"Next" layer showing unexpectedly on mobile

Sep 02, 2018

I have an interaction that requires the user to select all the boxes before being able to progress to the next slide. Each box triggers a different layer. There is a variable that changes to "true" once all the boxes are "visited". There is a layer that pops up to remind the user to select all the boxes if they click next and the variable is false.

 

The interaction works fine in preview, or when published and viewed on a computer. However, when testing on my mobile phone (Samsung Galaxy), the layer reminder pops up randomly along with other layers that are triggered.

 

I have been able to replicate this problem in  a test, which is attached.

 

The project was developed in Articulate 360 and was published for LMS. It was tested on two LMS with a Samsung Galaxy using Chrome.

18 Replies
Alyssa Gomez

Hi there Rena!

Thanks for letting us know what's going on, and so sorry for the trouble! Often when a user runs into a problem in a learning management system, we like to test the file in another environment to compare the behavior. 

I published your file and hosted it on SCORM Cloud, and it appears to be working normally there. Here's a quick screen recording of my testing on a Samsung Galaxy device in Chrome. 

Could you also test this link on your device and let me know if it works correctly? 

Rena Maguire

It is still a problem for us on both an iPhone 6S and a Samsung A5, both
using Chrome.

In testing it further, it only happens when a layer is being triggered. It
seems as if the swipe function is hyper sensitive when opening layers. Once
all the buttons are visited, you can swipe quite far without moving to the
next slide. It's almost as if the layers are creating some kind of swipe
motion that is compounded by tapping motion.

Rena Maguire

Sorry Alyssa, let me explain better:

The problem seems to be related to the swipe function. When the variable is
set to "False", preventing the user from going to the next slide, even the
slightest movement while tapping will trigger the message. For example, we
can tap ANYWHERE on the screen, not just the buttons, and trigger the
message, even when we are trying our best to tap carefully to not swipe.
It's as though the swipe is too sensitive, picking up the smallest of
motions.

What's really strange (and tells us that it isn't a phone problem) is that
once all the squares are visited (and consequently all layers have been
activated, and the variable is changed to "True"), the problem no longer
occurs. We can tap, and also do small swiping motions without triggering
the "Swipe Next" function. We can still swipe next by making a purposeful
swiping motion; it just isn't triggered accidentally.

Two final points:

We have occasionally had the issue crop up when we tap the
final square; instead of seeing the message, it skips to the next slide. I
just wanted to point this out so that you can see it IS the "next" function
that is being triggered, not just my layer with the message on it.

I tried disabling the Swipe features in the Slide Navigation window for both slides as a work-around, but I was still able to swipe in the published version.

Tested in Chrome on:
Samsung A5 using Android version 8.0.0

iPhone 6s iOS 11.4.1 (15G77)

Rena Maguire

In the meantime, this has seriously affected our ability to offer training. Anna suggested a workaround of using a new slide to show the message, instead of a layer. This won't work for us, as our slides are set to "reset to initial" for various reasons; if the user tried to go to the next slide before the variable was changed, they would have to go back and redo all their work. In some cases, this would mean quite a lot of extra time for the user. We also sometimes use the message layer to provide a hint, such as arrows pointing at the unselected items. 

 

I would like to find a workaround if the bug is going to persist for some time. I hoped deselecting the "Swipe Next/Previous" in the Slide Navigation window would disable swiping, but it made no impact. Is there any way of disabling swipe only?

Leslie McKerchie

Hello Elizabeth and welcome to E-Learning Heroes 😊 

Thank you for contacting us and sharing that you're running into a similar issue.

Just to confirm, is your Next button set to display layers and some layers are displaying intermittently without using the Next button in Android Chrome?

This bug is still open with our team and I wanted to share some information on how we define bugs and how we tackle them when they occur.

Rena Maguire

Unfortunately, the case has not been resolved although the issues is almost 2 years old.

We still do not have a good work-around for this problem, either. It's as though the screen becomes hyper-sensitive to swiping, to the point where just tapping is interpreted as a swipe. 

You can use a variable to stop the Next button from working, but depending on your slide you may not want to restrict the user.

Elizabeth Andreas

Thank you both for the quick reply! Yes, that is correct, except this is happening for tablet and mobile devices beyond Android Chrome. Our next button is set to display an alert layer if the learner has not completed certain tasks. We are experiencing similar issues for any courses with drag and drop interactions on tablets and mobile devices, as well. I appreciate the suggestion, but we do not want to restrict the learner by disabling the next button. Is it possible to turn off swipe functionality for mobile devices and tablets?

[Medline]

Elizabeth Andreas
Senior Course Designer/Developer
Marketing
Medline Industries, Inc.
www.medline.com

O:847-643-4720
eandreas@medline.com

Rena Maguire

Just FYI for everyone, this tapping issue is still causing problems. However, recent updates to Storyline have resolved the related issue where we could not disable swiping next and previous. I have tested it out, and it seems that disabling swiping is a good work-around for anyone experiencing this tapping issue.