Mac app unusable due to cyclic screen blanking

Summary
App displays home view for less than one second before blank screen and then cylcles between them for ever.

Steps to reproduce
Open the app create the server connection then nothing more can be done.

Expected behavior
It should display the channel and its messages and allow you to add comments or switch to other channels etc.

Observed behavior
I literally get a glimpse of the view I would expect as a whole page then it clears to white screen and after about 1.5 seconds it loads the page again and blanks it immediately, and this is a perpetual cycle.

I am running on a fully loaded 2012 Mac mini with OS 10.15.7 Catalina (Highest Os it can run)
I have removed the app and re-downloaded from the App Store V 18.3.0
No change.
I can log in to our circles server using Safari and it works. I like the app because I clear all safari cache and other data frequently and the app would avoid me having to re-log in so often.

Our server is url circles.ecobricks.org

IPad app and iPhone app are working fine.

Downdated to V5.0.2 from an old DMG download and that works ok.

Clean installing from the App Store or the v 5.0.4 DMG file resulted in the cycling blank page.

Hi Richard and welcome to the Mattermost forums!

Reinstalling the app does not clear the local caches for the app and those could have a problem, so could you please check the documentation for the destop app cache directories, stop the app, remove the directories at one or both of the given locations (or rename them, just make sure they’re not available anymore) and then start the app again and see if that helps?

I did remove all of those directories with the logs and everything each time before trying App Store install and then again for 5.0.4 DMG install. Neither was any better.

After clearing again and installing from 5.0.2 DMG it has resulted in a stable working app.

Regards,
Richard Goldsmith

2012 Mac Mini fully loaded. Catalina. Apple 22” display.

Alright, thanks for the clarification. I’ll see if I can find out more about this.

Oh, one more thing: Can you try the latest 5.2.0 nightly build? This will be the upcoming release and I’d just like to rule out that this problem has already been fixed in the current code:

That does work and is stable : I chose the mac-universal-dmg file. I tried install with “keep both” option and v5.2.0 ran first time without need for clearing anything or re-defining the server and login etc.

Will this be ok to just continue to use? Or should I be looking for a more universally available public release?

Either way it is a relief to see a newer version without the issue.

Regards,
Richard Goldsmith

Awesome, thanks for confirming!

You can use it, no problem - I’m also on the nightly builds here on one of my computers, working fine so far. There’s also an automatic update built in, but if this specific version works for you, don’t go for the updates (you never know…). 5.2.0 should be released soon and once it’s done, your appstore installation should automatically update to it and you should have the fix for the issue you’re seeing in the official version then.