LATEST UPDATE MAY 6, 2023
The current version of the Tailwind app for iPhones is V2.42. If you have this version of the app, it is now safe to update your iPhone to the latest iOS version available. You can check to see if you have the latest version of the app by going to the app store and searching for "Tailwind Smart". Select it and see if it says "OPEN" or "UPDATE". If it says "OPEN" you have the latest version.
You can also check the version code in the Tailwind app by tapping the top left corner to bring up the main menu. The version code is shown at the bottom of that menu.
Previous Update
Apple developer support has informed us of some undocumented changes implemented by Apple that impact background location tracking, which is necessary for auto-open / close to function. Apparently they are not at liberty to discuss what those changes are, but they did suggest some setting changes within our app to address the issue. Initial testing confirms the issue with iOS 16.4 is resolved. We are are making some necessary additional adjustments to our app and will be releasing the update ASAP.
iOS 16.4 has now been released. If you update to iOS 16.4 before the next Tailwind app update is released, you will definitely break your auto-open feature. We will keep this article updated and we will push a notification through the app once the updated Tailwind app is available. The changes needed are NOT trivial and we are working as fast as we can to implement and test them.
Original Article
Unfortunately Apple is doing it again :(
Our team has been testing iOS 16.4 beta releases and has reported significant bugs to Apple. We are not the only ones. Other app developers from other companies have been reporting similar problems to Apple.
At this time, we ask that you DO NOT update to iOS 16.4 when it comes out if you use the auto-open / close features of Tailwind as you arrive / leave home. They will stop functioning reliably if you update to iOS 16.4.
If you have already installed the iOS 16.4 public beta you should be able to roll back to iOS 16.3.1 by following these instructions from Apple https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203282
We hope Apple fixes these bugs before they fully release iOS 16.4. We wanted to get the message out to our customers proactively in case they do not fix them before releasing it.
According to some of the most knowledgeable people in the business of background location tracking, this is "going to break thousands of apps".
You may recall back on iOS 15.0 through 15.2 when Apple broke background location tracking. That one even locked some Tesla owners out of their vehicles.
We will send further notifications through the Tailwind app notifications and we will update this article as we learn more about this situation.
Scott
Comments
43 comments
Thank you!!
My pleasure Sonny!
Yeah, been on 16.4 public beta a while. For me, auto close works while open does not. Let’s hope there’s a fix soon🤞🏼
I wish every app developer would notify and keep their customer base informed . It saves everyone so much time wasted on troubleshooting something that’s avoidable! Thanks Scott and I’m a long time user of tailwind !
Thank you for the kind words. Much appreciated.
And if/once a stable beta is released that fixes this, please let us know. I run beta too and for while my auto open has not been working while everything else in Tailwind has been fine. This is probably the reason why.
Yes Hope absolutely. We will send another notification through the app to iPhone users, and I will be keeping this article updated with any new information as it becomes available.
Thank you Scott, this is one of the things I love about Tailwind. You really care about your customers, thanks for looking out. Much appreciated.
I have been running the beta and it hasn’t been working, but didn’t really make that connection until now. Hopefully they’ll get it fixed quickly. I have the release candidate right now and it’s still broken.
Anecdotally with no data, the other day my door opened automatically for the one and only time since I got 16.4b1, but my wife had arrived home 15 seconds before me and her door opened normally. My TVS has never been associated with her phone, so I’m wondering if somehow mine communicated through hers? Or her TVS through my phone? I just figured mine had started magically working again. But the next day it didn’t, so here we are.
Ok I have an update. I have written an update and appended to the top of the article.
In short - problem should be resolved within days and you'll be able to update to iOS 16.4.
Fantastic! Great support and follow up as always, thank you and your team, Scott. I continue to sing the praises of my Tailwind system and your company to whomever will listen. 🙂
Appreciate the update! Keep up the good work tailwind!
Thank you everyone. Your support is very much appreciated!
Apparently Apple is also unaware of these changes, because the shortcuts app is not tracking my location in the background either, but wherever there’s an iOS update, shortcuts usually gets broken for a little while.
Dave Lehmer This does not surprise me. In doing Microsoft and Apple support for my organization the people doing the first levels of support rarely have any clue what the product team is baking (or breaking). Even months after fixes are released, they do a piss poor job of documenting the relevant changes in their release notes.
Francesco @All I have noticed, at least for me, that keeping the app open while coming/going, especially with the diagnostic tool running, it seems to do a better job of kick starting the auto-open and auto-close routine as a workaround until the new app version is released.
Thanks Scott Riesebosch for keeping on top of things and implementing the changes! I have signed in and followed this article to help make sure I get updates in case I miss the push notification through the app or don't see it under "Recent Activity" section of the Help area in the app.
Tom, believe me, I work in tech support for a mobile app for one of the major automotive companies… were told NOTHING until users start having problems
I have to give thanks to an amazing support guy we have over at Apple. He was a real champion and got us the information we needed to correct this. We still have lots of work to do this weekend. We will do our best to expedite the app update.
Scott Riesebosch- looks like 16.4 is official now. Are we 'safe' to 'upgrade' to 16.4 now that its not a beta anymore?
Hi Scott, are we?
In theory :-)
Tailwind Smart c.v.239(478) hasn't been updated for two weeks in the App Store. Until a new app version is made available that addresses issues caused by iOS 16.4, I'm not updating anything to 16.4.
If you update to iOS 16.4 before the next Tailwind app update is released, you will definitely break your auto-open feature. We will keep this article updated and we will push a notification through the app once the updated Tailwind app is available. The changes needed are NOT trivial and we are working as fast as we can to implement and test them.
You will know when the Tailwind app is updated one of the following ways:
1) You'll see a push notification about it
2) You'll see an update to this thread and article
3) The first time you launch the Tailwind app after it has updated on your phone you'll see "What's New" and it will say "made changes necessary for iOS 16.4" or something like that.
16.5b1 has been released to devs; I’m in the public beta, so I just took 16.4 Final (20E247) last night. I can wait for the updated Tailwind app. I appreciate all the effort that goes on behind the scenes on a *normal* day, so I can imagine the headaches when Apple throws you curveballs high and inside. Thanks for keeping us informed, Scott. We all know it’s worth our patience. 👍🏼
Updated Tailwind app is now live. Contains support for iOS 16.4. We pushed this through quickly. There may be bugs we didn't catch. Will continue testing, but it is now safe to update to iOS 16.4 as long as you make sure you make sure you have V2.40 of the Tailwind app just made available moments ago.
Thank you!
Thank you Scott, much appreciated.
Just did 16.4 and the v2.40 update and everything seems to be working great! Thanks Scott and team!
Thanks guys. Please let me know if you have any issues. If you do discover an issue, please send a bug report through the Tailwind app. It will really help us pinpoint the bug and fix it for you. Hopefully that won't be necessary!
Scott Riesebosch Thanks for the good news! I updated my devices and confirmed everything is now working as expected!
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