-3 seconds, thats fine, but its a huge problem when its not notifying me new msgs!

[LiMo]

I've resigned myself to robotically checking it every now and then when I have an active conversation going on, but I've not found a solution to this problem and have largely given up. 

[ArKay]

Could be a missing permission. Android has become more conservative when it comes to battery usage and only special apps keep on running even when the phone has been put to sleep or another app is running in the foreground. My wife has the same problem on her S7 with the Chinese language version.

[Ocampito]

Hey, I'm using a Samsung S8 and this finally worked for me:

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bensin/2017/05/05/samsungs-battery-paranoia-broke-the-galaxy-s8s-push-notifications-just-like-chinese-smartphones/

 

It might work on other phones too. 

[Infocus]

Root cause in my case is Data Saver (Android 7.0) turn on without enabling "Unrestricted data access" for WeChat in Settings -> Data Usage -> Data Saver -> Unrestricted data access.

 

Nothing to do with the WeChat app at all.

[downwithg]

Hey All,

 

9 months of slogging through this wechat problem not being able to post updates which got worse and worse with every T-mobile update... Samsung fixit guys try flashing the phone a few hundred times and reinstall whatever they said was the newest versions, and reinstalling the app over and over and over again, but none of that worked.  After, the latest tmobile update (today), wechat went from manually checking, to not checking at all even when I opened the app, saying it cannot connect to the network.  So being super desperate, I tried a few things a bit unmethodologically which not only cured the wechat problem, but boosted the entire performance of my Edge s7 which I was just about to throw out because I was so frustrated with this problem.  Since I was not rigorous in my troubleshooting documentation, I'm not sure if both of these steps are necessary, or if just one fixes it, so please feel free to try your own way:

 

1.) Turn off all the energy saving setting - supposedly energy saver blocks some apps from chatting too much over the network to save energy

 

2.) Disable Lookout, the built-in security app - amazingly, once I turned this off, my ENTIRE PHONE on all apps performed 300% faster.  I'm not so sure how unsafe my phone is now, but I'm so much happier with a faster unprotected phone with all my wechat messages back on time, than a protected one that can't deliver my messages!  

https://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s7-edge/649639-disabling-lookout-security-samsung-s7-edge.html

 

boom

 

(which is the same sound as "i hope that works for y'alls")