Porsche Connect App - Windows showing open

[MarkR]

Strange. My app is also showing that my window, and sometimes windows, are open, when they are not. Brand new car with the latest updates. Initially I went out and checked the car and no windows were open. It seems that after the car has connected, it clears itself. Not an issue as I now know it is a glitch, but hope it gets resolved in the next update.

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[Fearlesscal]

Same thing is happening to mine - when it’s trying to connect - says window is open. Brand new car (3 days old)…..one time the window was slightly open so am a bit paranoid.

 

[RSouthern]

warning, speculation (possibly wild and fanciful) follows... you have been warned

I think the open window indicator is the default state in the app. I've seen this happen too, but after a short delay (like a minute or so), it gets the update from the car and the window state is updated to whatever it really is.

a guess at what we're seeing: I think this is the side effect of sloppy programming if my observation/understanding is right. They only have 2 states for these items, open/unlocked or closed/locked. Porsche should have an unknown/initial state in addition to those other states, so it's clear the app doesn't have the data yet. It's better to say you don't know instead of showing the wrong state - which is probably why they default to "unlocked/open" since it's better that you check rather than be told it's locked/open when it's not.

more technical ruminations: I *think* what's happening is the query to the car isn't sent until the app is opened - this is to save power in the device. On the portal page (MyPorsche.com) it doesn't send the request until asked to reduce unnecessary network traffic (and costs to their data center). Regardless of how you check the car, it takes time for that message to go out, for the car to "wake up" from whatever low power mode the electronics are in, query and return the response to the app (and there's going to be a server or 2 in the middle sending and receiving the requests and response - it doesn't go straight to your phone). All the while, show you're busy (black dot with moving ring) but don't advertise that the service is slow by showing an unknown state - premium customers may ask questions about why we pay a premium.

I suspect Porsche did this based on their app development practices, developing and testing in a lab with a strong signal and no other traffic or, more likely, a simulated environment where the "real world network stuff" isn't simulated (e.g. packet loss, weak cellular signal, slow/busy servers, congested networks etc). So the app behavior tested fine when it was developed/QAed and was probably pretty instantaneous for them so no need to have an unknown state while waiting.

Look at the app next time you start it. On the Android version there's a small dot next to the model and it has a light gray ring around it that moves while the communication is happening. The dot should be green if the car is awake and a response has been received by the app. At least that's what I have observed. If the dot is black the app hasn't received a response from the car so the door and window state is unknown and will show whatever is the default - i.e. open. I have always seen the indication that the windows are open at first (black dot). When the dot turns green, the windows then show closed.

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