We exchanged a few more emails then it went quiet, without any resolution.
However, I now know what the problem is. I recently set up a new phone for my wife, that unfortunately is stuck on stock Android. I installed the Guardian app and tried logging in. After entering my user email and password, the app uses a Google reCaptcha (see https://support.google.com/recaptcha/) to check it’s a human logging in, not a bot. Unfortunately there is no way (or no way that I have found, and I’ve looked quite hard
) that reCaptcha will work on /e/, because it relies on Google resources and APIs that are not functional in the deGoogled OS. So instead of the reCaptcha images being displayed, the sign-in appears to hang, until you exit the sign-in page .
My workaround is to use my web browser instead of the app. I use Firefox, but the same should work with the built-in /e/ browser.
- Open the Guardian home page http://www.guardian.co.uk/
- Sign in with your user email and password (which works fine, no reCaptcha is displayed)
- Then, from the browser menu, choose ‘Add to Home Screen’ and drop the shortcut wherever you fancy in your Launcher / Home Screen (if you are using a normal Android launcher like Lawnchair or Open Launcher. I have no idea how it works in Bliss: I suspect the shortcut will be added somewhere really inconvenient
)
This workaround is good enough for me: I get the stuff I want to see, without the screens nagging me to become a subscriber, that the app keeps displaying to users who aren’t logged in. The only thing missing is the ‘Compact view’, but I can live without that.
A similar workaround has helped me with the small number of apps I want that don’t work without Google services. They all have web access to the same - or very similar - functionality, so I install a shortcut to the relevant page instead of using the app.
I hope that helps you.
I will email Guardian support again, explain what I have found out, and ask them to use something other than reCaptcha, but I won’t hold my breath for things to change.